Australia’s $2.2 trillion super pot drives record ETF demand
Australia’s $2.2 trillion superannuation savings pot is fuelling record demand for exchange traded funds. The number of self-managed super funds holding such investments surged to a record 100,000 in September, according to a report from BetaShares Capital and Investment Trends. SMSFs worth $635 billion are stoking hunger for income-producing assets and drove a 31 per cent surge in the number of Aussie investors who used exchange traded funds last year. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a type of investment that can be bought and sold like shares, tracking assets such as commodities, currencies, bonds or market indices such as the S&P/ASX 200 up and down. The interest in those funds […]
The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards – entries closing soon
The Benzinga Global Fintech Awards May 11, 2017 in New York, is the premier event in Fintech, celebrating financial innovation from around the world. The Benzinga Awards is a competition to showcase the companies with the most impressive technology, who are paving the future in financial services and capital markets! Applications are still open, so apply now before the March 17 deadline. At the event, you’ll get a first look at groundbreaking technology, innovative platforms, and the chance to network freely with top industry professionals. Over 550 FinTech CEOs, C-suite executives of financial institutions, VCs, press, and others attended the 2016 Benzinga Fintech Awards. 45 exclusive exhibitor spots on the show floor […]
Westpac’s Reinventure hires new partner to help fintech startups crack the US
Westpac’s $100 million venture capital fund Reinventure has hired a new partner with experience from Wall Street and Silicon Valley, seeking to help local fintech start-ups attack the world stage and catch the eye of potential US suitors. US-born Kara Frederick, a former Goldman Sachs executive, was a senior adviser at US-based boutique investment bank GrowthPoint Technology Partners and also founded middle-market advisory firm Tiger Financial Group. She joins Reinventure founders and managing partners Simon Cant and Danny Gilligan as the firm’s first general partner. The fund was set up by the giant bank in 2014 to invest in fintech start-ups that could potentially compete with its own businesses. “Australia […]
Super fund Spaceship accused of high risk and not enough returns
A start-up super fund that is aggressively targeting millennials via social media has investment advisers alarmed that it is more expensive than most super funds and is taking significant risk without promising higher returns. But Spaceship, which has the backing of venture capital and tech luminaries such as Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, says strict rules mean it can’t gamble customers’ super, while the fees are a small price to pay for the superior returns that will come from investing in technology. The super fund says it expects to kick off with $100 million of funds under management from young Australians when it launches later this month, after “early adopters” moved […]
Bitcoin price plunges after SEC rejection
Regulator says no to first ETF to track the digital currency. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has denied a request to list what would have been the first US exchange-traded fund built to track Bitcoin, sending the price of the digital currency plunging. Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been trying for more than three years to convince the SEC to let them bring the Bitcoin ETF to market. CBOE’s Bats exchange had applied to list the ETF. In response to the rejection, the digital currency’s price fell as much as 18 percent in trading before rebounding slightly. It last traded down 7.8 percent to US$1098. Bitcoin had scaled […]
Bitcoin is now more valuable than gold
The currency’s success is in part due to its popularity in Asia. The Bitcoin digital currency has exceeded the value of gold for the first time in history, hitting a high of $US1,278.21 while the price of an ounce of gold was worth $US1,236.10 at the time of writing. The value of Bitcoin has been steadily increasing over the last three months, rising 30%, while the value of gold has decreased, suggesting people are starting to accept the digital currency as a serious way to pay for goods. Bitcoin’s value has risen as a result of increased demand in China, despite a crackdown by the government, which claimed the currency […]
Ignition Wealth survey offers advisers chance to win sold out Adele tickets
Ignition Wealth Head of Sales and Marketing, Richard Liverpool initiated a series of Ignition Wealth Surveys in 2016, seeking to delve deeper into the financial technology needs of Australian financial professionals. “We were delighted by the quality of the data we were able to collect through the first survey we conducted in 2016. This second survey focusses particularly on the detail of day to day operations in a financial planning practice. The more we know about the challenges our customers face, the better equipped we are to solve them.”. Richard Liverpool, Head of Sales and Marketing, Ignition Wealth. The second survey in the series is currently underway and offers […]
Bitcoin worth more than gold as price reaches all-time high
The crypto currency known for its anonymity and decentralised nature reached an all-time high on Friday afternoon, making it more valuable than gold in Australia. Bitcoin was trading above $1634 on bitcoin.com.au, as gold hovered around $1620 an ounce. The currency has been surprisingly steady this year, remaining above the arbitrary $US1000 mark ($1297) for its longest ever stretch, according to researcher CoinDesk. Industry heads point to the nearing deadline of a decision by Securities Exchange Commission in the US to introduce the first of three bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF). “There is a lot of excitement that the Winklevoss twins’ ETF is coming close to approval,” says Asher Tan, CEO […]
