Oh no.
I've been dreading to write this update.
If you haven't heard, Kuetzal platform has collapsed and most of the details point towards fraud. There are those who are convinced that most of the projects didn't exist in the first place, if any.
I honestly don't know what to make of all this, but I have now accepted that I've lost 6k €. With my current passive income, that's about four months. But I feel I deserve it. I was greedy. I let my fear of missing out cloud my judgement. I jumped on the bandwagon. I was the dumb money. 🤷♂️
Fuck.
But, it's time to look ahead now. I don't mind losing money, that's part of the game. I hate being the fool. So what am I going to do about it? How am I going to learn? What am I going to do differently this year?
Firstly, alternative investments aren't going anywhere. In fact, I've just opened accounts and invested a few thousand euros total at october, viventor, iuvo and estateguru to see what they're like. However, I will try to look more thoroughly at the platforms' credibility. I remember reading from Kuetzal about how someone didn't want to invest on it, because it was too young, run by young nobodies. That would've been great advice to take home then.
Speaking of credibility, I've decided to sell almost all of my loans on Fast Invest. I should write a more thorough update on that, but selling 10,000 € on the platform took only a few minutes. I just have to wonder where that money came from and what would happen if the platform's credibility took a hit and larger volume of investors did the same. The instant buyback guarantee is a flaw in my opinion.
For the same reason, I'm probably not going to increase my stake in Envestio for now. I just don't like the buyback mechanism. Yes, you gift the platform 5%, but if a shit storm happens, it could force even an otherwise healthy platform insolvent. A well executed distrust campaign can wreak a lot of havoc. Such things are not in my control. I continue to like Crowdestor though. The buyback fund is a much better idea.
-4,766 € in monthly loss 😑
Although Kuetzal isn't officially completely a lost cause, I've for now written it off. It's mentally just easier that way than to keep hope alive. Here's the breakdown
| Income | IRR | |
|---|---|---|
| Lainaaja | 379 € | 11%* |
| Bondora | 326 € | 14%* |
| Mintos | 192 € | 13% |
| Envestio | 183 € | 21% |
| Swaper | 143 € | 13% |
| Crowdestor | 91 € | 16% |
| Dividends | 83 € | 1% |
| Grupeer | 65 € | 14% |
| Robocash | 63 € | 14% |
| Trine | 17 € | 7% |
| Peerberry | 11 € | 13% |
| Viainvest | 8 € | 10% |
| Sun Exchange | 1 € | 3% |
| Bulkestate | 0 € | 15% |
| Crowdestate | 0 € | |
| Agrikaab | 0 € | 34%** |
| Fastinvest | -74 € | 2.8%*** |
| Kuetzal | -6,264 € | -100% |
| Total | -4,775 € | 13% |
** Agrikaab pays dividends every quarter. Payment was received in early January.
*** I sold most of the portfolio, leading to costs.
So yeah...
The great thing is that my internal rate of return is still close to 13%. If I take this Kuetzal fuck-up to heart and learn from it, I will be alright.
Invested capital decreased by 6,246 €
So Kuetzal imploded.
At the same time, I withdrew almost all my Fast Invest portfolio. I withdrew some from Swaper. RoboCash cash drag subsided and the account is back to 10k. Also stocks gained during December. All in all the net effect was a negative 6,246 €, almost exactly that of the Kuetzal write-off.
At the same time, I withdrew almost all my Fast Invest portfolio. I withdrew some from Swaper. RoboCash cash drag subsided and the account is back to 10k. Also stocks gained during December. All in all the net effect was a negative 6,246 €, almost exactly that of the Kuetzal write-off.
Monthly passive income breakdown
Overall portfolio performance has developed like so:
The Kuetzal case has made a significant dent to the historical internal return rate for sure. I'm still way above 10%, which is nice. My peer lending portfolio has dropped to below 200k €.
The Kuetzal case has made a significant dent to the historical internal return rate for sure. I'm still way above 10%, which is nice. My peer lending portfolio has dropped to below 200k €.
Sun Exchange ☀️
Since about 70 solar cells account for a full year's CO2 emissions, I ended up upping my account with another 38 solar cells, totaling my account to 362 €. Okay, we're talking small numbers, and the internal rate of return is a measly 3% so far, but it should grow over time to at least 7% while I offset my CO2 emissions!
Read my Sun Exchange review to learn more about this fun way to offset your CO2 in a profitable way.
Bondora
With still 24k € in Bondora, I got 326 € (compared to 388 €) in interest.
The IRR for Bondora is still at 27%, but it's going to drop still heavily as the defaults start to roll in.
If for Bondora I give a 10% discount on the principal (which is a little optimistic) then the IRR drops to 20%. With a more pessimistic 20% discount the IRR sits at 13%.
The IRR for Bondora is still at 27%, but it's going to drop still heavily as the defaults start to roll in.
If for Bondora I give a 10% discount on the principal (which is a little optimistic) then the IRR drops to 20%. With a more pessimistic 20% discount the IRR sits at 13%.
I've decided decrease my portfolio in Bondora to balance it with other platforms. I'm not going to sell the portfolio nor will I convert to Go & Grow, since I'm interested in how the late loans behave. Stick with me!
There's also a proper review on Bondora, you should read it!
Mintos
Interest rates are climbing back up on Mintos! There are lots of discussion around using Invest & Access and what it means as exposure to lower quality loan originators. I haven't done much about that yet, but now that interest rates are back up, I might use Auto-Invest more.
If you haven't checked out my Mintos review, please do so! I touch on this point about Invest & Access as well in it.
Swaper
Swaper's cash drag has continued and I withdrawed my balance to 9k € (which is now fully invested). Income decreased to 143 € (compared to 177 €) and IRR (which counts most for me) sits steadily at 14%.
Since I have over 5000 € on Swaper, I'm entitled to a 2% loyalty bonus. As most of my loans are 11%, over time I should be looking at roughly 13%+ returns, which maps well to the IRR.
The best thing about Swaper is that most of the capital is on short-term loans, since liquidity is high and your capital returns back to you quickly. Unfortunately, it also means there's continuously a huge supply of capital, fighting for the same loans.
I finally wrote a review on Swaper, go read it.
Since I have over 5000 € on Swaper, I'm entitled to a 2% loyalty bonus. As most of my loans are 11%, over time I should be looking at roughly 13%+ returns, which maps well to the IRR.
The best thing about Swaper is that most of the capital is on short-term loans, since liquidity is high and your capital returns back to you quickly. Unfortunately, it also means there's continuously a huge supply of capital, fighting for the same loans.
I finally wrote a review on Swaper, go read it.
RoboCash
RoboCash accepts deposits up to 10,000 € only, so that's what I did. Cash drag subsided and my invested capital grew to 10k € (4k €) but only yielded 63 € interest (98 €). IRR is a very comfortable 13%! Although all the loans on Robocash are 12% interest, I am a Platinum member due to having an account balance of over 10,000 € and am therefore eligible to an extra 1%.
RoboCash is a completely hands-off platform. I have a full review on RoboCash too. Please do read it, it's definitely one of my favorite platforms! I haven't had any issues with RoboCash so far, and no cash drag. I'm just sad I can only invest 10,000€ on it.Envestio
Invested principal is 11k € on Envestio and I got 183 € interest for it (190 €). IRR is at a steady 21%.
Through Envestio, I've invested in aluminium production, fruits wholesale, urban mining, sawn timber and wood pallets. All are secured debt and Envestio has a 90% buyback guarantee themselves. The buyback is also Envestio's Achille's heel.
Envestio has become so popular that most of their projects fill up in hours, so, if you are looking to get on board investing through Envestio, it's a good time to sign up and transfer money ready to your account. When you sign up using my affiliate link, you'll also get a 0.5% cashback for investments you make within the first 270 days.
Go have a look at my review on Envestio!
Go have a look at my review on Envestio!
Crowdestor
Crowdestor is definitely something to consider!
I've currently invested 11k € on four different projects, and it yielded me 91 € interest last month. IRR sits at 16%.
The thing I love about Crowdestor is that they give a huge amount of detail on their projects. It's still extremely risky to invest in these projects, but, at least you can make a more informed decision than on some platforms of lesser quality.
I have also written a lengthier Crowdestor review. There's a lot to be liked there and especially the way they tackle platform risk with a buyback fund versus a buyback guarantee.
I've currently invested 11k € on four different projects, and it yielded me 91 € interest last month. IRR sits at 16%.
The thing I love about Crowdestor is that they give a huge amount of detail on their projects. It's still extremely risky to invest in these projects, but, at least you can make a more informed decision than on some platforms of lesser quality.
I have also written a lengthier Crowdestor review. There's a lot to be liked there and especially the way they tackle platform risk with a buyback fund versus a buyback guarantee.
Peerberry
For now I have 1k € invested on Peerberry and got 11 € in interest. IRR is at a great 13%. Early January I increased my PeerBerry to 5k €.
Similarly to Fast Invest, Peerberry offers short-term loans with buyback guarantee. It's a very simple, clean platform again. Unlike Fast Invest, there's nothing shady about the owners and there's full transparency to loan originators. Great for anyone looking to diversify their consumer crowdlending portfolio.
There's finally a proper PeerBerry review, check it out!
Viainvest
I have 1k € invested in ViaInvest and got 8 € in interest. IRR for Viainvest is at 10%.
🐪 Agrikaab
Invested value on Agrikaab stands at 4k € The payment for December slipped over to 2nd of January, so you'll see a solid bar next month. This month IRR is at 18%, but next month will rocket it to 30%.
For those of you interested in reading more about Agrikaab, check out the review I wrote on them. Need a camel for yourself? Buy one on Agrikaab!
Trine 🌞
Trine is a spectacular sustainable investment crowdlending platform. With my 1,000 € investment I am offsetting 38 tonnes of CO2 while getting a 7% return.
I've covered Trine in a proper review, but if the topic of sustainable investing interests you, please read the post: Sustainable investing: how to profit while healing the planet.
Bulkestate
No interest from Bulkestate. Since a project was pre-maturely paid in November, although I've re-invested all in December, the IRR didn't change much. Still 15%.
I thought I'd double my stake to 2k € but instead I went to open an account on EstateGuru.
Here's my review on Grupeer - worth getting to know this platform.
Fast Invest is a very clean and simple P2P lending platform.
I made a complete U-turn on Fast Invest and reduced my Fast Invest account to 591 €. You can read the reasons from my Fast Invest review.
I thought I'd double my stake to 2k € but instead I went to open an account on EstateGuru.
Grupeer
I now have 6k € invested in Grupeer. I got 65 € interest for this. IRR is even 14%!
Most of my investments are in 13%-interest amortized business loans, with buyback guarantee.
Most of my investments are in 13%-interest amortized business loans, with buyback guarantee.
Here's my review on Grupeer - worth getting to know this platform.
Fast Invest
Fast Invest is very straight forward, clean and easy to use. They provide buyback guarantees and have a lot of loans with 12% interests, some even 13%. It worked like a charm, but I don't trust the CEO.
Other platforms
I've also opened accounts and invested 1,000 € on Crowdestate but haven't received any income from that one yet.
Since December I've deposited money on October (1k €), Viventor (5k €), Iuvo (1k €) and EstateGuru (1k €)
I'm also eyeing on platforms such as Finbee, Bondster, Lenndy, Neofinance, monestro, Monethera, Reinvest24 and Wisefund. I might go on all of them with a 1,000 € or something, just to get a feel of them. Let's see!
I've updated my review on Kuetzal, which I think you should read if you consider the platform.
There was also a more recent update in December I wrote, but things have become even murkier since.
I'm following the discussion. There's a great update on another blog, which I hope you will read. I'm afraid I don't any more answers. Luckily Kuetzal was only 3% of my peer lending portfolio.
Since December I've deposited money on October (1k €), Viventor (5k €), Iuvo (1k €) and EstateGuru (1k €)
I'm also eyeing on platforms such as Finbee, Bondster, Lenndy, Neofinance, monestro, Monethera, Reinvest24 and Wisefund. I might go on all of them with a 1,000 € or something, just to get a feel of them. Let's see!
Kuetzal
I don't have a chart for Kuetzal. I had invested 6,000 € but I've written that off completely for now.
There was also a more recent update in December I wrote, but things have become even murkier since.
I'm following the discussion. There's a great update on another blog, which I hope you will read. I'm afraid I don't any more answers. Luckily Kuetzal was only 3% of my peer lending portfolio.
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