Put this in the “better late than never” department. Yes, I know it is late July and I am only now just publishing my Q1 2019 returns. Thanks to those of you who reached out but rest assured I am still committed to sharing my results publicly and I apologize for the extreme tardiness of this update.
I am happy to report this quarter that my returns continue to improve. Since hitting bottom in Q2 of 2018 my returns have improved each quarter. Both LendingClub and Prosper showed their best returns in almost two years as the underwriting changes that were implemented in 2017 have had a positive impact.
Overall Marketplace Lending Return at 6.09%
My overall returns for the twelve months ending March 31, 2019 was 6.09%. This is up from 5.35% that I reported in Q4 and 4.77% in Q3. My original six LendingClub and Prosper accounts had another full percentage point jump. Last quarter I reported the returns on those six accounts had jumped from 3.19% in Q3 to 4.16% in Q4. We see this quarter they are at 5.18%. This is quite a remarkable turnaround and while I still think 5% is not a high enough return for unsecured consumer lending, it is certainly moving in the right direction.
One point to note is that I am liquidating my taxable accounts at LendingClub and Prosper. I have a little too much exposure to consumer credit in my overall portfolio and so I will be focused only on investing in my IRA accounts there. I am moving my redeemed cash into other marketplace lending accounts as well as other investments outside of fintech.
Now on to the numbers. Click the table below to see it at full size.
