Moneysoft calls on financial planners to help clients understand their expenditure following Royal Commission revelations
Financial planners need to broaden their role and help clients understand their household expenses in the wake of the Royal Commission’s damning revelations. Australian households have racked up record levels of debt as interest rates have been cut to historic lows in recent years, but the Commission heard that most lenders still over-rely on the poverty-level HEM benchmark that underestimates true living costs. “The Financial Services Royal Commission has raised many disturbing issues across the banking and advice industry. It will inevitably lead to widespread and much-needed reform,” said Moneysoft CEO Peter Malekas. “However, we shouldn’t wait for the final report in 2019 to reassess as an industry, what we […]
Brighte set to accelerate growth with $18.5m in funding
Sydney-based home energy fintech, Brighte, closes 18 months of strong growth with a Series B equity round of $18.5m. The round was led by Airtree Ventures and also includes Skip Capital, the Milgrom Family and further investment from Grok Ventures. Brighte is a digital credit platform offering affordable point-of-sale payment solutions for home energy improvements such as solar panels and batteries. In its first eighteen months it has over approved over $50m of applications from 6,000+ Australian homeowners. This stellar growth has been the result of a fully digital, innovative product being brought to the home improvements market as demand surges from everyday Australians for solutions to rising energy costs. […]
Major software provider and new fintech retirement planner form partnership
Retirement financial planning solutions provider Mafematica is partnering with Australia’s leading SMSF software company BGL Corporate Solutions, to introduce the ground-breaking Mafematica retirement solution to BGL clients. When launched in coming months, the cloud-based Mafematica product will offer SMSF trustees and intermediaries a vastly superior and lower cost solution to retirement planning than is currently available. Mafematica will help SMSF trustees and advisors to create the best possible retirement outcome, by offering a range of investment portfolios including direct shares and also assessing the existing securities held in SMSFs. Based at fintech hub Stone & Chalk in Sydney, Mafematica has been founded by career investment banker Derek Condell. Mr. Condell […]
Australia toughens stance against misleading ICOs
The rapid, perhaps unprecedented rise of cryptocurrencies and financial blockchain innovations continue to be a divisive subject for policy makers in the financial sectors of countries all over the world. Central banks and financial regulators are scrambling to adapt to the new realities this decentralized and sophisticated new interpretation of currency as a medium of exchange. Many of the governments and institutions taking a dim view of and placing restrictions on cryptocurrencies and ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) do so with the stated intention of protecting the general population, although many see an ulterior motive in such policies. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is the most recent authoritative body […]
Fintech stocks to win from booming market of independent financial advice
Listed investment platforms that benefit from the move towards independent financial advice are among the few winners from the Financial Services Royal Commission. The Commission’s shocking revelations on bank culture and financial-advice standards will surely strengthen the move towards independent financial advice – a trend that has been underway since 2013 Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms. More financial advisers will move away from bank-aligned distribution channels or large wealth-management firms and work for themselves. More customers, concerned about bank ethics, will favour financial advisers who demonstrate genuine independence. Also, advisers will need to look for new ways to grow their business through technology. They’ll need tools that help them […]
CoinSpot opens personal NEO/GAS wallet addresses for users
Australian NEO fans might have something to look forward to with CoinSpot introducing individual user wallets for NEO and GAS.
Millennials pouring their money into new low-fee investment products
More than 1,400 Australian millennials have, in the last month, put money into Spaceship’s new investment products, which are ‘fee-free’ for low balances of $5,000 or less, the nation’s specialist investment manager for younger people announced today. The result underscores the enormous untapped demand younger Australians have for simple, and engaging, investment products that are different to those designed for their parents and grandparents. Spaceship founder & CEO, Paul Bennetts, said today the company had developed two ultra-low fee products for the ‘online’ generation aged 18-44 years old, and they were discreetly made available to the market in late April. In the first four weeks, 1,412 customers signed up and […]
OnMarket forges partnership with Listcorp
IPO and equity crowdfunding portal OnMarket have teamed together with investor relations platform Listcorp to assist newly listed ASX companies with the ongoing challenge of communicating and promoting themselves to investors. OnMarket CEO Ben Bucknell said “OnMarket has now helped over 70 companies list on the ASX. We are pleased to announce that we’ve recently entered into an agreement with Listcorp to help these companies better communicate with investors throughout Australia. “The fundamental benefit that both Listcorp and OnMarket are providing to Australia’s retail investors is access. OnMarket provides retail investors direct access to IPO and equity crowdfunding opportunities, and Listcorp provides retail investors access to much needed information about […]
