Startup tackling fake news with artificial intelligence Factmata nets funding to expand March 8, 2018 A startup using artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the proliferation of fake news and extremist content online will expand after closing a $1m (£720,000) seed funding round that attracted major US backers. London-based Factmata’s funding round was led by tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban, but also attracted high-profile investors such as Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, internet [...]
Big fish: The seven largest types of institutional investors March 7, 2018 Say whatever you want about the world, but there’s never been a better time to be an end investor. Many things investment professionals fear — fee compression, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain — benefit clients through higher account balances and lower fees. Asset owners are the largest of those clients. Though they are frequently [...]
Beware the real Beast from the East: Chinese tech giants March 5, 2018 The last week has seen the UK battered by the worst snow we’ve seen in years, thanks to freezing temperatures coming from the east. But cold weather and heavy snow is not the only thing that is making the move from east to west. Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and JD.com have started to [...]
Blockchain and artificial intelligence to cause a flurry of tech M&A, but private equity’s bubble could burst warns new report from Hampleton Partners March 5, 2018 A flurry of technology mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are set to happen before 2020, a new report predicts. However private equity firms – which have recently been elbowing trade buyers out of the way to splash the cash on tech targets, such as in the $5.3bn (£3.8bn) buyout of Nets – could soon see their [...]
Keeping the little guys in the loop: How Funding Circle hopes to fix the financial system March 1, 2018 Let's be honest, financial institutions can be bleak places. Pretentious, impenetrable, and determined to make you feel conscious of your own tiny existence. So when I step into the bustling hive that is Funding Circle’s office, it’s a breath of fresh air. There’s not a suit in sight, the place is immersed in a babble [...]
Harnessing tech can help break the glass ceiling March 1, 2018 While issues around diversity and inclusion have been well and truly thrust into the spotlight following a year of sexual harassment and gender pay inequality scandals, the numbers still paint a bleak picture. In the UK, there is still no single sector where women make up more than 33 per cent of total senior management [...]
British businesses must seize this chance to tap into Asian potential February 28, 2018 The Brexit vote has amplified the incentives for UK companies to look further afield than established EU economies – and not a moment to soon. The level of trade with Asia is currently lagging. The EU remains by far the UK’s largest trading partner – China, Asia’s largest market, is only fifth. The “golden era” [...]
Disruption is everywhere – but so are the investment opportunities February 27, 2018 I’m not usually a subscriber to “this time it’s different”, but when it comes to the emerging disruption in so many industries, “this time it’s more than average” doesn’t really seem to cut it. This time I have a feeling it really may be different, because today’s disruptions are everywhere, and that means that there [...]
Editor’s Notes: MPs should summon the hedge funds if they want to understand Carillion, Carney’s catty comment and RBS’s robot February 23, 2018 In their quest to find out what happened to doomed outsourcing giantCarillion, MPs are asking the right questions but they’re not necessarily addressing them to the right people. This week the committee investigating Carillion’s collapse grilled accountancy firms KPMG andDeloitte, but while the beancounters can provide valuable insight into the final hours of Carillion’s life, [...]
The ‘big tech’ backlash: How sustainable is the success of Google, Facebook and Amazon? February 22, 2018 In recent months it has felt like the tide is turning against big tech. Google has been fined for market abuse in the EU. Silicon Valley heads have been hauled in front of the US Senate and the UK Parliament to answer for the abuse of their platforms by extremists and Russian saboteurs. The repeal of [...]