Beepi is closing after failed attempts to merge with Fair.com and DGDG; the firm is now working with Sherwood Partners to sell its assets through an assignment for the benefit of creditors process; Beepi provided an innovative online solution for used car sales; sources say the firm was paying exorbitant salaries and benefits for its employees; Sherwood Partners has not provided any details on buyers of the firm's assets however it is reported that Fair.com may be involved. Source
Blockchain technology would help to make data and privacy more secure as those aspects are considered central to the way blockchain technology works; the three main advantages of using blockchain are blocking identity theft, preventing data tampering and stopping distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks; each of these advantages are now beginning to be looked at for solutions in banking, storing government data and protecting consumer information from hacking attacks. Source
Panel discusses how to determine the valuation of loans and in turn how to value funds which hold loans; over the last four years loan methodologies have changed from bank accounting (holding loans at par value and holding a reserve against expected losses) to using fair value; the most prevalent approach is a discounted cash flow analysis; this shift happened as more investors entered this space and funds got larger; James Wu of MonJa and John Schrader of Duff & Phelps dig into the details of fair value and how to comfort investors who are looking to invest in this space. Source
Source reports on robo advice services at Vanguard; the firm's Personal Advice Services is a hybrid robo advice offering with $83 billion in assets under management; it is anticipated that it will be the first digital platform to cross $100 billion; firm is adding certified financial planners to its call centers for clients in Scottsdale, Arizona and Charlotte, North Carolina as an enhanced hybrid offering. Source
UK startup, Vault, launched a retirement product for small businesses at TechCrunch Disrupt London; the investment platform offers a retirement solution for small businesses through automated investing; the company's automated platform allows small businesses to offer a retirement solution for their employees at a low cost. Source
ID Analytics identifies the need for a specific type of fraud prevention that focuses on short term application velocity or loan stacking; ID Analytics has been very involved in loan stacking prevention, promoting a consortium approach and helping to establish the Online Lending Network which is an association focused on identifying loan stacking fraud through real time information sharing; members of the Online Lending Network can receive real time information on a borrower allowing them to identify up to the minute application activity that can be used in credit underwriting; ID Analytics is committed to the Online Lending Network and expects to see continued growth in its coverage and membership. Sponsored Blog Post
Lendingcalc.com and PUFIN have filed for a patent on a system that would use blockchain technology to give loans unique indentifiers, like CUSIPs; the system could help with greater market transparency; Lendingcalc.com and PUFIN have begun plans for implementing their system as an open source option for the industry; other firms have introduced this concept with a fee-based system however Lendingcalc.com and PUFIN are marketing their system as free with no fees. Source
The blog post comes from Chris Burniske who shares the early days of cryptoasset valuation, theory behind cryptoasset valuations and valuing a bandwidth token: INET. Source
The $5tn mutual fund manager announced that they have successfully tested blockchain technology to automatically update data on index funds; types of data in the test included names and share prices of companies in index funds; the company stated they are not looking to blockchain to replace workers but give them more freedom to focus on other tasks; Vanguard follows other big name firms who have tested uses of the technology recently. Source.
A new report by PitchBook details how $11.4 billion of private investment has flowed into digital wealth management companies since 2010; investment has occurred in more than 400 deals, with venture capital investment leading the way followed by private equity; the report explains some of the main reasons for this trend as active managers failed their clients while fees have continued to rise; clients are looking for a cheaper more predictable way to manage their wealth; one of the main questions going forward is will incumbents purchase, partner or build their own solutions. Source