Wealth management firms told to target social media as they face fintech challenge June 23, 2016 Wealth management firms are being encouraged to up their game on social media to better cater for the digital needs of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). Capgemini’s 20th World Wealth Report also warned fintech companies are “making inroads along the entire expanse of the wealth management lifecycle”. “Firms need to be making progress on all aspects of [...]
Londoners should be inspired by our diverse and global tech sector June 22, 2016 It is the eve of the most important political decision of a generation, a decision that has forced each and every one of us to examine what it means to be part of a community that is British, European and international. On such an historical day, London Technology Week has reminded us of the global [...]
Peak polling? The latest Brexit poll has crashed Opinium’s website June 22, 2016 Such demand for the results of the latest – and final – polling by Opinium ahead of Thursday's referendum on EU membership has crashed the polling firm's website. As campaigning reaches fever pitch, everyone clearly wants to know which way it's going to swing, and polls are all we have to go on, really. Apologies, due to [...]
Game, set and house: Wimbledon residents are quids in thanks to tennis tournament Airbnb rentals June 22, 2016 Lucky Londoners located in Wimbledon are quids in from hosting the annual tennis tournament at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Residents renting out their homes or rooms to visitors wanting to watch a match and perhaps sample an afternoon tea are raking in more than £1,000 each over the next two weeks, according to Airbnb. The sharing [...]
Spotify returns after outage that left users unable to stream music June 22, 2016 Spotify has returned after going down for many users just hours after YouTube experienced problems which left users unable to watch videos on the site. The music streaming site became unavailable with users reporting being unable to connect, or messages of no internet connection, leaving people unable to play music. According to Downdetector, there were been nearly 3,000 reports [...]
Elon Musk’s Tesla to snap up the US’ biggest solar energy provider June 22, 2016 Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk shocked markets yesterday by announcing plans to merge his electric car maker with America's biggest solar provider. Tesla Motors wrote in a blog post late last night that it has offered to buy SolarCity in an all-stock deal worth as much as $2.8bn (£1.9bn), more than the solar provider's market capitalisation of $2.1bn. Read more: Ikea [...]
These money transfer startups are restricting services on referendum day June 22, 2016 Several of the UK's fast growing online money transfer companies have said they will restrict their services on the day of the EU referendum. The unprecedented step is due to the potential volatility of currency markets on Friday. Startup Azimo has said it will temporarily suspend money transfers from 6am on Thursday morning when polls open, until "things have settled [...]
The European Union wants to give robots “electronic persons” status June 22, 2016 Say what you like about the European Union, but its timing is impeccable. The EU – yes, the organisation currently on trial by the population of its third-largest member – has just issued a draft report on robotics. Spoiler: it's nuts. The report, designed to provide recommendations to the EU's Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics, [...]
Blockchain could soon be settling gold transactions June 22, 2016 Gold trading in London could soon be settled using blockchain technology in a new initiative between Euroclear and itBit. The settlement house is working with the New York startup to introduce its private distributed ledger Bankchain to the London gold market in a bid to make it more efficient. Read more: London startup claims first working blockchain platform launch "Precious metals [...]
Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures invests $11m in London startup Lystable June 22, 2016 Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures has ploughed more cash into a startup founded in London which boasts Google among its clients. Lystable has landed $11m (£7.5m) from Thiel's fund, Goldcrest Capital and Spring Partners to fund its expansion in the US. The year-old startup provides software for companies to easily manage their contract and freelance workers, [...]