- Venture
Wunder Review
Wunder offers investments in long-term funds (7-10 years) that finance a range of solar energy projects to organizations like small businesses, schools, and churches, offering accredited investors monthly cash flow of 6-8.5% with no fees. It’s possible to find a better return on unsecured loans, but part of the upside with Wunder comes from supporting clean energy.
Wunder
- Investment Types: Venture
- Sectors: Cleantech and Solar
- Minimum Investment: $1,000
- Advertised Returns: 6-8.5%
- Must be accredited
Pros
- Built-in diversification
- No fees charged to investors
- Monthly payments (principal and interest)
- Promotes clean energy
- Low investment minimums
Cons
- Currently open only to accredited investors
- Return rates on the low end for an unsecured investment
- Fund terms are relatively long (7-10 years)
- Only two funds available at the time of this writing
Overview
This Wunder Review will help you learn more about Wunder's investment offerings, including how the alternative investments on Wunder are structured, and what your potential returns might be. You can read more about the criteria we use to review investment platforms here.
Wunder is a niche Reg D investment crowdfunding platform offering investments in funds that in turn loan money to finance solar projects, primarily to small businesses, schools, and other institutions.
Types of investments Wunder offers
Wunder’s funds invest only in loans to finance various solar projects. Some loans are long-term (typically 7 years) while others are short-term (some as short as 12 months). Investors participate in a particular fund with a specified term and projected return characteristics, but do not get to choose which specific projects are financed via that fund.
At the time of this writing, there were two active investments, the Wunder Term Fund and the Wunder Income Fund, with projected annual returns of 8.5% and 6% respectively.
What do you get when investing with Wunder?
Investors receive “Platform Notes” issued by a special-purpose LLC created for the fund, entitling them to a pro-rata share of principal and interest payments during the duration of the fund’s term.
How does Wunder make money?
Wunder does not charge investors any fees, though there are fees for borrowers. There are also no ongoing AUM fees, though Wunder does reserve the right to cover various administrative expenses using the funds’ money.
Potential returns and cashflow
Wunder’s investments offer monthly cashflow with varying terms and projected return profile. For example, at the time of this writing, the Wunder Term Fund targets an 8.5% annual return over 84 months, with the Wunder Income Fund targeting a 6% return over 120 months. Payments include interest and principal, amortizing over the lifetime of the loan (which differs from some of the real estate platforms, which pay interest-only until the loan terminates, when principal is returned).
Breadth of offerings on Wunder
As a niche platform, Wunder doesn’t offer a very wide range of choices for investments. That said, within each active fund, investors get exposure to dozens of individual projects, baking in a degree of diversification. Once a fund is selected, investors are offered visibility into which projects are funded, but are not able to opt-out of any particular investment.
Regulatory framework
Wunder offers investments using SEC Reg D, and currently only offer access to accredited investors.
They have stated plans to open investment to non-accredited investors at some point in the future.
Wunder underwrites the loans themselves. Borrowers provide documentation like financial statements, other debt service and current utility bills, and following review loans are approved by an internal funding committee. Prospective investors should note that Wunder’s loans are not secured, and borrowers are not required to provide any personal guarantee for the loan.
This review was first published on 26 March 2017.
Our Rating
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