In this review, we’ll analyse Mintos pros, cons, fees, security measures, and how it compares agains other robo-advisors.
Visit WebsiteAs a European investor, you've likely heard of Mintos, the largest lending platform in Europe, on a mission to change how people build wealth through long-term investing.
Founded in 2014 as a peer-to-peer lending marketplace, Mintos has since experienced significant growth, currently boasting over 500k users and more than $600M in assets under management (AUM), supported by a team of over 150 employees.
In recent years, Mintos has expanded its offerings and explored new investment products, such as loan-backed securities, bonds, and, more recently, the Mintos Core ETF portfolio, which focuses on long-term investment goals and allows investors to have an automatically managed portfolio.
In this review, we will delve deeper into the key features and benefits of Mintos, with a particular focus on the Mintos Core ETF. This product serves as a robo-advisory service of Mintos, providing investors with a streamlined approach to managing their investments. We will also look deeper into the Mintos safety measures and how investors are protected when investing with Mintos.
All in all, we recommend Mintos for long-term beginner investors who can benefit from the Mintos Core ETF with no management fees. It is a good way to invest in the stock market automatically and with low fees.
On the downside, some of the products of Mintos, including their lending product, are higher-risk investments, which might conflict with the goal of users investing in the robo-advisory side of the business.
By signing up with the promo code M24STARTNOW, and invest at least €1000, you’ll get a bonus of €50!
Terms and Conditions can be found here. Capital at risk.
Established in 2014, Mintos stands as the premier peer-to-peer lending marketplace in Europe. Since its inception, Mintos has seen exponential growth, unafraid to embrace change. Originally focused on facilitating investments in loans, Mintos has evolved its core mission to revolutionize how individuals accumulate wealth through long-term investing.
In 2023, Mintos expanded its offerings to include bonds and ETFs, aiming to democratize bond investments for retail investors and simplify investment options to cater to the unique risk tolerance and financial objectives of each investor.
Moreover, Mintos operates as an authorized firm under the MiFID regulation, ensuring investors receive heightened protection and assistance when investing through the platform. Additionally, Mintos is licensed and supervised by the Central Bank of Latvia.
Mintos offers both a web and mobile web trading platform, which will be highlighted in this review. Below, we will guide you through Mintos's web trading app. This review will focus on the trading platform related to Mintos Core ETF.
Upon logging in, you will have access to an overview of your profile, allowing you to easily navigate through the different investment options available on Mintos: Loans, Bonds, and ETFs.
On the right side, you have the option to "Add money" to your account, which is a simple and straightforward process, as illustrated in the image below:
By selecting your country, you will gain access to a list of banks in your country that can be used to transfer money from your bank account. You will also have access to a dashboard for each investment option, as exemplified by "Loans". By clicking on "Current Investments," you can review your investments in "Loans".
At the top right, you can either create your portfolio of loans or browse the listings available on the platform in the primary and secondary markets. The research is comprehensive, as you can filter investments by various categories, including underlying loan type, lending company, and more.
Just as we saw with "Loans," you can easily check your investments in "Mintos" by selecting the category on your dashboard.
Now, concerning the Mintos Core ETF, when you select ETFs on the dashboard, you will see your current portfolio. In this menu, you can easily review the current value of your investment, the initial amount invested, and compare the two to calculate the total gain or loss.
By clicking on “Invest”, you can add funds to your portfolio. When you access the “Details” section, you will be presented with an overview of your portfolio. This includes geographic and sector exposure, composition in terms of underlying assets, and a brief description categorizing the investment profile for which the portfolio was built.
Mintos essentially offers three types of investments, as we saw above: Loans, Bonds, and ETFs. However, the offerings in each of these categories are extensive, particularly in Loans, which is Mintos' oldest product and, therefore, the most established.
Mintos operates as a marketplace for loans, where investors can invest in loans from around the world. This is an alternative investment with higher risk than other traditional investment options, as the return will always depend on the credibility of the borrower and the management of the debt by the issuing entity.
You can access this alternative investment with amounts over €50, which can be invested annually by constructing a portfolio of bonds, or can be automatically invested to reflect profitability, or to follow a set of rules previously defined by investors. This reflects the three options available for investing in Loans: Mintos Core, Mintos Custom, and Manual Investing.
To get started with Mintos Custom, you need to set up criteria that you want to see reflected in the portfolio created for you. These settings allow you to have a portfolio tailored to your profile and investment preferences. In addition to this option, there is Mintos Core, which automates investments to try to achieve a projected rate of return, with the portfolio rebalanced to manage portfolio risk. On the other hand, there is also the option of Manual Investing, which offers investors the possibility to define where they prefer to invest entirely manually, with a wide variety of loans available in the primary and secondary markets.
By the end of 2023, Mintos had introduced Fractional Bonds, which make corporate bonds accessible to retail investors. Just like “Loans”, the minimum investment available is €50. Given the minimum amount to invest being low, Mintos democratizes the investment in bonds, by allowing investors to invest in a small part of bonds.
But how does it work?
When investing in Fractional Bonds on Mintos, investors purchase asset-backed securities without physically holding the bonds themselves. Instead, they acquire rights to the profits, with the issuer retaining ownership of the underlying bonds and sharing earnings. These bonds are issued by a special purpose entity within the Mintos Group, responsible for acquiring and managing the underlying bonds' payments, which are then distributed to investors.
At the time of writing, Mintos does not have any Fractional Bonds listed on its website. For the latest updates on available investment options, you can check it here.
Mintos also offers the brand new product, Mintos Core ETF, which functions as a robo-advisor for investors after they complete the Suitability and Appropriateness assessment. Based on your answers and financial objectives, the platform will construct a portfolio composed entirely of ETFs for you.
The minimum investment for this product is also €50, and it comes with zero fees. Therefore, investors will only pay the Total Expense Ratio (TER) of the ETFs in the portfolio, and in this regard, Mintos commits to managing asset (ETF) selection with low TERs to reduce costs for investors. This asset selection management is based on the following points:
When you finish your Suitability and Appropriateness assessment and select "ETFs" in your overview dashboard, you will be presented with the portfolio that has been chosen for you. You will be able to check the return at any moment, as well as the weight of each ETF in the portfolio and its contribution to the total return. The weights and selection of each ETF will vary depending on the profiling resulting from the questionnaire answered, with Mintos categorizing clients into three essential types of ETFs:
Mintos offers investors a clear and transparent fee structure. It's important to note that there are no fees related to investing, withdrawing, or depositing money. However, some important points to consider are the inactive account fee, the fee associated with selling assets in the secondary market, and the currency exchange (FX) fee.
In summary, the fees for each investment product on Mintos are as follows:
Mintos is licensed and supervised by Latvijas Banka, the central bank of Latvia, with license number 06.06.08.719/534. As an investment firm based in the EU, it is subject to financial regulation, including MiFID II, which provides additional protection for investors by ensuring that Mintos adheres to established rules and requirements.
In terms of safety, it is crucial to consider two factors: how your investments are protected and the broker's background. Mintos is covered by the Latvian investor protection scheme, which safeguards investors for amounts up to a maximum of €20,000 if Mintos fails to return financial instruments or funds to investors. However, Mintos does not protect against investment risks such as poor performance of underlying loans, borrower default, or lending company default.
It's worth emphasizing that customer assets are kept fully segregated. This segregation provides assurance that, even in the event of Mintos facing bankruptcy, clients can still access their assets.
Mintos is a European-based investment firm that is accessible to most EU citizens. Additionally, individuals from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Chile can also use the platform. However, Mintos is not available in certain regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and French overseas territories like French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion.
One drawback of Mintos is the inability to deposit funds using a credit/debit card, as deposits are restricted to wire transfers and select third-party payment services. While the minimum deposit is €0, a minimum of €50 is required to start investing. It is important to note that the base currency on Mintos is EUR, and any required currency conversion will result in an FX fee of at least 0.5%.
In a nutshell, Mintos offers a wide range of investment options tailored to European investors, such as loans, bonds, and the newly introduced Mintos Core ETF. With its easy-to-use platform and transparent fee structure, Mintos aims to democratize investment opportunities and provide investors with the tools to build long-term wealth.
With over 500,000 users and $600 million in assets under management, Mintos is a standout investment company that operates under MiFID regulation and holds a license from Latvijas Banka. This license ensures that investors are protected under the Latvian investor protection scheme, which covers amounts up to a maximum of €20,000.
It is important to highlight that Mintos is more than just a peer-to-peer lending company. It positions itself as a reliable option in alternative investments, offering tools that focus on democratizing investment and promoting a long-term approach, such as the robo-advisor service, Mintos Core ETF.
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