Welcome to the second installment of the Lendermarket Stars series, where we highlight the investment journeys of our investors, as well as financial bloggers and influencers.
For this article, we interviewed Sal, an investor who shares his investment experiences through his blog.
Tell us about yourself and your background.
I’m lucky enough to do what I like, at work and in life. I’m a digital semi-nomad, and I’m writing from Mexico right now. For work I do online marketing in several languages, but my real passion is investing. Over the years, I realized that by sharing what I was learning through investing, I was able to help others. This gave me energy. The next step was to create useful blogs, where the phrase “I recommend you to” is forbidden. I don’t share any advice, I only show how I do it. Even when I’m wrong.
How did you hear about Lendermarket?
I am passionate about real estate crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, so I try to stay up-to-date about any new developments in the market. Lendermarket was already being talked about before it was launched, even on industry forums. As a matter of fact, Lendermarket has never been an unknown newcomer. Now everyone knows it, and it is building a good reputation.
What made you start investing with Lendermarket?
Starting to invest with Lendermarket was natural. In fact, I had been doing it indirectly for years, through Creditstar’s excellent loans. I was looking for an instrument managed by professionals already established in the sector to diversify my exposure. With Lendermarket I found it.
How do you like Lendermarket compared to other investment platforms?
One sentence on Lendermarket’s website really stuck with me: “We offer fair returns and an investment environment where risks are controlled”. A totally different communication from some of its aggressive competitors. Lendermarket uses a language I can relate to.
What were your goals when you started?
When I first became interested in Lendermarket, my objective was mainly diversification. The fact that it is registered in Ireland and loans also originate in countries where I don’t have much exposure, such as Denmark and Sweden, are a big plus for me.
Do you recommend others to invest in P2P?
I can’t recommend investing in P2P loans as the first step, because I think it’s something you come to slowly, with awareness. In the beginning you need to dedicate time and resources to invest in the financial markets in general. At a later stage then it is absolutely brilliant to start a passive investment income with the automation that platforms like Lendermarket offer.
Any advice on how to invest?
I am extremely passionate about investing, but rather than giving dry advice, I like to transmit the energy and feeling of freedom that successful investing can bring. In my opinion, 10 hours spent learning how to invest is worth more than 1000 hours of work in the long term. The ROI of the time spent investing and learning is impressive.
If you could give any advice to someone starting out with Lendermarket, what would it be?
For me, the key to investing in high yield P2P loans is definitely creating compound interest. So, to those who are about to start with Lendermarket, I would say to set up autoinvest so that all profits are reinvested. In the long term, for me, this strategy is proving to be very rewarding.
What changes do you expect in the P2P lending market in the next 5 years?
I have been keeping an eye on the P2P lending market in the US since 2015. Looking at the United States has always helped me read the future in Europe. Yields are normalizing and more and more platforms are receiving attention from institutional investors. A key figure to keep an eye on is the volume of loans mediated by European platforms. This volume is increasing steadily and progressively, an excellent sign of health for the sector.
You are welcome to check out Sal’s blog here.
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