We have recently done some new investments and it’s time we introduce them, starting with Swaper! This FinTech platform has a special component, making it different from previous investments. Instead of project based, this company offers investors a very simple and predictable return based on invested amounts and how long you plan to keep your investment. On the other hand, looking carefully the investments are allocated to projects just like other platforms, so it’s simplified but offers investors less customisation options.
Swaper +’s
- Biggest strength is beyond doubt how simple it is to make a choice and invest, this is beginner-friendly;
- Geographic diversification for our portfolio is definitely a highlight, there are at this stage projects available in five different countries: Denmark, Georgia, Poland, Russia and Spain;
- Even though we’re at the early stages of investing with this platform, there have already been signs of an affinity to detail in calculating returns. Bearing in mind the popular use of expected returns, which allows most platforms to show impressive numbers to investors who have just started, even though it’s uncertain and unpaid at that point. Swaper doesn’t only present the expected return, but also the XIRR, which is the return that has already been paid out to you. This is usually significant lower than the expected returns, but should be an important additional information to careful investors
- Communication so far has been more than adequate. From the onboarding procedure with a few emails exchanged, all the way to regular emails including all account movements, we consider Swaper communicates rather well with investors.
Where this FinTech could improve
- Many other platforms have an auto-invest functionality, but generally they allow investors also the chance to customise parameters for the auto-invest. As much as simplicity is a positive, once the investor wants to get a bit more involved, it shouldn’t be impossible. In our portfolio, for instance, there is one single project amounting to €125, and generally I like to mitigate project risks by dividing my investment among many projects with smaller amounts;
- Considering the alternative extreme in simplicity, robo-advisors, Swaper doesn’t seem to go all the way. Even though it’s not our main field of expertise, we have come across many robo-advisors and plan to test them at a later stage. As far as we can tell, they start with a profiling procedure to know more about the investor, but then the investing runs automatically and without the need of a time-frame, so this business model is somewhat an intermediate solution between peer-to-peer lending and robo-advisors.
Financials
- Initial investment amount of 500 Euros, allocated to their regular auto-invest;
- Expected interest rates are averaging 12,68 % p.a. and importantly so far we have had 7,99% XIRR return.
April like previous periods went by really quickly as we focused on new investments. Next posts should follow soon about some of the new platforms we are testing. Come back soon for more FinTech! 0000000