Andrew Thorburn explains the fintech forces reshaping NAB
The emergence of fintech has fundamentally changed National Australia Bank’s strategy and the thinking of its chief executive, Andrew Thorburn. He’s deploying more start-up lingo, and said last week the nation’s largest business lender is no longer benchmarking its performance against its rival banks, but rather technology players. Thorburn and his newish tech chief, Patrick Wright, who was previously with Barclays in the United States, went to Seattle and Silicon Valley last month and met with Amazon, Microsoft and Google for some inspiration. Like the tech giants themselves, NAB is pumping up technology spending with sums that would make wannabe disrupters salivate. With a plethora of start-ups nipping at NAB’s […]
Myprosperity prospers with Macquarie partnership
Former Xero managing director Chris Ridd’s new start-up myprosperity is partnering with Macquarie, in a deal that will allow his customers access to Macquarie’s investment and cash management accounts. The company, which offers a personal wealth platform for advisers, says it is now up to 530 advisers and 23,000 active users, and is tracking more than $33 billion in assets and $6bn in liabilities. Mr Ridd told The Australian the partnership, one of a growing number of bank/start-up deals, would help give customers control of their own data. “The big issue that has come out of the royal commission is the fact that fee for no service is now a […]
OurCrowd reaches $1bn funds under management with $200m from Australian backers
Israel-founded equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has become one of the biggest sources of offshore venture capital for Australian investors, revealing it just surpassed $1 billion under management, globally with more than 20 per cent or $200 million coming from Australian investors. OurCrowd, which has achieved 20 exits from company investments since launching in 2012 and currently backs 150 start-ups and scale-ups including one in Australia, allows wholesale investors to back those companies with a minimum investment of $10,000. Since it launched in Australia in 2014 it has picked up 2000 accredited investors locally out of a global crowd of 25,000. It takes a minimum 5 per cent stake alongside its […]
DomaCom Australia completes crowdfunding of first mortgage backed loan
DomaCom Australia Ltd (ASX:DCL) has successfully completed the crowdfunding campaign to fund its first mortgage backed loan. The company’s online platform provides an opportunity for investors to invest in residential and commercial property across Australia through the fractional acquisition of units in a trust. Newcastle based financial advice firm Shartru Wealth Management used the DomaCom platform to acquire a $1.6 million residential property in Melbourne using both debt and equity. Internal gearing to deliver long-term returns The crowdfunding campaign was completed to raise about $682,000 for the equity component and another campaign was completed to raise the remaining $948,000 debt. DomaCom chief executive officer Arthur Naoumidis explained that one of […]
Bell Potter pitches fintech Raiz Invest for $120m listing
The initial public offerings are starting to flow thick and fast out of Bell Potter Securities. Next up is a $15.1 million raising for fintech Raiz Invest Ltd which, if successful, would see the company list with a $119.2 million market capitalisation next month. Raiz Invest is the new name for Acorns Grow Australia, a micro-investing app out of the United States that has been operating locally since February 2016. It is best known for its “round up” offering, which enables customer to invest their virtual spare change automatically. It says its app also acts as a personal finance assistant for users and allows customers to make lump sum deposits into managed funds and other financial products. Raiz […]
ASIC announces action on misleading or deceptive conduct in ICOs
ASIC has already taken action against suspicious ICOs. ASIC chairman John Price recently warned that Australian consumer law would apply to ICOs, even if they were extended from overseas. On 1 May ASIC announced that this would start taking the form of a crackdown on deceptive or misleading conduct by ICOs, which is prohibited under the Australian Consumer Law and the ASIC Act. It’s started issuing inquiries to ICO issuers and their advisers where it has identified conduct or statements that may be misleading or deceptive. “This is in addition to our inquiries where we identify potentially unlicensed conduct” is said. The inquiries have already seen some token issuers stop […]
SelfWealth growing in the face of finance industry’s woes
The banking royal commission is currently underway and it’s fair to say that the stories emerging are nothing short of shocking. There’s endless tales of woeful and deceitful financial advice — so bad in fact that that it has even led to families losing their homes. It’s also come to light that for years financial planning groups have been unlawfully deducting service fees from customer accounts, even falsifying documents. The disturbing findings coming out of the banking royal commission should encourage many Australian investors to take more control over their investments and financial wellbeing. Amidst this turmoil has emerged an innovative solution for people wanting to take control of their […]
Angel investor group Investible raising $20m to back early stage start-ups
Member-based venture capital firm Investible is halfway through raising its first VC fund of $20 million, which will be used to back early stage start-ups, as it claimed its existing portfolio was delivering market-leading growth. Investible’s co-founder Creel Price told The Australian Financial Review the four-year-old operation had so far achieved an unrealised compound return of 66.2 per cent per annum, based on its investments in start-ups such as Canva, Ipsy and Car Next Door, which he said made it one of the best in the industry. This means the value of the companies it has backed has grown on paper, and he said it compared favourably to high-profile funds […]
