Marvelstone Capital is working with fintech startup Smartfolio to develop a robo advisor solution for family offices; it will target family offices based in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and India; the robo advisor solution is being designed as a hybrid service for family offices with less than US$1 billion in AUM however Marvelstone will also market to family offices with AUM of US$1 billion to US$10 billion; it plans to launch the new solution in the third quarter of 2017. Source
Edward Jones has announced a multi-year partnership with St. Louis based venture fund SixThirty; SixThirty invests in eight to 10 fintech startups annually with each startup receiving an investment of up to $100,000 along with support from a business development program that includes mentoring and networking; Edward Jones will be involved in numerous aspects of the venture fund's investing and Frank LaQuinta, a general partner with Edward Jones, will join SixThirty's investment committee. Source
Deutsche Bank acquired a 12.5% stake in receivables auction platform TrustBills as the company looks to upgrade their core technology system; in September 2016 Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan reportedly told employees they needed to begin thinking more like a tech startup if they were to keep their positions; the move to acquire TrustBills looks like the beginning of a fintech strategy by the bank; TrustBills is a marketplace for national and international trade receivables and they have begun looking to expand to more markets soon. Source
Goldman Sachs reported its first quarter earnings on April 18 with few details about its new online lending platform, Marcus; the only mention of the new platform was in the analyst Q&A; the firm said the new platform is evolving slowly and is operating according to plans; the firm reported revenue of $8.03 billion, an increase of 26.7% from the first quarter of 2016; net earnings were $2.26 billion and earnings per share were $5.15; disappointing trading revenue was a point of emphasis for the quarter; investors are interested in more details about Marcus, which has a competitive cost advantage and is reporting potential return on assets of three times the return on assets of the firm as a whole at 3%; as Goldman Sachs progresses further with its retail business expansion, investors will be watching the retail business contribution overall which could help to cover some of its recent shortcomings and give it an edge over its competitors. Source
Alibaba payment affiliate Ant Financial has announced the acquisition of helloPay; the company is based in Singapore and will help support Alipay's strategic growth initiatives in Southeast Asia; its primary payments focus is on serving e-commerce platforms; helloPay will be rebranded as Alipay following the acquisition. Source
Lloyds Bank is testing biometric authentication technology for its online banking customers; the development is centered around the use of Microsoft's Windows Hello which has fingerprint and facial recognition capabilities and can be used with Windows 10 devices. Source
New York-based commercial real estate developer Tishman Speyer has partnered with CreditEase Wealth Management to invest $1.4 billion in China and other countries within the next three years; according to Tang Ning, CreditEase founder and CEO, the partnership will focus on long-term development, providing clients with globalized and diverse portfolios. Source
Forbes reports on new technology in the automotive sector; says internet of things connectivity will allow users to connect their bank accounts with their vehicles; Forbes talks with industry experts about the market's evolution. Source
Loyal3 recently announced the service would be shutting down effective May 22, 2017; the company provided commission free investments with a minimum investment of just $10; also offered investors a chance to access some IPOs; Loyal3 is offering several options to investors including moving securities to FolioFirst, transferring shares to another brokerage or selling shares; many people speculate that the shutdown will be a boon to Robinhood's business which offers similar services. Source
Emmanuel Marot writes about the hybrid robo advice model in a blog post for Lend Academy; says he is not in favor of the hybrid model since machine learning can take care of the needs of investors noting that complexity nor human whims have proven to bring any value. Source