Envestio Logo 2

Envestio Review

 

 

What is Envestio?

Envestio is was a smaller size, Tallinn – Estonia based Peer to Peer lender offering a selection of Euro currency based loans with higher returns.  

Providing bridging and refinancing loans, mostly to European based businesses on a selection of interesting assets from Wind Turbine Farms & Fashion Products to Sawn Timber Production Facilities & Residential Building Restorations. With annual returns of up to 22% on mostly asset secured loans. 

Envestio have had a good reputation and history with the European Peer to Peer lending community. Their loans are were known as some of the better asset secured euro based loans with the highest returns available from any Peer to Peer lender. Borrowers appear appeared to be vetted well by Envestio with in-depth due diligence and understanding of the borrowers business. If you decided to invest with Envestio, be sure to do your own due diligence

 

My Experience

UPDATE: 24/1/2020 – It appears that Envestio have ceased trading. Their website has been down for several days and there is a lot of buzz on the social media sites about fake loans and and Ponzi schemes. No one has been able to get any information out of them as to what is happening.  They have been having some problems likely caused by the recent Keutzal collapse and the following “bank run” where everyone was trying to sell their loans and get out. I’ll update more here as I hear it.

 

 

 

Envestio Return On Investment Charts

 

Envestio Account Growth Chart

Envestio Monthly Income Chart

View Consolidated Monthly Investment Returns from All Lenders

Click Here to See Screenshots & Detailed Monthly Updates From My Personal Envestio Account

 

 

QuickLook1The Obvious Investor – Easy-Info Table© – Envestio Review

Overall Rating*:3.4 out of 5 stars (3.4 / 5)
Who can invest:Small Euro Flag e1536500707966   Small UK Flag e1536500725428
Loan Currencies:Fifty Euros - 50 Image
Estimated Return:Up to 22%+ depending on loans you choose.
My Actual Return
(Per Lender):
16.93%
My Calculated XIRR:17.08%
Risk Rating*:8/10 - High
   8 out of 10 stars
Early Exit:Secondary market available. 5% charge for selling loans.
Envistio will also buyback some loans at any time
with a 5% fee. Loan term typically less than 12 months so
exit can be achieved with no charge in this timeframe.
Min. Investment:€100 deposit, €1 investment.
Deposit Funds:Bank SEPA Transfer.
Typically Available in 24 - 48 hours.
Auto-Invest:Yes.
Manual Invest:Yes
Lending To:Borrowers, directly.
Loan Types:Business bridging and development loans.
Loan Security:Yes, usually asset security and Director guarantees.
Provision Fund:Envestio Buyback Guarantee - (see review for further information).
Loans Amortize:Some fully amortize.
Some partial.
Some bullet.
Some interest only.
Time to Invest:Dependent on investor and loan flow. Typically 3-7 new loans per month.
Time to Mange:Medium - Manual-Invest.

Low - Auto-Invest
Lender Fees:No.
Payments Received:Depends on Amortization.
Amount Lent:€10 million+-
Number of Investors:4000+
Loan/Dflt Stats:No defaults to date.
Regulated:No
Location:Estonia Flag e1562514841182   Tallinn, Estonia
Launched:2017
Website:https://www.envestio.com
Email:info@envestio.com
Telephone:+372 674 0009
IFISA/IRA:No
Cashback**:€5 for first €100 deposit + 0.5% of all investments for 270 days!
Use this referral link to qualify for Envestio cashback >>
How to Sign Up**:Sign Up Here!

 

 

Envestio Review – Overview

 

History

Envestio’s public Peer to Peer lending business was incorporated in December 2017 in Tallinn, Estonia. Before their Peer to Peer business, they were a private investment fund which was started in 2014 and had a good record of success.

As of the time of this review, Envestio have over 100 funded projects listed on their website. From these projects, over 60 have completed and were repaid on time, as agreed. There were a couple of late payments which were promptly caught up and paid.

Envestio boast that there have been no defaults to date. In fact, this is not surprising as a single default when a company is so young with so few loans would cause doubts among their investors so my feeling is that they would use their own money to pay off loans rather than accept a default if one were to occur. 

This is actually a positive reason to be investing with the company early, and their loans in general are less than 12 months in term, so the term risk is less.

You can see a list of all completed projects on there website here under “Projects”.

 

Regulation

Envestio are not regulated by an agency like the FCA in the UK. However Envestio works under the jurisdiction of Estonian law which is friendly to Peer to Peer lenders in general. And they do watch and advise new Peer to Peer platforms. Evidenced by the number of lenders popping up in that area.

 

 

Signup Process – Envestio Review

Opening an account with Envestio is fairly easy. Just the usual ID and anti-money laundering checks.

You’ll need to upload a copy on an ID document such as your passport or ID card. Also (sometimes) a document with your current address on it.

Any person from just about any country who is 18 years old or over and has an active bank account in one of the European Union or EEA banks can signup with Envestio. Assuming they can pass the ID & anti-money laundering checks. If you don’t currently have a Euro bank account, take a look at this post I did on Currency Exchange and Moving Money which might give you a few ideas.

Envestio Sign Up Screenshot for Envestio Review

 

 

Deposits & Withdrawals

Deposits are made by bank transfer from a Euro based bank account (SEPA transfer). 

Typically deposits are in your Envestio account the next working day, worst case 2 days.

Withdrawals are directly to an EU bank and can typically take 2 – 3 business  days.

 

Once you’ve told Envestio’s website how much you want to deposit, they will send you over their bank details.

 

Envestio Deposit Funds Screenshot for Envestio Review

 

 

 

Time to Become Invested – Envestio Review

Envestio Peer to Peer loans have historically been all self-select manual investments and have been in great demand, so typically when they announce new loan availability on the platform, most are gone very soon after they become available, within minutes, especially the loans with high rates of return and low LTV’s.  So loans had to be selected and invested into individually on a first come, first invested basis. This made it very difficult to invest if you weren’t ready when the loans were announced.

Recently though Envestio introduced auto-invest which helps with this issue, so if you’re not sat next to your PC when the new loans are announced, you still have a chance of getting in. More on auto-Invest later in the review.

Available Loans

When you choose “Projects” from the main screen menu, you can see a list of loans and their availability. This includes loans that are already fully funded and loans that have funding availability. As well as loans which have already been repaid if you scroll down further. 

 

Envestio Projects Screenshot for Envestio Review

 

Loan Detail – Envestio Review

If you click on the “Learn More” link at the bottom, you can see detail on the loan. This can help you make a decision on the investment. 

Envestio Investment Detail Screenshot for Envestio Review 1  Envestio Investment Detail Screenshot for Envestio Review 2
Envestio Investment Detail Screenshot for Envestio Review 3

 

 

The opportunity above is in Riga, Latvia. Now let’s face it, if you are not from, or are not used to investing in Latvia, this loan could look a little scary at first glance. However if you look at the history of Envestio, all of their loans thus far have repaid on time and in full. So we have a little history to go on, and remember there are over 60 loans repaid to date.

These investments are certainly not the same as investing in Landbay or RateSetter. They are obviously higher risk, but in the same light you are getting paid for that risk at 15% – 22%, instead of 3%-5%.

On the other hand, you’re typically investing in secured assets which is probably a lot lower risk than some of the unsecured business loans I’ve seen on some of the platforms in the UK. Just my opinion but asset security is good.

 

 

Who are we lending to?

Envestio is a true Peer to Peer lending platform.

Lenders are lending directly to borrowers who are typically small to medium size European & Slavic businesses.

Loan agreements are directly between the lender and the borrower. Envestio just acts as a middle man, managing loans, payments and debt collection etc.

 

 

Loan Security

Loans are typically secured by business assets or property, as well as guarantees from directors of the companies. There is a reasonable amount of information available on most of the loans as per the screenshots above. Envestio doesn’t give any detail though until the loan comes live on the platform. So, because Envestio loans can get filled up very quickly, you have to be on the ball when the loan goes live.

Unless of course you are using newly available auto-invest which allows you to set lending criteria up front.

 

 

Amortization – Envestio Review

Some Envestio loans amortize, meaning you receive capital and interest payments every month.  When loans amortize, it reduces loan risk compared to a non-amortizing loan, in which nothing is received until the end of the loan period, or only interest is received monthly and then the capital repaid at the end of the loan period.

Many Envestio loans are interest only, with interest paid monthly. Then the capital being repaid at the end of the loan period.

Some loans don’t pay anything for the first several months, and then pay what is called a “bullet payment” (AKA balloon payment) at that time. These kind of terms are often given to enable the business to get the project off the grown without having to shell out loan payments.

This of course increases the risk for lenders, but that’s why we are getting the huge interest rates 🙂

It’s easy to see if loans amortize and the terms from the detail on the loans listing screen where it is clearly marked.

Envestio Investment Detail Screenshot for Envestio Review 4

 

Selling Loans and Withdrawing Capital

There is no secondary market as such with Envestio to sell loans to other investors. However should you need to exit the loan early, Envestio will buyback the loan from you, for a fee of 5% of the loan value. The good news is that loan terms are typically 1 to 6 months and rarely go over 12 months, so you’re never “that” far away from retrieving your capital without a fee and with full interest repaid.

 

 

Diversification – Envestio Review

Because Envestio loans are not as frequent as loans on platforms such as Mintos, diversification is not as easy. So trust in Envestio’s loan origination team is probably more important than diversifying into lots of different loans.  Also, Envestio loans are typically very well secured, so if there was a default, you still have a reasonable chance of getting back your capital, and that is only if the Envestio buyback guarantee where to fail.

 

Provision Fund

There is no provision fund which would apply in the event of a default, so making sure your assets are well secured is paramount. Envestio do offer a buyback guarantee where you can sell your loan parts back to them at any time (see screenshot below). However it’s not clear how that would work in the event of a default. I’m assuming it would apply if they still have available funds to cover it. 

Envestio Buyback Guarantee Screenshot for Envestio Review

 

Retirement Account – Envestio Review

No retirement account options with Envestio.

 

 

Website – Envestio Review

Envestio’s website is relativity easy to use. Everything makes sense and is easy to access.

All of the account information is right there in front of you on the main account screen. All laid out in a manner which is self explanatory.

Envestio Account Screenshot for Envestio Review 1

 

 

It’s easy to see a listing of the projects you’re invested in.

Envestio Account Screenshot for Envestio Review 2

 

 

Auto-Invest

The Envestio Auto-Invest setup screen (available from the “Investments” tab at the top of the account screen) is relativity self-explanatory and easy to use.  You choose the loan types you’re interested in and other variables you would like to base loan choices on. Then save the rule. 

You can have multiple rules configured which makes the system quite versatile. For example you could say “In Crypto Mining Loans, I only want to put 200€ at an interest rate of 18% or above“. However with real estate you could configure a different rule if you felt these loan types were more or less risk, based on your opinion of the security of these loans.

Personally I just pick up everything (this is my actual screen below), but everyone is different and has a different risk tolerance.

Envestio Auto-Invest Account Screenshot for Envestio Review

 

Summary – Envestio Review

Overall I think Envestio’s Peer to Peer loans are a good option for diversification with high rates very achievable if you take the time to either do due diligence on each individual loan. Or alternatively set up auto-invest rules which make sense for you. I think an important aspect is to get familiar and comfortable with their team and the way they originate loans.

Although Envestio loans seem very risky at first glance, most, if not all of Envestio’s loans are secured by asset security and director guarantees. Typically with good LTV’s (Loan to Value ratios). So even if a loan were to default, you would likely still get your capital back. It just might take a while if it has to go through a long legal situation if the Envestio buyback guarantee were to fail (not likely in my opinion).

I will be adding more capital to my Envestio account as soon as I decide to buy a new batch of euros.

 

 

 

Thumbs Up Points for Envestio

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  • High Returns – returns of 15% – 22% on secured assets with good LTV’s.

  • Interesting Diverse Loans – loaning on items like crypto mining farms, sawn timber stocks, fish packing plants and power plant development is out of the norm for Peer to Peer lending. This enables you to diversify away from the typical bricks & mortar assets, although many of Envestio’s loans are still involve real estate assets.

  • Envestio Buyback Guarantee – The Envestio buyback guarantee is there if you need to get out of a loan before the end of the loan term.

  • No Defaults to Date – It’s only been 2 years since since Envestio’s P2P business was launched, however their loans are typically short term so the fact that none have defaulted yet goes into the plus box.

  • Good Loan Flow – Not lots of loans, but for a company of this size and the loan quality, there are typically 3 to 7 new loans per month.

  • Euro Currency Loans – Good for Europeans,  or good for other countries for currency diversification.

 

 

Thumbs Down Points for Envestio

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  • Smaller Company – with shorter track record, launched in 2017 Envestio are still proving themselves. However they were a private fund since 2014 so there is a 5 year or so record to go on.

  • Loans Sell Out Quickly – This is a good thing, and a bad thing. The loans are so popular which means they must be good. However because of this you need to be on the ball to get into them before they are sold out. Luckily their new auto-invest rules should help with this.

  • No Secondary Market – Once you’re into a loan, you can’t easily sell it to another investor. Although the duration is typically less than 12 months so you’re never “that” far away from your capital. Plus Envestio’s buyback guarantee allows you to retrieve your capital for a small fee should you need to get out early.

  • Not Regulated – No regulation by an agency like the FCA so you need to get to know and trust the team you are working with.

 

 

 

Risk Factor – 8/10 High

8 out of 10 stars

Traffic Light Risk Medium Image

Is Envestio Safe? 

Even taking in to consideration that loans are asset secured, they are still a small, unregulated company situated in a country with no P2P regulation, with minimal trading history. Plus such a small loan-book means it’s harder to diversify to minimize risk.

 

Who Can Invest with Envestio
Small_Euro_Flag  Small UK Flag e1536500725428    

Residents from just about any country who are 18 years old or more, and have an active bank account in one of the European Union or EEA banks can signup with Envestio. Contact Envestio for further information.

 

 

Offers & Signup Links**

 

 

 

 

Similar Lenders to Envestio

Ablrate, Crowdestor

 

 

Disclaimers:

This page is presented for informational purposes only. I am not a Financial Adviser and therefore not qualified to give financial advice. Please do your own research and make your own investment decisions. Do not make investment decisions based solely on the information presented on this website.

*   My opinions, reviews, star ratings and risk ratings are based on my personal investing experience with the company being reviewed. These ratings are personal opinions and are subjective. 

**  Some of the links on this website are affiliate referral links. When you click on these links, I can sometimes receive a commission, at absolutely no cost to you. This helps me to continue to offer new reviews & monthly portfolio updates here on my website. I don’t receive commissions from all platforms and it has no effect on my ongoing opinions on investments & investment platforms. Income from my investments and capital preservation are my main motivations.

Platforms reviewed on this website I am currently investing with, or I have invested with in the past. You can see with full transparency on my Portfolio Returns page which assets & platforms I am invested with (or have previously been invested with) at any point in time. I am not paid a fee by any of the companies to write reviews, so the reviews are unbiased and purely based on my own personal experiences.

Please read my full website Disclaimer before making investment decisions.

 

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