New era for equity crowdfunding
The Australian Government’s long-awaited equity crowdfunding reforms have finally been passed, almost a year after they were introduced to federal parliament. The Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced funding for Proprietary Companies) Bill 2017 is the government’s third attempt at legislating equity crowdfunding. Its first bill was left stranded by the July 2016 election, and its second bill – which took effect in October 2017 – was criticised by the industry for requiring companies to become unlisted public companies before they could have access to equity crowdfunding. That was the basis under which seven equity crowdfunding platforms were licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in January 2018. However, the public […]
OpenInvest platform gives SMSF trustees direct access to quality investment managers
An online marketplace and platform offering investors access to a diverse range of Australian and international investment managers launched last night in Sydney with self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees the primary market. The OpenInvest platform will give SMSF trustees and other investors the means and ability to choose from a range of highly credible and experienced managers, with Schroders, Shaw and Partners, SG Hiscock, JBWere, InvestSense (in collaboration with Magellan and Pimco) and Clime Investment Management among the foundation partners. Other managers will follow in the New Year. These investment managers will provide content, information and regular updates explaining their thinking on key issues that influence their investment decisions. This […]
Fintech should make advice ‘enjoyable’
A software integration firm has highlighted how technology should be about making the client experience of advice more “enjoyable” as well being agile to constantly changing adviser needs. At a media roundtable in Sydney yesterday, YTML director Terri Ho said a lot of emotion is attached to financial advice, however it tends to become really dry and go down to the numbers. Further, she said that a lot of the time, trust is more important for the client and that it’s those emotional aspects that clients are looking for. “We have to make advice enjoyable. We have to make the experience of receiving advice enjoyable. And it’s certainly not enjoyable,” […]
Technology helping SMSF trustees to deal with uncertainty
An array of emerging tools is available to help SMSF trustees better manage their assets, crucial in times of stockmarket volatility. These new, largely digital technologies are giving trustees and members quality information about how to optimise the performance of their funds. Increasingly, self-directed SMSFs are able to access more asset classes via a joint online broker and online admin solution. For trustees this means increased simplicity – one sign-up process and one account holding all the fund’s investments, feeding data directly to all necessary parties. “For an SMSF, time is your most valuable asset – so don’t waste it on admin, paperwork or reporting,” says Arnie Selvarajah, CEO of […]
DIY super funds getting into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
More do-it-yourself super funds are investing in cryptocurrencies as interest in investing in digital currencies rises among investors generally. While no hard data will be available until later next year when the Tax Office releases figures for the first time on how much cryptocurrency is held by funds, industry players say there are more self-managed super funds (SMSFs) investing. Fred Schebesta, a co-founder of comparison site Finder as well as digital currency exchange HiveEx, notes a marked increase in enquiries from SMSFs looking to buy cryptocurrency. And Adrian Przelozny, the chief executive of Sydney-based digital currency exchange Independent Reserve, has about 6000 self-managed super funds on the platform, with half […]
Equity Crowdfunding: A Fintech Story
by Steve Kourabas* Digital Revolution The period following the global financial crisis of 2008 has brought with it massive changes to the digital economy. Almost every human interaction, and almost every organisation, has been impacted by the technology boom, which has brought with it new opportunities for innovation and dynamism. Developments in the area of finance have been particularly pronounced, with Fintech (a contraction of “finance” and “technology”) offering the opportunity to an increasing number of consumers around the world at all income levels to participate in financial markets.[1] Equity Crowdfunding (ECF) is one such advancement in the Fintech space that offers the opportunity for small and medium enterprises […]
Managed accounts provider enters crowdfunding
ASIC has granted a variation to the AFSL of a managed accounts provider, allowing it to provide an equity crowdfunding service. BIR Financial told shareholders that its securities trading and corporate advisory business, Pulse Markets, was recently granted permission to begin an equity crowdfunding service. Pulse Markets currently offers several model portfolios to clients as part of its managed discretionary accounts business. It also provides securities trading services to retail and wholesale investors. BIR Financial is listed on the ASX and said in a statement that: “Pulse Markets maintains its advantage in the rapidly evolving financial services industry through independence, innovative financial products and new market opportunities to meet clients’ […]
Ord Minnett readies online consumer lender MoneyMe for fund raising
Fast-growing consumer lending company MoneyMe knows plenty about writing cheques, and now it is asking potential investors to do the same. Street Talk understands MoneyMe will front institutional investors and family offices in coming days, seeking support for a pre-initial public offering funding round. The raising is expected to be worth as much as $15 million and structured as a convertible note issue. Stockbroker Ord Minnett has been lining up investor meetings in Sydney and Melbourne, fund manager sources said. If successful, it would be the first (quasi) equity raising by the personal lender. The company made headlines when it secured $100 million from global credit investor Fortress Investment Group […]
