More investors taking on smart beta ETFs
Research from VanEck reveals that investors are increasing their allocation towards smart beta ETFs, as opposed to market capitalisation and active strategies. Smart beta cumulative net flows as a percentage of total flows has grown from 11.7 per cent to 21.7 per cent between 2016 and 2018, according to VanEck’s ETF IQ Scorecard for December 2018. “By strategy, smart beta ETFs are gaining in popularity, now accounting for about one-quarter of all inflows at $1.6 billion over the year to date, as investors seek targeted investment outcomes and wealth-building strategies not offered by traditional ETFs, which track market capitalisation indices,” VanEck said. Meanwhile, net flow allocation to active exchange-traded products […]
ANZ Bank buys into online mortgage broker Lendi
ANZ Banking Group has taken a strategic stake in online home loans platform Lendi. Street Talk understands ANZ paid close to $40 million for a minority stake, to become Lendi’s second largest strategic shareholder behind fellow Australian financial services giant Macquarie Group. Importantly for Lendi, which has 37 banks and lenders on its open home loans platform, the business will continue to be run independently and at arms length to its strategic investors. ANZ will not be given a board seat, as consistent with Lendi’s treatment of Macquarie and other strategic investors including Pepper. It is understood ANZ agreed to write the cheque after spending much of last year talking […]
Xinja launches second equity crowdfunding campaign on Equitise platform
Pioneer Australian neobank Xinja today gives everyday Australians another chance to join the digital banking revolution by purchasing shares through leading equity crowdfunding platform Equitise. The raise – opened early to existing investors, customers and people who had registered interest – has passed the minimum of $500,000 in less than 9 hours. Xinja, a digital neobank designed entirely for mobile, last month received unprecedented expressions of interest when its second equity crowdfund to begin in early 2019 was announced on Equitise. With shares available from today on the Equitise platform, Xinja Chief Executive and founder Eric Wilson said he’s confident there will be early and consistent interest from investors who […]
Robo-advice growth a worldwide trend
A new survey reveals the robo-advisory is increasing in competition across both the Asia-Pacific and European markets. Research from data and analytics company GlobalData’s Wealth Managers Survey found that the robo-advisory market is increasing in competition globally, with more start-ups entering the wealth management industry year by year. According to GlobalData wealth management analyst Sergel Woldemichael, traditional wealth managers across the globe in previous years had a widespread level of agreement that robo-advice would seize market share. “However, as of 2018, the level of agreement that Asian-Pacific and European wealth managers will lose market share to robo-advisors is beginning to align,” Mr Woldemicheal said. To read more, please click […]
Long-dormant Bitcoin whales resuming activity could rock price action, analysts say
The number of active Bitcoin (BTC) wallets, many of which have long been dormant, has seen an uptick that could herald some major market movements, Bloomberg reports Jan. 11. Bloomberg bases its report on data and analysis from crypto analytics startup Flipside Crypto, which sealed the backing of major crypto exchange Coinbase and veteran crypto venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) back in November. According to Flipside, as of Oct. 2018, a high number of long-inactive Bitcoin holders — defined as those that haven’t transferred their Bitcoin for between six and thirty months — have begun to transfer their coins, resulting in wallets active over the past month now […]
Here’s how you can buy a brewery for just $100
While it may be a fantasy of many, the dream of buying a brewery (or at least part of one) is actually within reach. Endeavour Brewing Company, the minds behind the Endeavour Tap Room in Sydney’s iconic Circular Quay, are plotting international expansion and are giving ordinary Australians the chance to own some of the action. Launching a crowdfunding campaign on online platform Equitise last month, founder Ben Kooyman is looking for up to $3 million in investment, allowing Australians to get in for as little as $100. “They get full ordinary shares, they’ve got access to future dividends if we decide to issue them, and future proceeds if we sell the […]
Ten years of bitcoin is about more than boom, bubble and bust
This weekend will mark the 10th anniversary of the very first transaction involving bitcoin. A decade later the future of bitcoins and the host of the so-called cryptocurrencies that it spawned is still uncertain. On 12 January 2009, someone who called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto sent 10 bitcoins to a US software engineer, Hal Finney (they may, some believe, have been one and the same). The coins were virtually worthless and it took more than two years before the first exchange of bitcoins for goods – 10,000 bitcoin for two pizzas worth about $US30 ($42) – occurred. For most of their history cryptocurrencies have been a curiosity, a peer-to-peer anti-establishment version […]
Where is the cryptocurrency industry headed in 2019?
To get a sense of just how troubling 2018 has been for the cryptocurrency industry, one need look no further than bitcoin (BTC). Heading into 2018, bitcoin traded for close to $13,500 after reaching an all-time high of $19,783.06 in December of 2017. At the time of writing, bitcoin is selling at $3,400, a loss of about three-quarters of its value — and other digital currencies aren’t faring much better. Ethereum, for example, fell from an early-year high of $1,300 to $91 as of Dec. 17, 2018. But cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum are hurting on more fronts than value alone. Investor interest in digital currencies has waned dramatically in […]
