Deloitte's short research paper "Cleared for Takeoff - Five megatrends that will change financial services"

Deloitte has published  a short research paper titled "Cleared for Takeoff - Five megatrends that will change financial services".   This research report follows on from work that Deloitte did with the World Economic Forum (WEF)  over approx 18 months to conduct a large study about the future of financial services. The purpose of the WEF project  was to understand how disruptive innovations were reshaping the business of financial services as it exists today.

 

This report  looked at how clusters of innovation are affecting business in five areas of financial services: primary accounts, payments, capital markets, investment management and insurance.

The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities – EBA, EIOPA and Esma – has opened up a debate about the risks and benefits of robo-advisors in financial markets.

The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities – EBA, EIOPA and Esma – has opened up a debate about the risks and benefits of robo-advisors in financial markets. 

 

The interest of regulatory authorities in the use of computer technology to provide automated investment advice to consumers comes as more banks pile into the market, sensing an opportunity to cut costs and take on a new generation of wealth management firms such as Wealthfront, Betterment, Personal Capital, and FutureAdvisor who are already luring away clients with the promise of no-frills, low cost, advisory services.

 

Steven Maijoor, chair of the joint committee, says: “Financial innovation is important and, at its best, contributes to economic growth. However, this can only be achieved and sustained where consumers have confidence in such innovations. Our role as European Supervisory Authorities is to monitor new financial activities and to take action where appropriate."

 

The potential benefits the ESA’s have identified include lower costs, higher consistency of advice and a bigger number of customers that can be reached. While the potential risks could include the inability of consumers to talk to a human advisor who can guide them through the process and provide clarifications, as well as the increased vulnerability to various types of IT failures.

Says Maijoor: “In this Discussion Paper, we recognise that markets are evolving and we want to open up the debate about this potential shift in the way financial institutions interact with consumers.”

 

PWC produces report titled "Alternative Asset Management 2020: Fast Forward to Centre Stage"

To help alternative asset managers plan for the future, PWC has produced a research report titled "Alternative Asset Management 2020: Fast Forward to Centre Stage". The report explores the likely changes in the alternative asset management industry landscape over the coming years and identifies six key business imperatives for alternative asset managers. The report then examines how alternative fund managers can implement and prosper from each of these six imperatives.

Over the past several years, rapid developments in the global economic environment have pushed asset management to the forefront of social and economic change. An important part of this change – the need for increased and sustainable long-term investment returns – has propelled the alternative asset classes to centre stage. To help alternative asset managers plan for the future, we have considered the likely changes in the alternative asset management industry landscape over the coming years and identified six key business imperatives for alternative asset managers. We have then examined how managers can implement and prosper from each of these six imperatives.

 

Find out more at PWC's asset management website click here.

Download PDF research report here

Download PDF executive summary here

World Economic Forum (WEF) issue research report on Fintech sector - “The Future of Financial Services” on 30 June 2015.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), the Swiss-based corporate think-tank which runs the Davos summit of world leaders each January, issued a research report titled “the Future of Financial Services” on 30 June 2015.

The WEF report says major disruptions are in store for many once highly profitable financial services businesses and that the world's top banks and insurers are being forced to review their business models amid rapid inroads by nimble "fintech" start-ups, which are reshaping what consumers and businesses expect out of financial services.   The research study, based on 15 months of interviews and workshops with executives from financial institutions and fintech start-ups, joins a flood of recent reports showing technology is eroding the bulwarks of the financial services industry just as it did in areas such as travel and entertainment a decade ago. 

Accenture in association with Partnership Fund for New York City released a new research study titled “Fintech New York: Partnerships, Platforms and Open Innovation”

On 25 June 2015 Accenture in association with Partnership Fund for New York City released a new research study titled “Fintech New York: Partnerships, Platforms and Open Innovation”.

The research report stated that investments in fintech continued at a remarkable pace last year, nearly tripling in the United States in 2014.  The value of fintech investments in the United States soared to $9.89 billion in 2014, up from $3.39 billion in 2013.  This 191% increase dwarfs the increase in 2013, when fintech deal values in the United States climbed 68 percent. In New York, fintech deal values grew by 32% in 2014, to a new high of $768 million. 

The report notes that hot areas for fintech investment in 2014 included payments, lending, trading technologies and wealth management. Payments accounted for the largest number of fintech deals in the United States in 2014, 29%. In New York, however, the total number of fintech deals in payment companies has trended downward, from 33% of all fintech deals in 2012 to 21% in 2014. Lending was the second-biggest investment area for U.S. fintech investments in 2014, accounting for 16% of such investments.

Accenture research study: “The Future of Fintech and Banking: Digitally disrupted or reimagined?”

On 25 March 2015 Accenture released a research study titled “The Future of Fintech and Banking: Digitally disrupted or reimagined?”

The study confirms that global investment in financial-technology (fintech) ventures tripled from $4.05 billion in 2013 to $12.2 billion in 2014, with Europe being the fastest growing region in the world. The report also confirms that in 2014, fintech investment increased at more than three times the rate of overall venture capital investment. Further confirmed was that the US still captures the lion’s share of fintech investment, Europe experienced the highest growth rate, with an increase of 215% to $1.48 billion in 2014.

The UK and Ireland (UKI) accounted for more than two-fifths (42%) of the European total, as investment in the region rose from $264 million in 2013 to $623 million in 2014. In the rest of Europe, the regions that experienced the most significant levels of investment in 2014 were the Nordic countries ($345 million), the Netherlands ($306 million) and Germany ($82 million).

The massive investment in fintech shows that the digital revolution is well advanced in financial services, and it is both a threat and an opportunity for banks. The report also suggests that many established banks are not well equipped to deal with the digital revolution.

The full report can be downloaded here.

UK Government's Chief Scientific Officer issues report : FinTech Futures - the UK as a World Leader in Financial Technologies

In March 2015, the UK government’s chief scientific officer issued a report “FinTech Futures -The UK as a World Leader in Financial Technologies”.

The report has set out 10 recommendations designed to help achieve UK Chancellor George Osborne's stated aim of turning Britain into the world's fintech capital. During Summer 2014, Mr Osborne vowed to use the government's powers to help make the UK a hub for financial technology innovation and commissioned a report to investigate the enablers and barriers that will shape the UK fintech sector over the next 10 years. The report recommends the creation of a 'fintech advisory group' with representation from government, regulators, trade associations, academia and business. This body would coordinate strategy and provide a neutral forum for dialogue.

The UK government should also create a programme of 'grand challenges' for the fintech industry to tackle, in areas such as machine learning, digital currencies, big data, and mobile payments. Research councils and Innovate UK should be used to support research into fintech areas, helping to ensure academics have access to world-class data sets. Meanwhile fintech modules should be included in relevant degree courses. Another recommendation is the creation of regional hubs to help spread fintech's benefits beyond London. In the March 2015 budget, Mr Osborne took the first step towards this, though the promise to fund an incubator in Leeds. The report also calls for a system to be developed and overseen by financial regulators, that allows new ideas to be piloted, and new technologies to be tested in virtual and real situations. In the budget, Mr Osborne said that the FCA's ‘Project Innovate’ will work with HMT and the Prudential Regulation Authority to investigate the feasibility of developing a regulatory ‘sandbox’ for financial services innovators. Mr Osborne also tasked the FCA and PRA with responding to another of the report's recommendations: the creation of a state-of-the art regulatory reporting and analytics infrastructure, dubbed ‘RegTech’.

The Full report can be downloaded here.

Raconeur.net: Bright Future for UK Fintech

Raconteur.net published a research report “Financial Services Technology 2015” in partnership with the Sunday Times on 8th February 2015.

The report can be downloaded here

Life.SREDA report: Money of the Future results of 2014 and trends for 2015

Life.SREDA released its annual research report on the Fintech sector at the Finnovate Europe Conference, London on 10 February 2015. The report provides an overview of fintech trends and major news during 2014. In addition the report presents an analysis of the important issues that are expected to impact on the fintech sector in 2015. The report includes a short section regarding the development of Fintech sector in Asia.

The report can be downloaded here.

Life.SREDA is a venture capital firm focusing on investments in FinTech mobile and Internet projects. Their strategy is determined by the deep understanding of the rapidly growing FinTech 2.0 industry and the narrow investment focus.

They believe that "The Next Big Thing" is the combination of the past decade’s global trends, such us the Social & Mobile with the innovative and bright FinTech ideas.

Life.SREDA currently operates in the U.S., Western and Eastern European Markets, providing mostly seed and early stage venture funding.

Ernst & Young report: Emerging markets show increasing promise for digital earnings potential with China ranked highest among all emerging countries

While the US has the highest digital earnings potential of any country, emerging markets are rapidly growing, according to a recent study conducted by EY to show which countries offer media and entertainment companies the greatest opportunities for earnings from digital media. The study, Riding the new wave: Are you ready for accelerated digital media adoption?, shows that while mature markets still lead the way, emerging markets, led by China, offer significant digital growth opportunities.

A PDF copy of the EY report can be downloaded here

An EY infographic summarising the report data can be viewed here. 


EY’s Digital Media Attractiveness Index

EY’s Digital Media Attractiveness Index (DiMAx) is a proprietary tool designed to help media and entertainment companies with their international growth strategies by capturing key aspects of digital market maturity, as well as other media and economic factors. It sets out to answer four questions for M&E executives considering growth in international markets related to: market potential; risks and costs associated with entry; timing of entry; and capital allocation. 
 

UKBAA Research Report: A Nation of Angels (2015) - The main findings

In a European context, the UK business angel market is seen as one of the most mature and extensively researched. However, there is a lack of recent systematic evidence on the profile and approach of business angels, their investing activities and notably their impact on the growth and performance of the businesses in which they invest. This report sets out to fill this gap by providing new findings from the largest survey of business angels in the UK and the impact of their investment activities to date. This report, commissioned by the UKBAA in association with the Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE) and with the support of the BVCA, Deloitte, Barclays and the ESRC, presents the results of the largest study of the investment behaviour and impact of business angels in the UK to date. The study comprised responses from 403 individual angels who responded to the online Nation of Angels survey, detailed follow-up telephone interviews with 42 individual angels who shared more details of their investment behaviour, and an online survey of 28 angel syndicate and network leads across the UK representing 8,000 angels. What is clear from the results of this research is that the UK business angel market is changing.

The Reports can be downloaded here:

Nation of Angels - The Unsung Heroes of Britain's Economy
Nation of Angels - Full Report

The main findings of the study are:

• Rise in Female Angels 
• Angels are more active than ever 
• Investing further from home 
• Angels increasingly invest alongside funding vehicles
• 90% of Angels report using EIS or SEIS Tax Relief Schemes
• Syndicates show preference for an experienced Lead Angel over presence on board
• Increased expectations of returns
• 25% of Angels have invested in Social Impact.  

Source:  http://www.ukbusinessangelsassociation.org.uk/news/nation-angels-2015-main-findings