HeavyFinance review
Ratings
Loan types available
Equipment finance
Secured business loans
Loan characteristics
9-36 month maturities
Euro only
No buybacks
Secured loans
5 countries
Website and investment product features
Auto-invest
Manual selection
Secondary market
4 languages
What is HeavyFinance? How does it work?
HeavyFinance is a regulated P2P investment site based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Launched in 2020, it focuses on impact investing to help farmers move towards more sustainable practices – while earning 10-14% interest for investors.
The team behind it have a track record in this space – CEO Laimonas Noreika previously founded another successful Lithuanian P2P site Finbee, while CFO Andrius Liukaitis previously led the IPO of the other P2P platform Neo Finance. Other members of the team have a background in equipment sales and leasing. You can read our interview with their CEO here. HeavyFinance focuses on lending to small and mid-sized farmers located in the European Union. They feel that this is a market in which there is an under-supply of finance from banks, particularly in their home region of the Baltics. As a result, the interest rates available to investors are higher than you would expect relative to the risk of the loans. It also means that there is scope for HeavyFinance to grow significantly in the coming years.
Most loans featured on HeavyFinance are to fund the purchase of large and expensive farm machinery. All loans are secured – mainly on farm equipment but in some cases on farmland too. HeavyFinance provides loan to value (‘LTV’) information on their site, based on the value of the collateral registered. However, the management team are quick to point out that all the loans are guaranteed by the farmers, who typically hold significant amounts of other assets. The HeavyFinance team review the bank statements and financial statements of the farmers as part of their due diligence and credit approval processes – they don’t just look at the collateral values.
Opening an account at HeavyFinance is a fairly quick and simple process. However please note that HeavyFinance uses a third party service called Paysera Lemonway to hold investor funds. Lemonway is used by more than 8 million people, and is regulated in France. While the use of Lemonway means there are additional steps required to invest at HeavyFinance, the benefit is that no investor funds are ever held ‘on deposit’ with HeavyFinance itself. The funds held at Lemonway are in a segregated IBAN (bank account) owned and controlled by each investor. We think this system is much safer for investors, and we expect more P2P sites to adopt this type of cash management system in the future.
What we like
What we don't like
- Interest rates are high - typically 10 to 14%
- The quality of information provided about each loan is fantastic. HeavyFinance provides significant documentation and background information about each borrower and the assets being financed
- All loans are secured
- LTVs are reasonable - generally 50-70%
- Helps to support farmers and European food production
- Good transparency - HeavyFinance publishes audited financial information and monthly business updates
- Good diversification opportunity - provides investors exposure to a new asset class that allows them to diversify their portfolio
- Borrowers receive significant government subsidies
- Website is well presented and is easy to use
- Integration with Lemonway works well, and protects the cash balances of investors
- Website offers multiple languages
- Experienced management team
- Too early to know the likely level of loan extensions, defaults and possible losses
- Agriculture is unpredictable - investors will need to expect some loans will be extended or restructured
- HeavyFinance is still small - it needs to grow to get to scale and become profitable
Risk and return profile
Conclusions on HeavyFinance
We think the risk / reward profile at HeavyFinance will be attractive to many investors.
One of the things we have discussed with the management team is how easy it is to value the collateral, and how easy it is to re-sell if needed. Valuation of the collateral does not appear to be that difficult, as there is significant data available on depreciation curves and also selling prices. Most farm machinery and heavy equipment have relatively long lives, so they will not depreciate quickly during the life of the loan (unlike for example, new cars).
A lien is registered at the mortgage registries against all assets being used as collateral. This means that they cannot be sold until the loan is repaid. Selling second hand equipment appears to be a fairly simple process, with potential buyers existing across Europe.
All loans are guaranteed by the farm owners. That means that in the event a collateral is unable to be recovered, or there is a shortfall after the collateral sale, HeavyFinance would be able to pursue further legal action. This means that the courts could require the farms to sell other assets (or the farm itself) to repay HeavyFinance investors.
HeavyFinance provides different risk grades for each loan – A+, A, B+, B, C+, C. The credit score is based on a Balance sheet, P&L, crop declaration and data gathered from credit databases (APIS in Bulgaria, Credit Info in Lithuania, Lursoft in Latvia, BIK in Poland, Bank of Portugal in Portugal). The credit scoring model consists of various inputs, such as income, liabilities, debt history, net revenue, equity, assets, LTV and the change in certain ratios through time.
We think that HeavyFinance is one of the best new P2P sites to launch in the last year. We really like the combination of an experienced management team, interesting asset class, high interest rates, and exposure to the (heavily subsidised) European agriculture sector.
HeavyFinance’s risk adjusted return profile is strong. We think that interest rates of 10-14%, combined with acceptable LTVs and borrowers with good credit profiles makes HeavyFinance a site that many investors will find interesting.
At the moment 60% of the loans listed are in the Baltic region but the company is rapidly growing in Poland with 70 agricultural loans issued in H1 2022. In first half of the year, the company have also originated 42 loans in Bulgaria and 44 loans in Portugal. We hope that the site can succeed in growing in these markets in the coming months as it will provide investors with more opportunities and the ability to diversify geographically.
The volume of loans has been increasing. However it will take time to build a diversified portfolio. We think a portfolio of at least 15-20 loans is ideal, to reduce the potential impact of a single default on investor returns.
The main downside to HeavyFinance currently is that it is a new platform and as a result it is not yet profitable. We were pleased to see that HeavyFinance had a successful equity raise last year, with another planned in H1 2023. So far, HeavyFinance has raised €1.2 million from venture capital funds bValue, BlackPearls, startup accelerator Startup Wise Guys and several angel investors.
As for the lack of track record – the risk is mitigated considerably by all the loans being secured. Some investors will want to wait and see, while we expect many more will decide to make some initial investments and monitor how things go.
Bonus for New HeavyFinance Investors
HeavyFinance is offering a sign up bonus to new investors for a limited time period. To earn this bonus, follow the following steps:
1. Open an account with HeavyFinance using this link. (Note – this link must be used to qualify for the bonus)
2. Invest into HeavyFinance loans within 30 days of account opening.
3. The size of the bonus depends on how much you invest. It is one of the most generous schemes open at the moment – earn €20 for €500 investment, €40 for €1,000, €75 for €5,000 and 2% for amounts €10,000 and higher. It will be credited to your account shortly after the end of the 30 day period.
Other sites to consider
Mintos is the largest P2P investment site in Europe. It offers an excellent range of investments including secured loans. Over 50 lenders list loans on Mintos
Reinvest24 is a property crowd-funding site that operates in the same region as HeavyFinance. Investors can participate in the potential growth in property values, and receive income from renting them out.
Bulkestate is a small but growing site focused on loans secured on real estate. It offers loans secured by real estate. Their rates are the highest in Europe for secured loans currently (11-14%)
LendSecured has been operating since 2011 but has only now launched a P2P platform. It offers loans secured on farmland, and development projects. Plans to launch some interesting products during 2021
October is focused on lending to small businesses in France, Spain and Italy. Rates are often a little lower than the other sites we list here, but some investors will like October due to the countries it operates in.
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