Technology, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Leadership, Entrepreneurship
Category: Fintech
From Chat bots to Ambient AI. Cloud-based AI and Machine Learning technology is readily available. Large technology platform companies such as Amazon (Alexa), Google and Microsoft (Azure), encourage third-party developers to build applications and services on top of their core AI and Machine Learning platforms. This enables developers to focus resources on building value through … Continue reading How AI Will Conquer Financial Services
FIS to Acquire Worldpay for approximately $43 Billion (enterprise value). This deal comes on the heels of the recently announced Fiserv acquisition of First Data. The FinTech M&A spree is approximately two years old at this juncture. So what gives? We went through this exercise a couple of weeks ago with a buyside friend. While … Continue reading The FinTech Consolidation Wave Continues. Incumbents Fear the Mobile Wallet.
Will we subscribe to Apple’s forthcoming subscription video on demand (“SVOD”) service simply because it’s Apple? Apple plans to release various service bundles later this year that will contain video and news content. For purposes of this discussion let's focus on video content where the name of the SVOD game is "content quality". At launch, … Continue reading Apple’s New Video Service – How Many Subscription Services Can We Eat?
Rideshare as a long-term investment? Right up there with owning an airline. Heck, even if the rideshare companies were operating at scale - running on autonomous vehicle fleets - would you really want to own that business? Depreciating assets, multiple competitors (it will be more than Lyft and Uber), and thin profit margins (we are … Continue reading Rideshare as an Investment? Don’t Be Spun by the VCs
Securities Trading and Revenue Cycle Management (“RCM”) may reside in different industries, yet they share enough common elements to be considered cousins. We believe that FinTech companies that play in the Securities Trading area will look to the HealthIT industry - RCM in particular - to capture growth. See our Interactive HealthIT / RCM company … Continue reading Securities Trading & Revenue Cycle Management Are Related
Some companies execute smart, strategic acquisitions better than others. Here’s a short list of publicly-traded FinTech & Info Services companies that do M&A well: CoStar Group (tkr: CSGP), Intercontinental Exchange (tkr: ICE), IHS Markit (tkr: INFO) SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC) and Verisk (tkr: VRSK). Click Here for Revenue, EBITDA and related metrics. We love FinTech … Continue reading Build. Acquire. Repeat.Premium
BB&T announced that it plans to acquire SunTrust primarily in an effort to scale its technology capability such that it may deliver more on-demand services to customers. This is a corporate governance issue. You simply DO NOT have the luxury to wait for Payments upstarts like Square (tkr: SQ) to capture a $30B-plus valuation ($40B-plus … Continue reading Too Little Too Late. BB&T & SunTrust.Premium
Private Blockchain Networks Will Soon Arrive It will take longer for blockchain to go mainstream than most industry analysts posit. Equity and Fixed Income trading networks, “smart” contracts for residential and commercial real estate and myriad consumer cases will all eventually become the norm. Private, closed-loop commercial networks (securities trading for example) will go mainstream … Continue reading Securities Trading in A Blockchain WorldPremium
FinTech market disruption has led to a bifurcation of FinTech providers - Lions and Lambs. See our "Lions & Lambs" company list with commentary at the end of this note. The FinTech space - whether it be the Capital Markets flavor or the Payments variety - is undergoing rapid change. Within Capital Markets - alternative … Continue reading Acquire or Be Acquired: FinTech Lions and LambsPremium
Many insurers are hesitant to invest aggressively in AI & ML initiatives given that the ROIC is difficult to quantify. This conservatism combined with market disruption bodes well for technology & service providers that offer an Outsourcing option with a demonstrable ROI. Examples include Accenture, EXL Service, IBM Global Services and SS&C Technologies. Plus - … Continue reading We Expect Outsourcing Providers to Gain Traction with Insurance CarriersPremium
