Are Exchange-Traded Fund flows creating the mother of all opportunities?
A common excuse given by fee-charging active fund managers that have battled to beat their benchmarks has been the ever-rising popularity of exchange-traded funds. ETFs effectively allow investors to track an index – anything from the S&P 500 to obesity-related stocks – by simply buying a listed security tacking the index or a basket of stocks. The global market has grown from 580 products totalling $US728 billion of assets to more than 5000 funds with more than $US5.6 trillion of assets. But some have argued that this created multibillion-dollar flows of brainless money simply buying and selling stocks based on predetermined rules rather than any thoughtful analysis. This, it has […]
Meet the brains behind Raiz Invest research and insights
Raiz Invest Limited, the mobile-first micro investing platform, improving financial confidence for over 164,000 Australians, is strategically using research and insights to continuously garner understanding and awareness of their customer needs, with the help of Dr. Jake An, Raiz Invest Research Phd and in conjunction with major Sydney Universities. Dr. Jake An applies his PhD theories to Raiz customers to improve the user experience and is now the brains behind the continuing research program of Raiz. His role is to merge his two passions, academia and research applying them to real world of financial literacy and behaviour. Working with Raiz since 2016, Jake identifies business problems and works directly with […]
Fintech’s double-edged sword
Ultra-low interest rates and fintech were two of the major threats to the stability of the financial system identified by the global regulator in its recent annual economic report. “Sustainable profitability is especially important at the current juncture: banks have been facing the dual challenge of persistently and unusually low interest rates eating away at their net interest margins, and growing competition from new technology-savvy players – big tech and fintech,” the Bank for Financial Settlements reported. “Once [fintechs] do have the scale to disrupt they will be regulated as if they were part of the established order.” According to Fabio Panetta, the deputy governor of the Bank of Italy, […]
New Pelikin app fits the bill for globetrotting millennials
Digital banking start-up Pelikin aims to reshape the way people save, send and spend their money in Australia and while travelling abroad. The company’s slogan is “spend like a local”. It will be targeting “digital natives” with its app and debit card. It hopes to launch by mid-2018 and is currently seeking expressions of interest for investment on Birchal, an Australian equity crowdfunding platform. “Acting as a transactional base for funds, Pelikin wants to create a seamless digital experience between everyday banking and travel banking; an important element for a younger market who are known for their tech-savvy and globetrotting lifestyle,” the company explains. It is currently beta testing features […]
Fintech vs Banking: Which sector controls the future of money?
There could be trouble ahead at the top of the financial market arena. In the red corner is Banking — one of the world’s most pre-eminent industries represented by a handful of stalwart banks, who’ve been around for centuries and considered the bedrock of a modern financially-savvy society. In the blue corner is Technology — in the form of a cloud of hovering tech firms, buzzing around consumers and serving up the most connectible and value-added premium products ever seen. Most innovations that have improved financial services have been down to “financial technology” or “fintech” for short. Separating the two is a wall of compliance and a patchwork of regulatory […]
Fintech Stake launches Christmas gift cards for US shares
Forget movie or David Jones vouchers for Christmas — Aussies can now gift shares in some of the world’s largest companies, from Tesla to Amazon or Apple, to their loved ones. Stake, the Aussie shop for shares, today became the first company in Australia to offer gift cards for US company shares, allowing recipients to redeem them for US shares or Exchange-Traded Fund (industry jargon for leaving it to the experts) of their choice. After massive customer demand and a successful beta launch, the gift cards provide people with a viable alternative to socks and undies. And now the whole family can benefit too: Stake has also launched Stake Kids, […]
Fintechs are the fastest growing startup in Australia
Financial tech-innovators, or fintechs as they’ve become known, are dominating the Australian startup sector with Sydney their hub of choice, a new report shows. And true to the nature of the startup industry, it is disruption in the traditional banking sector that is fuelling the growth of fintechs – as finance-savvy professionals exit the established institutions and put their skills to use in new ventures. The 2017 Startup Muster Report, released on Wednesday, shows fintech startups were the fastest-growing type of business in the startup sector. Fintech Australia chief executive officer Danielle Szetho says she isn’t surprised by result following recent moves by the federal government to open up the […]
Fintech startup, Trade Ledger, launches world-first tech to help banks fight off global tech giants
Career technologists, Martin McCann and Dr. Matthias Born, are launching a world-first lending tech for banks and traditional lenders that will help to equip them against competition from tech giants such as Facebook, Tencent, and eBay wanting to enter financial services. Trade Ledger is the world’s first business lending platform that transforms digital data from business supply chains in real time, allowing banks to assess and regularly update credit and default risk of businesses they lend to. Currently this is only done on a one-off or infrequent basis on a very small sample of invoices, and not on any other trade documents. The platform will finally give banks more advanced network and data […]
