Australians are starting to think robot financial advisers might be a good idea
The use of automated investment services, or robo-advice, is still small in Australia but is growing fast. The latest research by analysts Investment Trends shows 27% of online investors have heard of robo-advice, up from 19% just six months ago. Robo-advice, the field of online investment and savings platforms where face-to-face is replaced with automated guidance and execution, is growing via a series of fintech startups in Australia including Stockspot. “Many investors are taking notice of robo-advice, and have an interest in learning more about this potential digital disruptor in the financial services industry,” says Investment Trends research director Recep Peker. “Robo-advice will take centre stage as more solutions become […]
Crowdfunding opened to companies up to $25m
Unlisted public companies with less than $25 million in assets and turnover will soon be able to raise capital via crowd-sourced equity funding, thanks to a new bill introduced by the Coalition on Thursday. The long-awaited bill comes almost a year after the government first tried to introduce the legislation, only for it to be knocked back by the Senate. The new bill has a few amendments from the original legislation, including expanding the size of the unlisted public companies that can access this type of funding from only those with less than $5 million in assets, to $25 million. If the legislation is passed, these small businesses will be […]
Barry Lambert predicts 2017 The Year of the Robo
“YOU DON’T REVOLUTIONISE YOUR COBB & CO BUSINESS BY BUYING FASTER HORSES.”. IGNITION WEALTH INVESTOR AND MENTOR BARRY LAMBERT PREDICTS 2017 THE YEAR OF THE ROBO Digital financial advice is poised for rapid uptake in Australia, with 2017 set to be the year when professional financial businesses adopt ‘robo-advice’ as an essential element of their client offering. Ignition Wealth is at the forefront of the pack of Australian digital financial advice technology providers. “Everyone is talking about the cloud revolution and many are looking to change their technology because they want to look smarter. Changing technology is very expensive if it does not revolutionise your business. Financial planning, a […]
We need plans for when robots are in driver’s seat
Financial services companies, including technology-oriented fintech start-ups, are emerging to challenge the roles of banks and the large financial institutions. Fintechs are rapidly transforming and disrupting the marketplace by providing digital or “robo-advice” using highly sophisticated algorithms operating on mobile and web-based environments. Last month, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, announced the Turnbull government’s intention to introduce professional standards legislation to set higher competence and ethical standards for human financial advisers — a move that is already under pressure from the robo environment. While the financial advice sector has expanded and matured over the past two decades, fuelled in part by new technologies, the regulatory framework […]
SelfWealth take out FinTech Business of the Year at the Optus My Business Awards
SelfWealth has been honoured with the title of Fintech Business of the Year at the Optus My Business Awards 2016, hosted by My Business.
Fintech fund Reinventure seeking riskier investments
Armed with a $50 million cheque from Westpac and many lessons from their first fund, Danny Gilligan and Simon Cant are dialling up the risk. Not the type that raises eyebrows in banking, but rather trying to get more blockbuster returns out of the more mainstream fintech industry, even if that means failing often. “If you look at the data out of the US, the greatest risk as a venture capitalist is that you don’t take enough risk,” Gilligan told The Australian in their first interview since the founders of venture capitalist group Reinventure raised their second fund. “The worst-performing VC funds in the US, 50 per cent of the […]
How your broker’s performance numbers mislead you
by Doug Morris, CEO, Sharesight The human brain is easily conditioned. Do something for long enough and even the strangest things begin to appear normal. Online brokers don’t set out to deceive but the simplistic way they report performance has a similar, normalising effect. If your returns have been presented in a particular way for long enough, the figures become right even when they’re wrong. This is a problem for Sharesight as much as it is for the clients of online brokers. Accustomed to seeing the most basic reporting in their account, they load their data into Sharesight and struggle to understand how two sets of figures can be so […]
Logging on to the future of financial advice
For hundreds of thousands of investors around the world, the future of financial advice is already here. There is as much as $US300 billion ($392 billion) of funds under the management of robo advisers – computers powered by algorithms that can buy and sell on your behalf – with that figure expected to rise to $US2.2 trillion by 2020. To put that into perspective, these robo advisers could buy every company on the Australian Securities Exchange and still have a trillion dollars left over. While not all robo advisers have the authority to buy and sell, and others are rebadged offerings, the benefits of digitising and automating some of the […]
