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 […]
How Westpac is investing in fintechs and spending $1 billion on digital transformation
Westpac’s annual results show how far the bank has gone to transform itself into a digital showcase and how it has been heavily investing in the rise of disrupting fintechs. Out of a total investment of $1.4 billion, the bank spent more than $800 million in system upgrades, digital transformation, and innovation. CEO Brian Hartzer says the focus has been on delivering technology platforms, while simplifying and automating processes to make banking easier. “We have already migrated 100 applications onto our cloud infrastructure platforms which are now largely complete,” he says. “Additionally we have over 120 APIs in production and another 180 in development.” Among digital initiatives are Siri for […]
Peppermint to receive $1.5m via placement to strategic Fintech investor Smidge Digital Unit Trust
Peppermint Innovation Ltd (ASX: PIL) announce continued strategic and funding support from Smidge Digital Unit Trust (SDUT) with a further investment into Peppermint of $1.5 million. The investment was transacted via a share placement of 60,000,000 shares to SDUT at 2.5 cents per share and represents a 32% premium to PIL’s last traded price of 1.7 cents. The funds will be used to continue to accelerate the roll-out of the Company’s Bizmoto agent network in the Philippines as well as the development of a number of enterprise capabilities in micro finance and international remittance business opportunities. They will also advance work on innovative fintech products and technology platform services (to […]
Aussie fintech startup building an investment platform for rapidly growing global retire early movement
Whether you’re an intern, executive or somewhere in between, everyone wants the option of not having to work, the sooner the better for most. While the end goal is easy to picture, the path to get there seems very complicated, or even imaginary. Housing affordability, negative gearing, royal commissions and fund returns are topical stresses for older Australians. A bigger issue is younger generations not building savings in a world of credit and higher discretionary spending. Younger people work as hard as past generations but have different relationships with. Bad financial discipline results in declining happiness as financial pressure builds and is passed on to future generations. But, according to […]
IRESS releases automated personal advice solution and announces implementation with WA Super
IRESS has today announced a new automated personal advice solution allowing super funds to service members wanting superannuation advice digitally. The multi-advice, multi-channel solution, drawing on information within the fund registry, allows members to set their retirement objectives, review projections and then make choices to optimise their retirement outcomes. Members are provided with a statement of personal advice and can choose to action the recommendations using the solution and monitor progress. Members can also receive automated personal advice for wealth protection, savings and debt management. WA Super has become the first superannuation fund to implement the solution to deliver a personal advice service for retirement planning through its online member […]
