Financial Technology (Fintech)

Posted on October 16, 2021 by admin

“There are more financial products for more consumers than you could ever imagine.” Fintech Startup Founder

Fintech, or financial technology, refers to the technological innovation in the design and delivery of financial services and products. The term can apply to any innovation in how companies and people transact business, from the invention of digital money to double-entry bookkeeping. The technology in finance continues to evolve; advancements include the use of Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning to evaluate investment opportunities, optimize portfolios, and mitigate risks.

Fintech refers to any business that uses technology to enhance or automate financial services and processes. The term encompasses a rapidly growing industry that serves the interests of both consumers and businesses in multiple ways. From mobile banking and insurance to cryptocurrency and investment apps, fintech has a seemingly endless array of applications.

Fueled by venture capital and changes brought by the pandemic, fintech is coming for your wallet like never before https://t.co/iFxVUzDEEL via @BW

— Bloomberg (@business) October 10, 2021

There are 326 Fintechs, according to one database, from one-stop shops such as PayPal Holdings Inc. and Revolut Ltd. to behind-the-scenes payment processors.

Fintech companies integrate technologies (like AI, blockchain and data science) into traditional financial sectors to make them safer, faster and more efficient. Fintech is one of the fastest-growing tech sectors, with companies innovating in almost every area of finance; from payments and loans to credit scoring and stock trading.

“Fintech’s disruptive potential was unleashed in mature markets such as the U.S. only recently, thanks to a confluence of factors: low interest rates, better technology, rising consumer demand, and a more permissive attitude toward nonbank finance”, according to Lionel Laurent, a Bloomberg Opinion Columnist. “Efficiency gains in software have kept products coming.”

Fintech technology examples include:

Crowdfunding Platforms – Crowdfunding platforms allow internet and app users to send or receive money from others on the platform and have allowed individuals or businesses to pool funding from a variety of sources all in the same place. Instead of having to go to a traditional bank for a loan, it is now possible to go straight to investors for support of a project or company.
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency – Cryptocurrency and blockchain are hallmark examples of fintech in action. Cryptocurrency exchanges connect users to buying or selling cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or litecoin. But in addition to crypto, blockchain help reduce fraud by keeping provenance data on the blockchain. And while cryptocurrency and even blockchain have certainly taken parts of the investment world by storm in recent years.
Mobile Payments – It seems as though everyone with a smartphone uses some form of mobile payments. In fact, according to Statista data, the global mobile payment market is on track to surpass $1 trillion in 2019. Using increasingly sophisticated technology, services have emerged that allow consumers to exchange money and payments online or on mobile devices – including popular payment app Venmo.
Insurance – Fintech has even disrupted the insurance industry. In fact, insurtech (as it’s been so-called) has come to include everything from car insurance to home insurance and data protection. Additionally, insurtech startups are increasingly attracting funding.
Robo-Advising and Stock-Trading Apps – Robo-advising has disrupted the asset management sector by providing algorithm-based asset recommendations and portfolio management that have increased efficiency and lowered costs. Since the rise of more advanced technology that can analyze various portfolio options 24/7, financial institutions have adapted to offer online robo-advising services. Perhaps one of the more popular and big innovations in the fintech space has been the development of stock-trading apps. When once investors had to go directly to a stock exchange like the NYSE or Nasdaq, now, investors can buy and sell stocks at the tap of a finger on their mobile device. And with inexpensive and low-minimum apps, investing from anywhere with any budget has never been easier.
Budgeting Apps – One of the most common uses of fintech is budgeting apps for consumers, which have grown exponentially in popularity over the years. Before, consumers had to create their own budgets, gather checks, or navigate excel spreadsheets to keep track of their finances. But after the fintech revolution prompted the development of financial services apps, consumers can easily and efficiently keep track of their income, expenses and other budgeting tools that have revolutionized the way consumers think about their money. Budgeting apps help consumers track their income, monthly payments, expenditures and more – all on their mobile device.

With fintech innovations, firms can better meet customer needs and expectations. With clear benefits, fintech is quickly changing the landscape of investment management. Advancements include the use of robo-advisers, Big Data, AI, and machine learning to evaluate investment opportunities, optimize portfolios, and mitigate risks. In the area of financial recordkeeping, blockchain and distributed ledger technology are creating new ways to record, track, and store transactions for financial assets.

Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) is having a major impact on the finance industry as part of fintech. AI is being used to analyze investment opportunities, optimize portfolios, and mitigate risks, among many other functions, but the applications go well beyond the investment decision-making process. For example, automated wealth advisers (or “robo-advisers”) may assist investors without the need for a human adviser, or they may be used in combination with a human adviser. The desired outcome is the ability to provide tailored, actionable advice to investors with greater ease of access and at lower cost.

The annual Forbes Fintech 50 compiles some of the hottest fintech platforms on the market worth noting.

Fintech is changing the landscape of financial and investment management. At its core, Fintech exist to help companies, business owners and consumers better manage their finances, processes, and lives by utilizing specialized technology, software and algorithms.

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ARK’s Cathie Wood

Posted on June 16, 2021 by admin

“Cathie Wood is a star stock-picker and founder of ARK Invest, which invests in innovations like self-driving cars and genomics.” Forbes

Cathie Wood founded ARK Investment Management seven years ago in 2014. One of the biggest secrets to ARK’s investment strategy and noteworthy success, according to Wood, is “the willingness to step in when others are selling a stock for very short-term reasons. We get great opportunities like that.”

Wood said it “pains me more than anything” to think clients might be panicking and selling at the wrong time.

Thus, Wood isn’t focused on short-term fluctuations. She takes a long term and bold view. “We have a five-year investment time horizon,” she says. Since, the big ideas blossoming todaywere planted 30 years ago, she says: “We are ready for prime time now.

Additionally, Wood and her team has been early on many themes—they embraced active management when investing seemed inexorably tied to indexing; they implemented stock-picking in active ETFs while the largest asset managers said it couldn’t be done; and she bought companies that others thought were overpriced, a novelty, or both.

Investing in transformative technologies that are going to change the world

Wood’s focus has been on innovative companies with technology to disrupt the way we live. Her portfolios are loaded with stocks that have skyrocketed—for example, Tesla is a big holding in three of her funds. She is an advocate of a future where technology would make everything better, more productive and profitable.

As Wood and her company’s research frequently remind investors, electrification, the telephone, and the internal combustion engine turned the world upside down a century ago. Now, she believes that five technologies—artificial intelligence, blockchain, DNA sequencing, energy storage, and robotics—are bringing about an equally profound transformation of the economy. These innovations will converge, recombine into things like autonomous taxis and whatnot, and create a perfect economic storm of higher wages, falling prices, and wider profit margins.

Ark’s ideas start with their research. Wood researched stocks with dogged determination. “Cathie is insatiably curious; she was a voracious consumer of research from all over the Street. She read everything from everyone,” says Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

For example, they state that they take a blank sheet of paper and just say, “What is an autonomous vehicle? What’s the right way to build one? What are the critical variables?” They believe that they will inevitably run into the companies that not only have good answers, but are leading the charge

She was on a mission to allocate capital to its best use—transformative technologies. Innovation is early-stage growth, and it is typically exponential growth. Companies developing these platforms can generate revenue growth of more than 20% [annually] for years and years.

Wood looked at places that other investment analysts ignore. She found stocks that sat at the intersection of multiple industries, and weren’t followed by analysts from any side. This, she realized, is where innovation happens.

Most growth companies have a decay rate, which means the bigger a company gets, the harder it is to grow. Exponential growth often includes network effects and virality, which means the more people joining the network, the more valuable it becomes, and the faster it grows.

Wood’s believes in transparency when financial firms don’t allow portfolio managers and analysts to use social media to share their research or even gather information. At ARK, Wood created an open-source ecosystem, where the team can share research and collaborate with scientists, engineers, doctors, and other experts. Every Friday morning, she convenes an investment ideas meeting with her analysts and outside experts that’s part business school seminar and part free-form futurist bull session. “Most compliance teams would not be comfortable with that,” Wood says. “From the beginning, ARK actively shares the knowledge they’re generating.

Conservative philosophy

The dawning of a high-tech future is central to Wood’s life philosophy. In starting ARK, her goal was “encouraging the new creation,” by investing in “transformative technologies that were going to change the world.” The triumph of innovation also fits well with her free-market views. To a younger generation tempted by socialism, she’s hoping to show that capitalism can still work its magic.

She’s conservative, both politically and economically. For decades she’s championed green investments. Wood has bemoaned President Joe Biden’s plans to spend big and tax the wealthy, even though many of his proposals are designed to bring the economy closer to her futuristic vision for it, and though higher capital-gains taxes could push more money into tax-efficient funds like hers. She warns that higher taxes on companies and investors will discourage future innovation.

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Innovation and Professional Developmemt

Posted on November 19, 2020 by admin

Most CEOs and leaders of organizations view training and professional development of their team members to be an expense instead of being a capital investment.

Every business leader knows that innovation is key to success. To be innovative, a company must be able to adapt to disruptive technology and disruptive change. This is only possible when everyone in the company’s leadership and executive team are committed to personal and professional growth.

Innovation doesn’t occur automatically within an organization. It only happens when the leaders encourages and individuals in an organization are growing and embracing change, taking on new challenges, learning new skills, entertaining new ideas. Innovation is the result of personal growth. Thus, the key is the ability to come up with fresh new ideas to keep the operation running and the products and services fresh.

Personal growth and professional development

Many leaders consider training to be an expense. When the macro economy stalls and money becomes tight within the organization, they cut the training and professional development budget line items first.

A company’s ability to take full advantage of every macro economic cycle requires employees with strong life skills: overcoming fear, managing emotions, building empathy, better communication, etc.

While training on job skills is important, training life skills can create those breakthrough moments where people transcend their limitations and grow into the person they need to be to move to the next level.

https://twitter.com/bizzidotco/status/1326827499985268740?s=21

Additionally, successful CEOs and leaders of organizations are lifelong learners themselves. They never rest on their accolades and laurels. Instead, they devour new information, seek new perspectives, challenge themselves to become the best they can be.

Innovation doesn’t come from hard work and long hours. It emerges from the personal growth of everyone involved.

Personal growth rarely results from hard work and long hours. It comes from spending time and energy on learning, growing and getting better. It comes from developing the courage to let go of being comfortable and transforming yourself into someone better.

Innovation is crucial to survive and grow.

Innovation is a very important factor to ensure consistent growth for an organization from a future point of view. Organizations are innovative when leaders can let go of the past, put aside the fear of change, create a compelling vision and learn to accept and then transcend their own strengths and weaknesses.

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Tag Archives: Innovation

Financial Technology (Fintech)

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ARK’s Cathie Wood

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Innovation and Professional Developmemt

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