VentureCrowd stakes its claim as alternative investment option
Local equity-based crowd-funding platform VentureCrowd and residential property developer Clearstate have closed a second funding round, giving more than 50 investors 49 per cent equity of a development site in western Sydney. VentureCrowd’s crowd-funding platform allows investors to buy equity of a property development before it’s subdivided and sold, and former Credit Suisse adviser Mitchell Hopwood said he invested through his self-managed superannuation portfolio as an alternative to a listed property fund. “The Austral opportunity provided a relatively high, short-term return in a bite-size, easily understandable transaction that is fairly de-risked from an investment perspective,” he said. Mr Hopwood said the crowd-funding platform, believed to be the first of its […]
Westpac puts another $50 million into Reinventure
Westpac Banking Corp has doubled its exposure to venture capital, investing a further $50 million into a second fund to be managed by Reinventure Group to invest in fintech start-ups including those which could potentially disrupt the bank. The closure of Reinventure’s $50 million Fund 2 reflects Westpac’s belief that technology is reshaping financial markets and that the bank should hold equity stakes in a selection of potential disrupters as a defence mechanism to potential disintermediation. It also shows how Westpac wants to improve the experiences of its customers by developing relationships with start-ups. The second fund will be managed by Simon Cant and Danny Gilligan, the co-founders of Reinventure […]
FINCAST has secured a pilot programme with OCBC
Australian headquartered Fintech start-up, FINCAST, has secured a pilot programme with Singaporean headquartered Asian bank OCBC as its first deal. Managing Director and Co-Founder, Andrew Connors, commented, “the appetite for and commitment to innovation by Asian banks means the Australian big four banks are being left behind. Major Asian banks like OCBC aren’t just kicking the tyres on new technologies that will advance their business, they are firmly focussed on having a first-mover advantage by utilising technology”. “We are still hopeful that early adopters of our technology will include an Australian bank or corporate partner of our home, the Stone & Chalk Fintech hub”. The pilot between FINCAST […]
Fintech platform revenues set for massive rise: Juniper
Fintech platform revenues for unsecured consumer loans issued using machine learning technology are set to jump by a whopping 960% globally over the next six years, according to new research from Juniper. According to the latest report on the worldwide Fintech market from Juniper Research, revenues will rise to US$17 billion by 2021, with spending advancing rapidly due to the highly data-driven nature of the market, “meaning that AI integration is likely to spell substantial benefits”. Juniper says that until recently, machine learning was too expensive and computationally time-intensive to break into the mainstream, while access to extensive data sets for algorithm training were limited. Research author Steffen Sorrell says […]
FinTech Solutions For Enhanced Income and Economic Growth
Small business plays an important role in innovation and employment, so financial mechanisms that make it easier for small business to grow must be welcomed. P2P Business Lenders are intent on improving small business financing options by connecting investors (i.e. lenders) with a choice of loans in a digital market place. Much like an eBay for small business loans or a match making market. P2P Business Lending is about using technology to make what was once unviable, viable. This article looks at emerging innovators ThinCats and True Pillars as a source of funding for small businesses and enhanced income for professionally managed SMSFs. Technology Makes Small Loans Affordable Small business […]
DomaCom partners with peer-to-peer lender
DomaCom has announced it will partner with a peer-to-peer lending company to extend opportunities for advisers in the property sector. DomaCom chief executive Arthur Naoumidis said DomaCom’s partnership with ThinCats Australia will allow advisers to be on both sides of property transactions by creating leveraged book builds. “This also provides the 350 lenders on the ThinCats platform the opportunity to gain exposure to property assets and the ability to lend funds at an attractive interest rate with a lower risk profile,” Mr Naoumidis said. ThinCats Australia, which has been operating in Australia for the past 18 months, is a peer-to-peer lending platform for secured business loans to small and medium […]
Stockspot integrates with Class to provide accountants a direct data-feed for SMSFs
Stockspot, Australia’s leading automated investment adviser and fund manager, today announced an integration with Class Super, the leading provider of cloud SMSF administration software. The integration will provide SMSF accountants and their clients with a direct data connection from Stockspot to Class enabling income processing and enabling investment tax reporting. Accountants will be able to receive a daily data feed which includes their client’s Stockspot portfolio investments, capital gains, dividend statements and franking credits. It will also automatically generate tax summary statements, cutting down on hours of administration and analysis of taxation data. Kevin Bungard, CEO of Class, said: “Robo-advice is the fastest growing areas of retail investment […]
Fintech luring more bank customers, says UBS
More Australians will turn to start-ups for financial services in the next year, according to a UBS report, which shows incumbent banks are complacent about the threat of disruption but are also seeking to partner with fintech firms to help them cut costs and improve customer experiences. UBS banking analysts surveyed 27,914 customers of more than 210 banks in 24 countries, along with 61 management teams from banks around the world. Local UBS banking analyst Jonathan Mott along with analysts in London, New York and Tokyo contributed to the global report, titled Global banks: Is fintech a threat or an opportunity? UBS suggests the answer to the question is “Both”. […]
