We list a handful of industries that may accelerate their mobile workforce and remote capability efforts in the COVID aftermath.
- ASSET MANAGEMENT: We believe the big opportunity here is for virtual meetings whether they be one-on-one meetings between investors and management teams or full analyst days. Basic video communication and live streaming services are offered by companies such as Brightcove (tkr: BCOV), Skype/Microsoft (tkr: MSFT), YouTube (tkr: GOOG) and Zoom Communications (tkr: ZOOM) but lack the domain-specific features that would add value to Asset Managers and public company customers insofar as the investor communications and investment due diligence functions are concerned. Capital Markets-oriented FinTech companies such as Bloomberg (private), FactSet (tkr: FDS), IHS Markit (tkr: INFO), Refinitiv/LSE and SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC) are well-positioned to capitalize.
- BANKING (Commercial and Retail): Lots of low-hanging fruit here. Unlike investment banks, depositary institutions simply are not conditioned to work remotely. Remote work over the past several weeks has been a new experience for most banks including global banks such as Bank of America (tkr: BAC) as well as for regional and community banks. Forward-thinking FinTech companies ought to be able to partner with Zoom Communications, Skype/Microsoft and Google on the video side and with companies such as Adobe (tkr: ADBE), DocuSign (tkr: DOCU) and Microsoft on the document side to create out-of-the-box retail and commercial banking-specific workflows. Those FinTech companies may include FIS (tkr: FIS), Fiserv (tkr: FISV) and Jack Henry (tkr: JKHY) to name a few.
- HEALTHCARE: Telemedicine is the obvious opportunity. The healthcare IT companies are well-positioned but need to move faster. Allscripts (tkr: MDRX), Amazon (tkr: AMZN), Apple (tkr: AAPL), Cerner (tkr: CERN), Epic (private), Nuance (tkr: NUAN) and Walmart (tkr: WMT) come to mind. On the retail pharmacy side CVS struggles to maintain accurate customer data. It is unclear how CVS Health (tkr: CVS), will survive Amazon’s (facilitated by its PillPack acquisition) eventual push into retail pharmacy.
- REAL ESTATE (CRE and Residential): – Opportunities:
- Robust video with data overlay: Presently home “video tours” are nothing more than video collages of static photos. Commercial video tours are not any better. Video tours that overlay room dimensions and other relevant property data with actual videos would be value-add. Companies such as Zillow (tkr: ZG), Redfin (tkr: RDFN), CoStar (tkr: CSGP) and Verisk (tkr: VRSK) are well-positioned here. Entrepreneurs could offer property inspection services that incorporate video.
- Document process automation: The next iteration of document process automation is due from companies such as Ellie Mae (private), DocuSign, Fidelity National Financial (tkr: FNF) and Intercontinental Exchange/MERS (tkr: ICE).
- RETAIL: Last week I purchased a piece of video equipment at Best Buy (tkr: BBY). Best Buy did not have a means to process my payment other than through their clunky website. It would have been far easier to have used a mobile POS terminal much like what you find at most every restaurant in western Europe. I’m sure that Fiserv, Global Payments (tkr: GPN), PayPal (tkr: PYPL) and Square (tkr: SQ) would be happy to help.
- Cashierless checkout technology supplied by Amazon and potentially others is the long-game in physical retail payments.
- SMB Retail: most mom & pop businesses still operate Websites with poor user experiences (limited functionality, latency). Companies that can help mom & pop operations leverage best e-commerce practices have a long tail wind. Shopify (tkr: SHOP) and WIX (tkr: WIX) immediately come to mind. Facebook (tkr: FB) could do more here to add enterprise functionality to Instagram business accounts, particularly around ordering and payment processing.