What’s Going on in the Social Trading and Investing Space?
As I explained in my earlier article, social investing is not a totally new idea as seeking for help, advice, and tips have been part of investing as long as people could invest money. The ongoing trend of democratizing investing and banking for the masses is closely tied to the rise of fintechs (e.g., robo-advisory), newly emerged business models, the ever-wider distribution of new financial products, and the trust gap created by the recent global financial crisis. Also, as Dan Schutzer highlights, there are new ways to effectively fund new ventures, incumbents are still struggling with various environmental changes and credit is tight, technology-assisted solutions are everywhere, and our means utilizing and accessing information are changing. Social trading and social investing represent the new trend of technology-assisted, socially-driven, and DIY models of investing. We also have some concrete evidence on the effects of social media on retail and institutional investor behavior and trading activity as well as…
“Why Don’t They Copy Me?”: On the Rise of Social Investing and Social Investment Networks
Social investing and various kinds of social investment communities are not entirely new things. Sharing insights and opinions on different investments, investment philosophies, investment strategies, and financial markets, in general, has been part of our lives for years. Investors, as well as any other kind of communities of interest, have been utilizing mailing lists, discussion forums, and online chats as long as they have been in existence. Even today, beginners and experienced investors rely on each other’s opinions and viewpoints when setting up their investment targets, strategies and picking up particular financial instruments when executing specific investment strategies. 1)“Social investing/trading” should not be confused with “socially responsible investing/investment” as they are very different things. In Finland and Sweden, for example, we have witnessed the emergence of very lively and dynamic financial blogosphere in relatively short timespan. Numerous of books, articles, conferences, podcasts, blogs, and people offer diverse opinions on investing…
Make Sell-Side Investment Research Great Again!
Numerous urgent issues are facing the long-lived practices and business model of sell-side research in the investment management and banking industry. The foundational premise of the sell-side research is to provide actionable insights and ideas for their clients so that the investors would better understand financial markets and its peculiar dynamics. 1)Not all research is created equal, and as more and more information is accessible, sell-side research will need to differentiate even more than is experienced as today. And, as sell-side analysis is available in various sources for multiple parties, it should also, among other things, decrease the information asymmetry problem inherent in the financial markets. Some experts have concluded that the sell-side research is not currently living up to its promises as sell-side incentives, interests, expectations and commercial relationships between the producers and consumers of the research are misaligned. Whatever happens to the sell-side research in the near future, transparent,…
Pankkiirin pelko, Bitcoin ja kryptotalouden tulevaisuus
Ihmiskunnan suurin tragedia johtuu kyvyttömyydestämme olla harkitusti eri mieltä selvittääksemme mikä on totta. – Raymond “Ray” Dalio, Bridgewater Associates 1)Grant, A. (2016). Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. New York, NY: Viking, s. 195. Kryptovaluuuttamaailmassa on tapahtunut ja kuohunut viimeiset pari vuotta 2)ks. Bitcoin Price Chart with Historic Events, mutta viimeisen vuoden aikana Bitcoinin, Ethereumin, Ripplen ja Litecoinin ennätysmäinen hinnannousu on herättänyt huomattavaa kiinnostusta niin sijoittajien, finanssiyritysten kuin myös sääntelijöiden ja verottajan keskuudessa. 3)Linja-aho, V. (2017). “Bitcoin ja verotus – valvonnassa ei ole mitään hämärää tai laitonta – verotuskohtelu vain on epäreilu“. Vesan Linja, 11.7.2017; Young, J. (2017). “JPMorgan Clients Purchase Bitcoin on Stock Market Despite CEO’s Warnings“. The Merkle, 17.9.2017; Snook, C. J. (2017). “What I Learned Buying My First Alt-Coin (Cryptocurrency) This Week“. Inc.com, 15.9.2017. Viimeisen muutaman päivän aikana olen lukenut mielenkiintoisia uutisia myös Ethereum-rintamalta, joten uutta muutoksia tapahtuu jatkuvasti ja entistä nopeampaan tahtiin. Varsinkin Bitcoin, tällä hetkellä suurin ja…
Nordnet launches Robosave: Where is the Nordic digital wealth management heading next?
On last Thursday, one of the largest Pan-Nordic online banks, mutual fund distributors, and stock brokers Nordnet Bank AB unveiled its new robo-advisory service for its Swedish clients. The new independent robo-advising service is called Robosave, and this move signifies a new strategic direction in Nordnet’s overall story. Nordnet has a long history, alongside its main Swedish-only competitor Avanza, of continuously launching new innovative financial services. In the past, Nordnet’s value proposition, as has been noted by Pekka Puustinen in his great book FinancialServiceLogic: In the Revolution of Exchange in Banking and Insurance, has revolved mainly around the promise of functional value (and associated benefits). Nordnet has focused primarily, but not exclusively, on streamlining internal operations, extending the benefits of its various services beyond the plain vanilla retail brokerage (e.g. trade capture, clearing & settlement, and reporting) – all that are essential hallmarks of a value proposition constructed around the promise…
Book Review: FinTech Innovation by Paolo Sironi
There is no lack of differing opinions on the future of wealth management as everyone wants to be heard. We know for sure that the future of wealth management industry is most definitely shaped by the influx of new technologies, significant global regulatory turbulence, and various changes in the customer behavior. So what else is new? We have recently witnessed how new players have entered – with great success – to areas of the financial services industry that were considered off-bounds for innovative new entrants, and even the mainstream C-suite is constantly talking about going all digital. 1)Financial Times (2016). Barclays UK sees digital technology as crucial to its future. [Accessed 3 Aug 2017] It’s no wonder that the wealth management industry is very keen to understand how the complex equation of growth versus profitability is supposed to work in the era of growing revenue and expense pressures combined with…
Lisää indeksiantibiootteja, kiitos!
Kuvittele sellainen bisnes, jossa muut ihmiset antavat sinulle rahansa hoidettavaksesi ja maksavat tästä sievoisesti. Vielä parempaa on se, että palkkiosi nousevat vuosi vuodelta, vaikka olisit auttamattoman huono työssäsi. Kuulostaa täydelliseltä. [- -] Tätä bisnestä kutsutaan rahastonhoidoksi. – The Economist (28.2.2008) Keskustelua passiivisen ja aktiivisen sijoittamisen välillä on käyty jo vuosikymmeniä, mutta passiivisesta sijoittamisesta on ryhdytty laajamittaisemmin keskustelemaan vasta 2000-luvun alusta alkaen. Erilaisten indeksituotteiden jatkuvasti laajenevat valikoima, alhaiset kulut, verotehokkuus ja parempi riski-tuottosuhde ovat osoittautuneet valtaosiltaan paikkansapitäväksi mainospuheeksi. Passiivisen sijoittamisen kasvavalle suosiolle on monia syitä ja Yhdysvalloissa on Bloombergin mukaan nykyään enemmän markkinaindeksejä kuin pörssiosakkeita. Passiivinen (indeksi)sijoittaminen voi käytännössä saada monenlaisia muotoja, mutta tyypillisimmin sillä tarkoitetaan sijoitusstrategiaa, jossa sijoittaja “luottaa perinteiseen ‘osta ja unohda’ -tyyppiseen sijoitustyyliin … [jossa] osakepoimintaa ei harrasteta ja markkinoiden hintaliikkeitä ei ajoiteta.” (Oksaharju 2013, 52-53.). Morningstarin tutkimusjohtaja John Rekenthalerin mukaan aktiivisten rahastojen liiketoiminta on pohjimmiltaan tarinankerrontaa, jossa vastuu on kuulijalla. Rekenthalerin mukaan aktiiviset sijoitusrahastot kertovat pintapuolisesti lupaavilta vaikuttavia tarinoita, mutta nämä…