From football to finance: Why Ted Richards wants to make investing easier
With 261 first-grade AFL games under his belt, former Sydney Swans defender Ted Richards isn’t your average financial guru – but he’s willing to bet that footy is a lot closer to money management than you think. After retiring from professional football at the end of 2016, Richards moved onto his second love of finance, becoming the Director of Business Development at Robo-advice startup Six Park. It sounds like the high-pressure world of being an Aussie rules superstar is the perfect antonym for the often-stuffy industry of finance management, but Richards says in many ways the two are the same. “Finance is a lot like footy in that while the […]
Myprosperity partners with $6.2bn platform
Myprosperity has partnered with an ASX-listed investment and superannuation platform provider to give clients whole-of-wealth solutions. Clients can now access HUB24 assets via myprosperity. HUB24 director of strategic development Jason Entwistle said by opening up the HUB24 platform and sharing data, it provides advisers and accountants the freedom to choose the technology solutions that provide the best experience for them and their clients. Former Xero Australia managing director and Myprosperity chief executive, Chris Ridd, said centralising clients’ wealth in one place creates massive opportunities for advisers. “By minimising time spent on administrative tasks, and providing their clients a bespoke wealth portal powered by live data feeds, advisers can grow their […]
Peppermint tech trials a winner with Filipinos
Real-time testing of Peppermint Innovation’s mobile-phone bill payment technology is delivering significant customer insights that will assist the ASX-listed fin-tech company to fully commercialise its unique APP. During the past few months, almost 500 representative agents of Filipino businesses MyWeps, Metro Gas and SUNMar Express have been conducting ‘live’ pilot programs with their customers to help improve Peppermint’s mobile platform.At present, 70 per cent of Filipinos do not operate a bank account and millions of Filipinos receive their weekly wage in cash. They are forced to physically pay their bills in cash, causing them to travel great distances across town to ensure all of their household bills are paid. Peppermint’s […]
Bitcoin’s rollercoaster ride: $50 billion wiped off before cryptocurrency bounces back
Bitcoin is proving that investing in digital currencies isn’t for the faint of heart. After plunging as much as 29 per cent from a record high following the cancellation of a technology upgrade on November 8, the largest cryptocurrency came roaring back in early trading Monday before fluctuating between gains and losses. “Crypto trading is not for the novice investor,” said John Spallanzani, chief macro strategist at GFI Securities in New York. While multiple reasons are being cited for the price volatility, one of the more viable is that some investors are switching to alternative coins. Bitcoin cash, an offshoot of bitcoin that includes many of the technical upgrades being […]
SMSFs in rugby legend’s sights as licensing numbers stagnate
In light of the limited take-up of the AFSL regime for accountants, one fintech and robo-advice oriented firm is ramping up its efforts as a referral partner to accountants looking to provide investment advice, including to SMSFs. Stirling Mortlock, Wallabies captain from 2006-2009, moved from a consulting role at NAB to Stockspot in July this year, with a view to boost distribution to professional intermediaries. The ‘Partners Program’ is now in full swing, and the company is eyeing accountants to secure the business of SMSF clients in particular, in light of the accountants’ exemption phase-out and the extremely low take-up of AFSLs among accountants. “We feel as though it’s a […]
Australia and UK “Concluding Negotiations” for new FinTech deal
The Australian High Commissioner to the UK has revealed that the two countries are on the verge of inking a new FinTech agreement. Speaking at a global trade conference last week, Australia’s high commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer reportedly stated that the two countries “are in the process of concluding negotiations on fintech”, a move that will boost Australia with direct ties to one of Britain’s fastest-growing industries. As reported by International Investment, Downer further revealed that the agreement will bring enhanced cooperation between the two countries’ regulatory authorities. A spokesperson for Her Majesty’s Treasury, the UK’s economic finance ministry, confirmed the advanced talks, stating: “The UK and Australia […]
IPO Wealth to facilitate foreign ASX listings
Fintech start-up IPO Wealth has raised $10 million in growth capital that it will use to help overseas companies list on the ASX. Since March 2017, high net wealth investors have invested $10 million in the IPO Wealth Fund, which aims to help overseas companies list on the ASX and has funded the growth capital of 10 investments across eight countries. IPO Wealth chief executive James Mawhinney said in a statement that the capital raised within the first half-year of the fund demonstrated that investors were looking for opportunities outside of traditional means, “which are often eroded by inflation”. “This represents a significant opportunity to provide IPO Wealth’s investors with […]
Novatti partners with Lightyear
Novatti Group has partnered with Lightyear.io to progress the integration of the Novatti platform into the Stellar network, aiming to build a global money transfer solution. Lightyear.io supports partner integrations for the Stellar network, an open-source blockchain network that provides interoperability between financial institutions and different payments, making cross currency and cross asset payments much faster, more efficient, and less costly. The Novatti platform is already capable of integrating with blockchain and Bitcoin technology to enable payments to and from Bitcoin account holders. Source: Novatti partners with Lightyear – The Australian
