The estimated 1.8 million British expats living in the EU should consider reviewing their personal financial strategies as ‘no-deal’ Brexit looks increasingly likely, warns the deVere Group.

The warning from James Green, deVere Group’s divisional manager of Western Europe, comes after British Prime Minister Theresa May claimed that a no-deal Brexit “wouldn’t be the end of the world,” as she sought to downplay statements made by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

It also follows the UK government publishing last week its first technical notices advising businesses and consumers on the preparations being done for the prospect of there being no Brexit deal.

Mr Green comments: “A no-deal Brexit is now expected by a growing number of experts and the wider population to be the most likely outcome.

“If the UK crashes out of Europe with no deal in place, the estimated 1.8 million expats living in the EU could be financially impacted in two key ways.

“First, the pound would inevitably suffer and it could fall hard. This would deliver another heavy and serious blow for those who receive UK pensions or income in pounds as the cost of living, in effect, would be significantly more expensive.

“Second, unless there is considerable post-Brexit collaboration between the UK and EU there is a risk that existing payments from British companies, including pension and insurance companies, to those living within the European Economic Area (EEA) could be disrupted or even made impossible. Of course, this would be a major inconvenience to many UK expats.”

He continues: “Against this chaotic backdrop it is prudent that British expats in the EU consider reviewing their personal financial strategies sooner rather than later with a cross-border financial expert. This will help best position them not only to mitigate the risks of a no-deal Brexit, but also to enable them to take advantage of potential opportunities that may arise.”

Mr Green concludes: “Unfortunately, a smooth and orderly exit of the EU is looking increasingly unlikely and this can be expected to hit the finances of many expats.

“They should seek to make their financial strategies ‘no deal Brexit’ proof.”

(Source: deVere group)

The Rothschild banking family was at one point the richest family on Earth and, unsurprisingly, today it is one of the most popular subjects of conspiracy theories. But just how much of what you might read online is true?

The Rothschild family came from Frankfurt, where the house they had lived in for generations was marked with the sign of the Red Shield (Roth + Schild). Like many Jewish families at the time, the Rothschilds were involved in finance, specifically currency exchange and collectible coins.

That was the business of the Rothschild patriarch: Mayer Rothschild. His success in this business attracted many wealthy customers, including Wilhelm, the future ruler of Hesse. Mayer managed Wilhelm's fortune and successfully protected it from Napoleon's invasion, for which he was greatly rewarded. Mayer had 5 sons, which he spread throughout Europe. Each established his own family and banking business in the five great European capitals at the time: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna and Naples.

Throughout the 19th century the five brothers and (eventually) their heirs cooperated in numerous financing projects, lending money to governments and the nobility. By the end of the 19th century the wealth of just the French branch was the equivalent of $500 million today.

The 20th century, however, wasn't kind to the Rothschilds. The Naples and Frankfurt branches became effectively extinct when their last patriarchs produced no male heirs. A more sinister fate befell the branches in Vienna and Paris, who had the vast majority of their wealth confiscated in the course of the Second World War.

Only the branch in London survived intact, and today it is still a powerful force in Britain. At present the wealth of the Rothschilds is hidden in a series of shell companies originating in Switzerland. It is unclear exactly how rich they are, but by all visible measures they appear to have lost the majority of their richest during the 20th century.

Thus, ironically, one of the most popular subjects of conspiracy theories today has instead been on the decline for well over a century. Under the kind patronage of Nagabhushanam Peddi, Dan Supernault, Samuel Patterson, James Gallagher & Brett Gmoser.

15 Ways To Make One Million Dollars | Sunday Motivational Video from Alux.

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Said markets present anticipated price developments daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, and when scouting for profits, bidding investors will act according to the market sentiment.

If the anticipated price development of a market’s stock is upwards, meaning the value of certain stock is rising or expected to rise, as a consequence of trends, single events, supply materials, current affairs or many other factors, the market sentiment is expressed as bullish. Vice versa, if the anticipated price development is on the downtrend, by any of the same reasons, the market sentiment is expressed as bearish.

It isn’t always as simple as this however. Market sentiment is also considered to be a contrarian indicator. For example, extremely bearish markets may subsequently display dramatic spikes – the turning point for this is often where the risky decision making appears.

Market sentiment, the overall expression of a certain market as bullish or bearish, is normally determined by a variety of technical and statistical methods that factor in the comparisons of advancing & declining stocks as well as new lows & new highs in the market. One of these is known as the Relative Strength Index (RSI); it relates the number of assets bought to assets sold, indicating whether capital is flowing in or out of the market in question. Normally, as a market follows sentiment either way, the flock follows, meaning the overall movement of the market’s stock follows the market sentiment directly. To quote a popular Wall Street phrase: “all boats float or sink with the tide.” The more investors buy, the more investors buy; it’s usually exponential development.

This of course could happen indefinitely, if it weren’t for the fact that as stock trading volumes rise, as does the price. Eventually the price hits a market high and the potential for profits is minimized. At this point the fall to a bearish market usually comes to fruition. On the other hand, as trading volumes fall, prices go down, to the point where eventually the price is so low it would be foolish not to buy, therefore turning the market on its head.

As obvious as it may seem, the words bullish and bearish reflect exactly what you would expect and are not simply paraphrases. An optimistic investor, happy to buy, buy, buy as the market sentiment is bullish, is considered a bull; aggressive, optimistic and almost reckless, striking upwards with its horns. Equally a bearish investor is considered a bear because he or she does not trade without utmost consideration, he or she is pessimistic towards trading expectations and believes prices will fall, or fall further than they already have. The bear therefore decides to sell, sell, sell, and pushes the prices down; as a bear that strikes its paws to the ground.

Make sure you check one of our top read features ‘The Top 10 Greatest Stock Market Trades Ever’.

Last week it was announced that the UK has overtaken the US on fintech investment for the first half of 2018. Simon Wax, Partner at Buzzacott below looks at how companies must address and identify their sweet spot in the market to ensure long term success.

It’s terrific to see the UK is leading the way when it comes to fintech. Funding is at an all-time high and the UK should certainly feel proud of its ability to attract more investment into the sector than any other country.

To secure continued success for the UK’s fintech scene, it’s vital that these young companies are able to scale successfully, and to do this, they will need to overcome some challenges. Increased uncertainty around Brexit and how this will impact the UK’s access to the digital single market, the availability of skilled technical workers and even funding for R&D are all key risks for small businesses.

Scaling fintech companies need to focus their efforts on long-term success, not being the biggest money maker. The risk is companies may lose sight of what they originally set out to do, a trap in which young companies can easily fall into, when not careful. Leaders must take a methodical and responsible approach to fundraising, bring in investment which matches their aims, rather than taking the first offer of funds. There are many options out there such as UK R&D funding, through sources such as the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund or Innovate UK. Scaling fintech companies must address and identify their sweet spot in the market, and develop a business plan focused on which best suits their model. That way, scaling businesses can secure their success in the market, and grow in a way that is right for their business.

The investing landscape has changed significantly over the last decades. Historically, the large banks have been happy enough to manage investors’ money and keep hold of the information. For those wanting to become involved, it was too tough, or too expensive. Here Finance Monthly hears from Kerim Derhalli, CEO at Invstr, on the potential for fintech to succeed in a complex evolving landscape.

Now, with an unprecedented amount of tools at our fingertips to make the process of committing cash to the stock market – or indeed other assets such as bonds – much easier, you’d expect us to be experiencing a golden age for financial independence and empowerment.

Despite this, the data tells a very different story. A recent US study by Gallup, for example, found that the combined age of adults younger than 35 with money in the stock market in 2017 and 2018 stands at 37%, down from 52% in the two years leading up to the financial crash.

While it’s true that a lingering distrust of financial institutions is impacting millennial sentiment towards stock ownership there’s a bigger story here of a more fundamental failing across the fintech industry – which is still not even scratching the surface of its potential.

Let’s look at this in simple, real world terms. If I were to stand on a street corner and hand out £5 notes to anyone passing by, I'm sure I would have several million people taking up the offer of free cash. If I stood on a digital street corner, the uptake would be even higher.

However, fintech brokers who have deployed these same techniques have apparently failed to attract huge followings. What are they missing?

Well, what many of these platforms are failing to understand is that investing is a process, not an event. Understanding what is going on in the world or at an individual company level, reading the news, following the markets, looking at charts, reading research, talking to friends, peers or strangers to get investment ideas are all part of the process.

The last part, the buying and the selling, only represents 1% of the investment process, and is by far the least exciting part of it. Companies that make the transactional and comparatively dry element the focus of their product are missing the fundamental quality of what makes fintech such an exciting proposition – and doing wannabe investors a disservice in the process.

For me, fintech is the manifestation in the financial markets of the information revolution. Whether it’s about internet or social networks, the sharing economy and now cryptocurrencies – it’s all about empowering individuals.

With investing apps, this means giving users access to data that was formerly the reserve of the large financial institutions and teaching them to interpret how real world events can impact on the stock market.

This is excellent practice for investing, whether via a mobile app or otherwise, where those who truly profit chart a path by making their own investment decisions rather than relying on passive funds that track the major exchanges.

Ultimately, it’s about putting people in a position where they can manage their own money. The disruption we’ve seen in every other consumer sector, where the empowerment of individuals has done away with intermediaries is the real opportunity. If more companies in the fintech industry can capture that space then the impact on finance will be truly transformative.

This month, Finance Monthly caught up with Aubrey Mills – a mother, Ms. California Woman of Achievement 2018 and a Business Development Leader at World Financial Group. Below, Aubrey tells us about her passion for educating families, individuals and businesses in ways to make money, save money, and stay out of debt. 

What does your daily work consist of and what do you believe you bring to your clients?

Most of my time is spent building relationships with clients and associates. I don’t want to just hire people and have them work for me; I want them to build careers and lives they are proud of. I want to get to know my clients so that I can best guide them on financial decisions. Learning how people work or what makes us think differently was important, not just so I could be a better saleswoman, but so I could better serve my clients. I studied Human Nature and Communication, so I could better understand people. I’m currently learning to better understand other cultures because I believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to be educated financially. I teach free classes to the community and I want to be as effective as possible.

What attracted you to the insurance field and what drives you to push further the boundaries of your work?

I never wanted to work in finance. I came from a low-middle income family and had always assumed that finance people were older men. I once heard a woman speak about finances and I remember two things about what she said: she was raised by a single mom (I’m a single mom) and how hard it was for her growing up that way, and the Rule of 72. It was one of those awakening moments. I didn’t want my children to feel deprived growing up. The Rule of 72, or compound interest, showed me how little I needed to save for retirement and my children’s college fund and how fast my debt was doubling. I have had friends whose spouses didn’t have life insurance and they suddenly passed away. I couldn’t stand to just sit by and continue to watch that happen. Money doesn’t bring a spouse back, but it allows the family to properly grieve.

You commonly work with military families; what challenges are presented for these clients, particularly in the insurance sphere, and how do you help them overcome these?

My biggest obstacle is conveying to them that the insurance they have will not necessarily remain the same when they exit the military. Most of our service members are young and they get a basic ‘money talk’ when they enter, but this is not sufficient. I believe strongly in doing whatever we can for our service members, not just to equip them for keeping us safe and free, but to have a rich and full life after they leave the military. I don’t feel like we are doing enough - not even close. Many of our service members join right out of high school and they now have an income they didn’t have before, so of course they want to spend it. I know when I was aged 18-20, all I did was work, so I can then shop. But this wouldn’t have been the case if I had known what I know now, 13 years later.

Education and getting young people to see the value in saving are two of the most important things I can provide them with.

What have been some of the most difficult issues you have dealt with alongside clients?

Anytime I have an older client with multiple investments, it gets tricky. They have a fear of losing money and a fear of change. Even if they aren’t in guaranteed accounts, they have a hard time switching. That’s where the friendship and rapport that was built comes in. You really must know who they are and how they communicate. You want to build trust, so you can have those hard conversations.

As a thought leader in this field, what would you say must change to ensure a fair and just future for your clients when it comes to insurance?

First of all - be you. Whatever that means. People like you need help from you. When I first started in the industry, I thought I had to fit a mold. It wasn’t until I allowed myself to be unapologetically me that things changed. I love to laugh. I use humour to ease tension and those hard conversations. I’m a bit goofy and I’ve learned that it makes it easier to help others learn as opposed to being uptight and rigid. So just be you.

Secondly - integrity, 100% of the time. I see people come into the industry and they get so blinded by the amount of income you can make, and they chase it. The business that pays is the business that stays. You can’t keep clients and agents if you don’t have integrity and heart.

Website: http://www.worldfinancialgroup.com

In the past year MIFID II has enticed change and development across the financial markets and research sector. Here Fabrice Bouland, CEO of Alphametry, analyses said change and the impact it has had on innovation.

Six months in and MiFID II research unbundling regulation has appeared to create an even worse market for investment research than we had previously. With many commentators decrying the ‘unintended consequences’ of the new legislation – namely bringing the research market to a grinding halt as asset managers assess their needs and sparking a price war which has all but crippled smaller, niche research houses – one might wonder if there is anything positive to say about the impact of MiFID II on the research market and whether anything which can be done to revive it?

In truth, MiFID II has ultimately shown us the historical ambiguity investment managers have always had with research. There has never been an easy way to answer fundamental questions like ‘what research is needed’, ‘how much should we pay for it’ and ‘how do we measure the value’. This lack of structure has been pulled well and truly into the spotlight under the new EU regulation, as well as the financial services sector’s slow take-up of new technology to answer these questions.

Thanks in some part to the new regulation, active management might be at a historic turning point. The progress in investment technologies is about to experience a quantum leap forward plus the expected deluge of new alternative data will unleash an unprecedented potential. R&D and new technology must play a leading role in this and MiFID II can claim credit for creating this opportunity to innovate.

Time to innovate

From a buy-side perspective, research providers need to adopt entirely new strategies to survive.

In the past six months, we have seen two developments. Firstly, Tier-1 providers are pushing content exclusively on their websites. This is a step back from a user experience perspective as remembering numerous passwords is impractical for portfolio managers to the extent that some have cut providers which do not provide easy access to their portals. Distributing research via aggregators or marketplaces in order to reach the maximum number of channels is another option in today’s market. This could be applied to any type of research or data, in whatever format, for the easier and faster use of the portfolio manager.

The second innovation we are starting to see is from research providers who, in response to plummeting prices, are reducing the number of analysts and opted for more automated production. Commerzbank is one provider which is experimenting with artificial intelligence to see if it can write basic analyst notes automatically to trim research costs.

Alternative research and AI

With regulation forcing active managers to value their historical research franchise, it’s become clear that research has barely evolved whereas the world of investible assets has changed dramatically. Factors affecting a company’s valuation go way beyond the simple analysis of its financials or strategy.

The rise of alternative datasets which cover a wide range of digital inputs from social media to credit card data, are becoming increasingly valuable to asset managers. In many ways, the rise of alternative data is one of the first manifestation of how research is changing for the better under MiFID II.

Similarly, the research product may no longer be exclusively research reports but also the technology layer which is able to extract intelligence from them automatically, quickly and at scale. Since the buy-side has always heavily relied on the sell-side when it comes to technology, most active investors are stuck in a technological gap. Capturing and processing a more and more sophisticated and voluminous information resource seems the way forward.

Is MiFID II helping or hindering innovation in financial markets? It already seems that asset managers are considering how tomorrow’s technology is affecting today’s research – let’s hope the speed of implementation can match the exponential changes in data volume and value which we are seeing in the wider world.

Four out of five businesses will use chatbots by 2020, 85% of all customer interactions will be handled by them and they will generate $600bn in revenue in the same year, according to a recent Oracle survey. This week Chris Crombie, Product Manager at Engage Hub, believes now may well be the best time to start investing in chatbots.

In just under two years’ time, chatbots – conversation-mimicking computer programmes that provide your customers with an instant, personalised response – will be ubiquitous. Driven by innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and the insatiable desire to enhance and personalise the customer experience.

Simply put, chatbots are one of the clearest concrete examples of how the “AI revolution” is impacting on the business landscape and on the day-to-day lives of millions of consumers worldwide.

Consumers happy to chat to bots

Consumer familiarity with chatbots has increased over the last decade, a result of our familiarity with things such as self-service machines in supermarkets and interactive IVR.

With the latest advances in AI technology pushing new boundaries, it’s easy to see why many are claiming that 2018 is set to be “the year of the chatbot”.

That’s because, for any company that has an interest in offering a great customer experience, the potential benefits of enhancing customer satisfaction and responding to customer’s needs in a faster and more efficient manner by using chatbots are immense.

Plus, new messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat and traditional SMS are proliferating, which means millions of new opportunities to reach customers and communicate with them using the communications channels they utilise and like the most.

Understanding innovation in AI, Machine Learning and NLP

To understand the latest chatbot innovations, it’s necessary to have an understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computing technologies that can perform tasks that previously required human intelligence. Mainly relating to speech recognition, visual perception, decision-making or language translation.

As an extension of this, Machine Learning is the application of AI technologies in ways that use data to learn and improve automatically, without being given explicit instructions. While NLP is the branch of AI that helps computers understand human language as it’s spoken and written to be able to understand intent.

The computer chatbot uses AI and NLP to imitate human conversation, through voice and/or text. So, in addition to the above-mentioned text-based instant messaging systems, voice-controlled chatbots are becoming increasingly popular, both in the home and in business contexts.

Amazon Alexa, for example, has proven to be an immensely useful consumer technology over the last two years in terms of its educational benefits, teaching consumers about the ease-of-use of voice controlled tech and helping them to feel comfortable and happy using it.

Test chatbots properly, to boost business

So that’s a brief overview of the key technologies and the commonly-used acronyms behind chatbots. Yet the key thing you need to know if this: when implemented correctly, chatbots are a demonstrably fantastic way to increase engagement with your customers.

So, what’s the secret of rolling out chatbots in a way that resonates well with your customers and doesn’t risk you losing sales?

As with any new technology, rigorously test it out internally before you let your customers start to use it. This is particularly critical with chatbot applications, as the bot will start to learn from your team, which helps to ensure that it knows how to deal with a wide range of the most common customer questions, complaints and enquiries.

Thorough testing will ensure your chatbots work as efficiently as possible, giving the correct information to customers as rapidly as they demand it.

All of which means that you will gain a clear competitive advantage, future-proofing your business by improving the customer experience whilst also delivering operational excellence.

Connecting you to your customers 24/7

Businesses in all verticals, particularly finance, retail and logistics, and businesses of all sizes – from small start-ups through to global enterprise – need to be investing in the latest chatbot technologies in 2018 to stay ahead of the curve.

And in today’s market, enhancing the customer experience is all about providing a high quality ‘always on’ service to deliver the information that they need, on demand, 24/7.

New research released from financial services technology leader FIS (NYSE: FIS) found that financial institutions with the most advanced operating models are growing nearly twice as fast as the rest of the industry.

The FIS research also found that financial services executives around the world are more confident in their underlying technology and operating models in 2018. Nearly half (47%) of firms surveyed said their operations function is strong enough to support their growth plans this year, compared with 28% in 2017.

The findings are part of the annual FIS Readiness Report, which surveyed more than 1,500 C-level and senior executives across buy-side, sell-side and insurance firms. The study asked executives of those firms to assess their organization’s capabilities across six key operational pillars. Based on their scores, FIS then further analysed those organizations ranking in the top 20% of the FIS Readiness scoring system. Classified as ‘Readiness Leaders,’ the top 20% were studied to see how their investment priorities differ from their peers and how that impacts their growth.

Readiness Leaders Outperform Peers

The research found that of the six operational pillars, firms’ digital innovation strategies have the most discernible link with stronger revenue growth, followed by automation and emerging technology. However digital innovation strategy ranked just 5.5 out of 10 on FIS’ index for performance, which highlights the weakest performance scores across the industry today.

Among the findings of the FIS 2018 ‘Pursuit for Growth’ report:

• Readiness Leaders achieved average revenue growth of 3.88% over the past 12 months, compared with 2.12% growth for the rest of the industry.
• 80% of Readiness Leaders have fully or near fully automated key processes, versus 46% of the rest of the industry.
• Nearly two-fifths of all respondents (38 percent) say they want to significantly reduce the size of their owned IT infrastructure over the next 12 months.

Martin Boyd, Head of Institutional & Wholesale at FIS, said: “Our research shows that financial services firms can increase their abilities to accelerate their growth if they evolve their traditional operating model of data management, efficiency and risk management into one built on digital innovation, emerging technologies and advanced automation. Based upon our research, those firms that have been able to expand their focus and modernize their operating model should be well placed for success in the future.”

(Source: FIS)

Today Rebecca O’Keeffe, Head of Investment at interactive investor, reports on the latest market updates, with expert insight into import/exports markets and investment.

“Equity markets are under significant pressure in early trading as the global trade war is expected to come into clearer focus this month.  In Europe, various leaders face acute political pressures of their own, with Angela Merkel struggling over immigration concerns and Theresa May facing another perilous month of Brexit negotiations.  Previously, investors have used significant market falls as a chance to buy the dips, however, with all these headwinds, it is difficult to view current market weakness as a buying opportunity.

“After spending weeks not fully pricing in the downside risks, as investors hoped that there would be a last-minute reprieve rather than a global trade war, investors are waking up to the potential reality of a trade war and what that means for the wider markets. Falling Chinese exports will subdue the commodity markets, individual tariffs will markedly affect sectors and their wider supply chain, and the prospect of a downward spiral is very real.

“After largely surviving the pressure during the first half of the year with markets broadly unchanged, investors may find that the second half of the year, including the unpredictable summer months, may prove even more volatile than usual, delivering some opportunities, but increasing the threats for investors.”

Based in Liechtenstein, Incrementum AG offers wealth management services for private clients, as well as a range of investment funds and investment solutions.

To hear about Incrementum’s wealth management offerings and services, Finance Monthly caught up with the company’s CEO and Co-founder Stefan M. Kremeth.

What inspired you to found Incrementum?

Our objective when founding Incrementum AG was to offer first-class services to private clients and investment fund investors at fully transparent and competitive prices and to work with an inspiring team, in a fun environment.

What would you say are the key issues that you assist clients with regarding asset management?

Our investment team is very interested in and has a profound understanding of monetary history, combined with out-of-the-box reasoning and prudent, fundamental financial research, purposely avoiding daily chatter and noise. This offers a distinct skillset that has proven to be utterly valuable for our private clients and investment fund investors alike.

What strategies do you implement to ensure that your clients’ goals and objectives are achieved?

We only offer cashflow generation and capital preservation strategies. Participation in listed companies is very tangible to us and equities therefore belong to our core investments. We are building truly customised client portfolios according to our clients’ requirements, needs and willingness to accept risk. We are long-term investors and we invest solely in equities of listed companies with a proven track record of producing net-free cashflows over years, happy to share those cashflows, at least partially, with investors in the form of dividends and/or capital reductions. On the other hand, and after many years of extraordinary money supply and ultra-low interest rates, we do not invest in government bonds, as we do not feel comfortable with the current risk reward profile offered by them. Large-scale monetary policies are difficult to judge and while we are not entirely certain that the increase in global debt will be sustainable, we are humble enough to recognise that so far, the leading central banks seem to have dealt with the 2007/2008 financial crisis rather well. Either way, at Incrementum, we see money only as a means for facilitating global trade, consumption, potentially storing short-term value and thus - as a lubricant for the global economy.

How important is a maintenance strategy for optimising asset value?

At Incrementum, we very much believe in an active portfolio management approach. We cut back positions that have reached our price targets and we are interested in buying into companies that have sound underlying business models, but have missed their targets for a quarter or two. We are very patient investors.

What are your hopes for the future of Incrementum?

We are happy with what we have achieved so far but are constantly striving for innovative growth. Last year, we entered a new business field by setting up our Crypto Research report, which swiftly became the most read research report in the crypto currency field.

Website: https://www.incrementum.li/