Understanding Your True P2P Returns
XIRR Explained
Your platform says you're earning 12%. But are you really? Learn why XIRR is the gold standard for measuring your actual P2P investment performance.
The Problem with Platform Returns
You shouldn't rely on the return percentages you see when logging into your P2P platform. Here's why they often differ significantly from reality.
Platform Reported
12.0%
Actual XIRR
10.0%
Difference: 2.0% lower than reported
Why Platform Returns Are Misleading
They ignore uninvested cash
A €10,000 account with only €5,000 invested at 14% earns roughly 7% overall — but platforms report 14%.
Cash drag kills returns silently
Typical investors lose 1-2% annually to cash drag — money waiting between loan repayments and reinvestment.
They use projected, not actual, losses
Platforms estimate defaults optimistically. Your real defaults may be higher than their projections.
Secondary market distorts numbers
Buying loans at discounts or selling at premiums isn't properly reflected in their NAR calculations.
What is XIRR?
XIRR (Extended Internal Rate of Return) is your money-weighted return — it calculates the annualized return rate that makes the present value of all your cash flows equal to zero, accounting for exact dates.
Think of XIRR like a GPS that calculates your average speed for a road trip — it doesn't just divide total distance by total time, it accounts for when you were actually driving versus stopped at rest areas.
Dates Matter, Not Just Amounts
€1,000 invested on January 1st contributes more to your return than €1,000 invested on December 1st.
Annualized & Comparable
Whether you've invested for 3 months or 3 years, XIRR gives you a yearly rate you can compare to any other investment.
Your Personal Reality
Unlike platform rates, XIRR reflects YOUR actual experience — including cash sitting uninvested.
XIRR vs ROI vs IRR vs TWR
Each metric answers a different question. Understanding when to use each helps you evaluate investments correctly.
| Metric | Time Value | Cash Flow Timing | Output | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROI | N/A | Total return % | Quick, simple comparisons | |
| IRR | Regular intervals | Annual rate | Monthly rent, fixed payments | |
| TWR | Between cash flows | Annual rate | Comparing fund managers | |
| XIRR Recommended | Specific dates | Annual rate | P2P, SIPs, real portfolios |
ROI
IRR
TWR
XIRR
RecommendedXIRR (money-weighted) measures your actual returns. TWR (time-weighted) measures how the investment performed regardless of your cash flows. For P2P investors who control their deposits and withdrawals, XIRR is the right choice.
How XIRR Works
The math is complex, but the concept is straightforward:
List Every Cash Movement
Record each deposit (as negative) and withdrawal (as positive) with the exact date it happened.
Add Your Current Value
Include today's portfolio value as a final positive entry — this represents what you'd get if you withdrew everything today.
Find the Rate
XIRR iteratively finds the annual rate where these cash flows, discounted to present value, sum to zero.
Calculate It Yourself
You can calculate XIRR in Excel or Google Sheets with a simple formula:
Formula Syntax
=XIRR(cashflow_amounts, cashflow_dates, [rate_guess]) Example:
=XIRR(B2:B5, A2:A5, 0.1) Getting It Right
- ✓ Deposits = negative (money leaving your bank)
- ✓ Current value + withdrawals = positive (money coming back)
- ✓ Getting #NUM! error? Add a guess like 0.15 or 0.25 as the third parameter
- ✓ Result is a decimal — multiply by 100 for percentage (or format as %)
- ✓ Works in Google Sheets, Excel, LibreOffice, and most financial software
Practical Example
You invest in a P2P platform throughout the year, adding money as you have it available:
Cash Flows
Initial investment
Added more funds
Portfolio value
Calculated Returns
Simple ROI
8.5%
XIRR
11.3%
Why is XIRR higher? Because earning €850 on money that averaged only 7.5 months invested is more impressive than it looks. XIRR recognizes your capital worked harder during the time it was actually deployed.
When XIRR Has Limitations
XIRR is powerful, but understanding its edge cases helps you interpret results correctly:
Requires both deposits and value
You need at least one negative cash flow (deposit) and one positive (current value or withdrawal) for XIRR to calculate.
Short periods = extreme rates
A 5% gain in one month becomes 80% annualized. This is mathematically correct but can look misleading for new portfolios.
May need a rate guess
The default 10% starting guess doesn't always work. If you get an error in Excel, try adding a guess parameter like 0.15.
Sign changes complicate things
Portfolios with many withdrawals then deposits can have multiple valid XIRR solutions, though this is rare in practice.
The Good News
For typical P2P portfolios held for 6+ months with regular deposits, XIRR works flawlessly and gives you the most honest picture of your returns.
P2P platform returns compared (2026)
Median net return (XIRR) of real investor portfolios per platform — anonymized community data from P2P Dash.
As of July 15, 2026
| Platform | Median XIRR | Middle 50% | Investors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ventus Energy | 26.8% | 25.1% – 30.0% | 672 |
| 2 |  Asterra Estate | 24.9% | 23.4% – 28.8% | 273 |
| 3 |  Maclear | 23.0% | 17.1% – 27.6% | 359 |
| 4 |  Devon | 22.4% | 21.0% – 24.4% | 307 |
| 5 |  La Première Brique | 18.8% | 9.4% – 25.7% | 28 |
| 6 |  LenderMarket | 18.4% | 15.9% – 21.5% | 359 |
| 7 |  Nectaro | 16.9% | 15.1% – 20.1% | 447 |
| 8 |  Loanch | 15.8% | 14.2% – 18.0% | 293 |
| 9 |  Quanloop | 15.6% | 13.8% – 17.1% | 96 |
| 10 |  Debitum | 15.1% | 13.7% – 17.0% | 770 |
| 11 |  Finbee | 14.8% | 12.9% – 15.9% | 32 |
| 12 |  Afranga | 14.5% | 13.6% – 15.3% | 398 |
| 13 |  Finforta | 14.3% | 13.5% – 15.0% | 39 |
| 14 |  Bienprêter | 14.2% | 13.5% – 16.7% | 107 |
| 15 |  Hive5 | 14.1% | 13.3% – 14.7% | 226 |
| 16 |  Scramble | 13.9% | 10.8% – 15.6% | 36 |
| 17 |  Swaper | 13.3% | 12.3% – 14.0% | 290 |
| 18 |  Kviku | 12.5% | 11.5% – 13.4% | 18 |
| 19 |  Income | 12.2% | 10.8% – 13.3% | 316 |
| 20 |  Stikcredit | 12.1% | 11.3% – 12.7% | 22 |
| 21 |  Viainvest | 12.1% | 11.5% – 12.7% | 487 |
| 22 |  Crowdpear | 11.9% | 10.7% – 15.3% | 80 |
| 23 |  Twino | 11.7% | 10.7% – 13.1% | 232 |
| 24 |  Esketit | 11.5% | 10.8% – 12.3% | 311 |
| 25 |  Modena | 11.4% | 9.7% – 13.3% | 264 |
| 26 |  ANote Music | 11.3% | 11.2% – 11.4% | 6 |
| 27 |  NEO Finance | 11.3% | 6.7% – 12.9% | 12 |
| 28 |  Mintos | 10.9% | 9.0% – 12.7% | 937 |
| 29 |  Fintown | 10.6% | 8.6% – 11.7% | 162 |
| 30 |  Robocash | 10.3% | 9.4% – 11.6% | 241 |
| 31 |  Iuvo | 9.7% | 8.2% – 11.2% | 52 |
| 32 |  Bondster | 9.6% | 8.4% – 12.4% | 37 |
| 33 |  Profitus | 9.5% | 7.5% – 17.4% | 18 |
| 34 |  Capitalia | 9.4% | 8.7% – 10.1% | 48 |
| 35 |  Peerberry | 9.4% | 8.3% – 10.2% | 410 |
| 36 |  Lande | 9.3% | 8.6% – 10.1% | 364 |
| 37 |  Inrento | 9.1% | 8.2% – 10.1% | 104 |
| 38 |  Bricks | 8.7% | 7.5% – 9.7% | 16 |
| 39 |  InSoil | 8.5% | 5.9% – 10.5% | 56 |
| 40 |  Crowdestor | 8.5% | 4.7% – 15.1% | 33 |
| 41 |  Monefit | 8.3% | 7.1% – 9.5% | 813 |
| 42 |  Brickstarter | 6.8% | 5.2% – 8.1% | 18 |
| 43 |  Go & Grow | 6.4% | 6.1% – 6.6% | 860 |
| 44 |  Indemo | 6.0% | 3.7% – 10.4% | 442 |
| 45 |  Estateguru | 5.8% | 4.3% – 7.3% | 156 |
| 46 |  Enerfip | 5.6% | 4.7% – 6.7% | 15 |
| 47 |  Tantiem | 5.5% | 4.4% – 6.8% | 9 |
| 48 |  CivisLend | 4.6% | 3.6% – 5.9% | 41 |
| 49 |  Generic | 4.5% | 1.2% – 6.7% | 136 |
| 50 |  wecity | 4.3% | 1.7% – 7.5% | 71 |
| 51 |  Crowdestate | 2.3% | 1.5% – 3.5% | 6 |
| 52 |  Timeless | -3.3% | -5.7% – -2.3% | 25 |
Only platforms with at least 5 tracked portfolios on P2P Dash are shown.
See the full community ranking →Understanding the Full Picture
XIRR is just one metric for understanding your returns. Learn how it connects to other important P2P concepts.
Cash Drag Explained
Cash drag is the silent killer of returns that XIRR captures. Learn what causes it and how to minimize its impact.
Buyback Guarantee Explained
Buyback guarantees affect your XIRR when defaults happen. Learn what they really protect — and what they don't.
Diversification Explained
Your blended XIRR hides how concentrated your portfolio is. Learn to spread risk across platforms and originators, not just loans.
Loan Lifecycle Explained
Late loans, defaults and recoveries all change your real return. Follow a loan through its full lifecycle to see how.
Secondary Market Explained
Buying at a discount or selling at a premium quietly moves your return. See how secondary-market trading really works.
Frequently asked questions about XIRR
The short answers to the most common XIRR questions.
What is a good XIRR for P2P lending?
There is no universal benchmark, but real data gives a reference point: across 1,706 investors tracking their portfolios on P2P Dash, the median net XIRR is currently 11.8%, with the middle 50% earning between 9.3% and 15.2%. An XIRR well below that range often points to cash drag, defaults or fees eating into returns.
Is XIRR annualized?
Yes. XIRR always expresses an annualized rate of return, no matter how long or irregular the investment period is. That makes a 6-month investment directly comparable with a 3-year one — both are stated as a return per year.
How is XIRR calculated?
XIRR finds the single annual rate at which all cash flows — every deposit and withdrawal on its exact date — discount to zero. There is no closed formula; the rate is found iteratively. In practice you use the XIRR function in Excel or Google Sheets, or a tool like P2P Dash that calculates it automatically from your transaction history.
What is the difference between XIRR and IRR?
IRR assumes evenly spaced periods, for example one cash flow per year. XIRR works with the exact date of every cash flow. Since P2P portfolios receive deposits, interest and repayments on irregular dates, XIRR is the correct measure for them.
What is the difference between XIRR and TWR (time-weighted return)?
They answer different questions. XIRR is money-weighted: it reflects the return on your actual money, so the timing and size of your deposits and withdrawals affect the result. TWR (time-weighted return, also written TWRR) strips out the effect of those cash flows to measure the pure performance of the underlying investments — it is what funds use to compare managers on an equal footing. For judging how your own P2P portfolio actually did, XIRR is the more relevant number, because your deposit timing and cash drag are part of your real result. TWR is more useful for comparing platforms or strategies independently of when you happened to add money.
Why is my XIRR lower than the platform's advertised rate?
Advertised rates describe individual loans, not your account. Idle cash (cash drag), payment delays, defaults and fees all reduce your account-level return. XIRR measures what you actually earn on all the money you deposited — that gap is exactly why tracking it matters.
Calculate Your Real Returns
P2P Dash calculates XIRR automatically across all your platforms. No spreadsheets needed — just upload your exports and see your true performance.