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The future of finance: How will decentralised finance impact the industry?

Source: Finance Derivative

By Anthony DiMarsico, CEO at Banxe

The financial industry is constantly changing, but decentralised finance (DeFi) is becoming more vital. It has seen dramatic growth in popularity since the year 2020 – this year, 2022, has even been dubbed the ‘Year of Defi’. The crypto market has seen tremendous upheaval in recent months and substantial instability at the state of 2020, whereas DeFi projects have flourished and saw a significant rise in value and price. Investors are now placing greater attention on Defi with assets reaching record highs across the world.

The popularity and interest in DeFi is forecast to grow due to the pipeline of opportunities it provides the financial world, as well as its ability to further evolve security measures for safer transactions. But it is important to first understand what DeFi is, why it has experienced such tremendous growth, and why it is predicted to continue to do so.

Shedding light on DeFi and how it works

DeFi is a financial system that runs on a decentralised network of computers. DeFi is a multitude of financial technology tools that are built on a blockchain, and used for borrowing, lending, and other banking services. Blockchain is a decentralised, immutable, public ledger on which Bitcoin is based – that enables all computers (or nodes) on a network to hold a copy of the history of transactions. The idea is that no single entity has control over, nor can alter, that ledger of transactions.

These products and services were created as an alternative to traditional financial services, and are accessible to anyone and eliminate the need for a financial middleman such as a bank or a broker. The world of decentralised finance comprises of non-custodial financial products, and is built around highly experimental, highly lucrative crypto projects.

Evidence of DeFi’s success

Among the most popular projects are lending protocols Aave, Maker, and Compound. These protocols allow users to borrow cryptocurrencies instantaneously, and often in large amounts, if a customer can prove they can pay back the loan in a single transaction. Additionally, with the function of lending protocols, users can also earn interest from lending out cryptocurrencies.

Decentralised exchanges are another popular type of DeFi protocol. Uniswap is by far the largest and most well known decentralised exchange. In fact, in August 2020, the daily trading volume on Uniswap hit $426 million, surpassing and challenging centralised exchanges such as Coinbase, in which traders exchanged $348 million worth of cryptocurrencies.

While Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency that operates on its blockchain, and is used mainly as a store of value, DeFi is a concept that describes financial services that are built on public blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, for example. This enables users to earn interest or borrow against their cryptocurrency holdings, while DeFi is comprised of a variety of applications related to financial services such as trading, borrowing, lending and derivatives.

How can DeFi shape the future of finance?

DeFi has great potential in terms of shaping the future of finance and provides many opportunities for its users to explore simple transactions. Perhaps the most important function is that it removes the need for financial bureaucracy. After the not-so-distant TerraUSD (UST) crash (a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar) the DeFi sector has even more concerns for its future. The crash bankrupted many investors and dragged down the entire crypto market.

However, even with such a significant collapse in the crypto market, cryptocurrencies still have the advantage of becoming the primary digital payment method, as they maintain the variable of privacy, as well as providing the most secure payment channels. In DeFi, liquidity is provisioned and aggregated across many cryptocurrencies to enable decentralised trading, creating pools of liquidity that can be drawn instantly, rather than having to match a buyer and seller at the time of the transaction.

Whether via decentralised exchanges like lending, borrowing, or insurance products, DeFi is evolving and expanding swiftly to mirror the traditional financial services ecosystem. This new form of technology may eventually impact the future of centralised finance entities, with DeFi potentially being seen as a cheaper, quicker, and more relevant alternative. We will also begin to see a rise in the introduction of additional innovative applications and services utilising DeFi’s many offerings.

The benefits of DeFi considerably outweigh the risks. While there are concerns from regulators, on money laundering and illegal payments, DeFi still boasts an entryway to secure transactions and unlimited financial opportunities. DeFi is on its way to becoming more mainstream and the norm for financial payments, with the associated risks soon to be a thing of the past.

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Business

The Role of Technology in Unifying Africa’s Capital Markets

Source: Finance Derivative

Author – Eugene Tawiah CEO and co-founder of SecondSTAX

  • Can you elaborate on the current state of African capital markets and the challenges they face in terms of fragmentation and accessibility for investors outside their respective jurisdictions?

Despite having some of the best-performing stocks and bonds globally, Africa’s exchanges are largely inaccessible to investors outside the jurisdictions where they are domiciled.

The siloed nature of these exchanges as well as insufficient data on the risk profiles of assets has led to limited access to capital for markets and limited access to high-growth assets for investors.

  • SecondSTAX aims to unify African capital markets through technology. Could you explain how your platform facilitates seamless investment and trading across borders, and what specific technological innovations enable this integration?

We facilitate seamless investment and trading across African borders by leveraging innovative technologies such as our cloud-based smart order management and execution routing system which allows investors to trade across multiple African exchanges with ease. 

Our integration of liquidity partners on our platform has mitigated the risks involved with currency disparities and exchange and has aided us in facilitating a seamless trade environment and also in reducing the impact of currency volatility on our users.

Lastly, our platform provides investors with access to real-time and the latest trading news, emerging research on trends and economic data from reliable local sources. This feature allows investors to make informed decisions by having necessary data accessible on a single platform.

  • Collaboration and integration within African capital markets are crucial for fostering economic growth and development. How does SecondSTAX work with exchanges like the Nigeria Exchange Group, Ghana Stock Exchange, and Nairobi Securities Exchange to promote this collaboration, and what benefits does it bring to investors and issuers? 

Through our collaboration with the Nigeria Exchange Group, Ghana Stock Exchange, and the Nairobi Securities Exchange and the utilization of our portal, we significantly expand our users’ access to high-growth assets, effectively opening up African capital markets to a broader audience of both local and international investors. 

These partnerships not only enhance market liquidity but also foster intra-region trading, ultimately integrating African capital markets. Furthermore, our alliances with the African Securities Exchanges Association and African Development Bank facilitate the seamless movement of investments between exchanges and licensed investment firms, empowering firms to engage in trades beyond their domicile jurisdictions within the African region. 

By offering a centralized database of information, we empower investors to make well-informed decisions about their assets, further strengthening the efficiency and transparency of African capital markets.

  • In what ways do you see SecondSTAX contributing to the promotion of innovative financial solutions for African businesses? Can you provide examples of how your platform supports businesses in accessing capital and expanding their operations?

Our intuitive, cutting-edge cloud-based platform facilitates seamless investment and allows investors to securely buy and sell stocks and bonds across multiple African exchanges with ease. 

We aim to streamline the investment process and enable investors to manage their investments from a single portal, providing functionality for every aspect of the investment lifecycle—from know-your-customer (KYC) verification to account onboarding through to trading and settlement in multiple local currencies.

Our partnerships with renowned brokerage firms such as Kestrel Capital (Kenya), Databank Group (Ghana), and Afrinvest (Nigeria) allow for investments to be made in native currencies thus allowing for an easier pathway to wealth accumulation in Africa. 

Also, our partnerships with multiple exchanges enhance economic growth and investment opportunities in those regions, allowing businesses greater access to more affordable long-term funding from capital markets supporting their growth and increasing market liquidity.

  • With the rapid advancement of technology, what opportunities do you foresee for further enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of African capital markets? How do you envision SecondSTAX evolving to capitalize on these opportunities?

New technologies serve as an enabler and force multiplier to improve the lives of investors across the globe. This is true for developed countries and is certainly the case for the African continent as well. Artificial (General) Intelligence (AI/AGI) is very relevant to the evolution of the African capital markets, and we are already incorporating it into our platform as a way to synthesize timely trade ideas from the rapidly changing news, detailed research and market trading data available across the various stock and bond exchanges in Africa. 

This will democratize investing, making the African capital markets dramatically more accessible to everyone, from the savvy professional trader through to the novice investor, looking for the opportunity to grow their wealth. 

With 100+ years of combined technology and finance experience deploying complex large-scale systems and having built similar products and services at globally renowned firms, our team of experts at SecondSTAX believes we can create the frameworks that shall be used to turn these unique insights into opportunities for investors to trade more effectively and generate improved investment returns across Africa.

  • One of the goals of SecondSTAX is to attract investments from both African and international investors. How does your platform address concerns about regulatory compliance and investor protection in cross-border transactions?

We partner with well-established licensed brokerage firms with a multi-decade track record of trading and execution excellence within their local capital market jurisdiction, ensuring we efficiently operate and mitigate emerging risks within the regulatory frameworks of the markets we operate in. This also helps us to securely leverage the robust existing market infrastructure for trade facilitation and settlement thereby encouraging trust and credibility with both the regulatory bodies and investors.

  • Looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of African capital markets, and how do you believe SecondSTAX will contribute to realizing this vision? Additionally, what role do you think technology will play in shaping the future landscape of capital markets in Africa?

We hope for a unified African capital market, and in five years, we will be successfully integrated into major African capital markets, and be a trading and execution vendor partner commanding at least 25% of all African capital market transactions into and between these markets. We would also have launched services to support the investment goals of retail investors, facilitating simple transactions for them. We expect that by enabling the shift to a more efficient capital markets ecosystem in Africa, we will reduce the overall cost of funding for projects in both the private sector and the public sector.

The use of technological inputs on our platform will result in a vibrant capital markets ecosystem which should drive growth for all African emerging economies.

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Business

Total Experience in Insurance

Source: Finance Derivative
Author: Monica Hovsepian, Global Industry Strategist for Financial Services, OpenText

While the insurance industry might be undergoing major changes driven by technology, the end goal remains much the same. Improving the customer and employee experience has been the priority for the industry ever since the digital transformation got underway.

Obviously, financial metrics are the true bottom line, as ever in business. But, as ITT President Harold Geneen put it so sagely, ‘in the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.’

Geneen was speaking in a different age, when the word ‘experience’ was used in a slightly different way. But his insight is just as important today. Getting digital experiences right – for both customers and employees – is critical to the overall business success of companies within the insurance industry.

McKinsey has highlighted this, reporting that many insurers are struggling to effectively respond to their customers’ demands for a better digital experience. They’re hampered by legacy information systems that are inadequate for modern purposes. On the other side of the counter, those outdated systems are making it hard for insurance employees to do their jobs to the best of their ability; 70% of employees in the sector have more work to do than they have time for.

Eradicating these frustrations is therefore a business-critical priority for insurers going forward. The customer experience (CX) and the employee experience (EX) must be addressed and optimised simultaneously, requiring a focus on balancing back-office optimisation and customer-facing excellence.

As these two facets become increasingly linked, it can be more useful for insurers to think of it in a singular term, approaching the task by building a total experience (TX) business strategy to differentiate themselves in a fiercely competitive and dynamic market.

Transforming the way customer data is managed

McKinsey also has some stats to back up the importance of managing CX effectively in this new digital age: companies that do so typically see a 20% improvement in customer satisfaction, a 15% increase in sales conversion, a 30% lower cost-to-serve and a 30% increase in employee engagement.

Getting to those benefits involves transforming the way you manage your customer data to make it more efficient and agile. At its core, this is about being able to understand your customers better so you can make better business decisions and deliver greater satisfaction. This can be achieved by leveraging modern information platforms to streamline internal systems and bring all important data into a single ‘pane-of-glass’ 360-degree customer view.

The EX component of TX comes in here too, as the kind of technology that achieves that 360-degree view makes things much easier for employees, and gives them readily-available insights they can then use to elevate the experiences they offer to customers, including joined-up interactions and personalised service and engagement.

Finding harmony across the channel mix

Once the foundations of the 360-degree view is in place, insurance companies can begin to build out the seamless experience demanded by customers across the mix of different channels, including websites and applications, over the phone or in-person services.

As an example, modern technology can facilitate self-service tools, to add convenience for customers and decrease the burden on employees, allowing them to focus on delivering more strategic, valuable engagements elsewhere.

To touch on the ongoing topic du jour, there are also many demonstrable use cases for AI in insurance already. Combined with analytics, it can be used to help reduce information overload and optimise customer experiences, by giving support teams with AI-driven intelligence to anticipate the next-best action, next-best offer, and next-best channel to engage customers with.  Furthermore, AI can be utilised to empower employees to engage with customers by writing relevant communications, by summarising claim documentations to expedite decisions.

The Future of Total Experience

As economic turbulence continues, insurers are heavily focused on operational efficiency. As a strategy that harmonises customer experience excellence and streamlined back-end operations, total experience offers more than just another buzzword in the digital age. Gartner states that ‘Improving the customer experience (CX) ranked higher in the survey this year than more strategic focuses, such as growing revenue or new products/services development to support transformation.’

TX can be key to driving success through benefits such as:

  • Building lifetime relationships with customers by providing rich, relevant, and targeted communications across all channels
  • Empowering and engaging employees by ensuring they have the most current and relevant information across critical business systems with a single source of customer truth
  • Making better business decisions by leveraging AI to deliver actionable insights to employees.

Geneen talked about taking the experience first, with the financial success to follow. In today’s new environment of digital insurance, creating the right experience first is what will lead to long-term success. That involves both end customers and the employees that are responsible for serving them. By leveraging technology to offer cohesive and integrated solutions for both employee and customer experiences, insurance companies can ride the wave of change currently washing over the industry and come out the other side on top.

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Business

AI in Investment: A Guide for Asset Managers

Source: Finance derivative

Giacomo Barigazzi ,Co-founder, Axyon AI

In today’s dynamic investment landscape, the race to harness new technologies for a competitive advantage is more fierce than ever. For those in the asset management sector, embracing innovation isn’t just a choice—it’s a necessity to stay ahead in the relentless pursuit of investment opportunities.

The bedrock of investment management has always been grounded in exhaustive research and due diligence. However, the rapid evolution of technology mandates a shift in strategy. Now, it’s critical for leaders in this space to not just familiarise themselves with, but to fully integrate advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into their processes.

Exploring the Varieties of AI in Asset Management

It’s essential for asset managers to recognise the specific AI technologies available to them, as this understanding can greatly influence their approach to investment strategy. Broadly speaking, AI in asset management can be categorised into generative and predictive models, each with distinct capabilities and applications.

Generative AI, powered by advanced machine learning techniques, is designed to produce new data that mimic real-world information, such as text, images, and more. This technology is especially useful for creating realistic and diverse datasets, enhancing personalisation, and improving the accessibility of financial services. For asset managers, generative AI can play a crucial role in developing innovative solutions and strategies by generating novel insights and scenarios.

On the other hand, Predictive AI focuses on analysing historical data to forecast future trends and patterns. This aspect of AI is invaluable for asset managers aiming to anticipate market movements and adjust their strategies accordingly. The predictive capabilities of AI provide a strategic edge by enabling more informed decision-making and risk assessment.

For asset managers intent on leveraging AI to enhance their operations, distinguishing between these AI types is a fundamental step. By adopting the appropriate AI technologies, they can significantly improve client outcomes, operational efficiencies, and, ultimately, investment performance.

Creating a personalised client experience

Improved performance is not the only advantage AI brings to asset management; it significantly enhances the client experience by enabling the development of personalised services. For clients, generative AI tools like chatbots and virtual assistants establish a continuous support system that provides instant responses to queries, as well as up-to-date insights on market developments and portfolio adjustments.

A heightened level of personalisation throughout the investment journey ensures clients are not just satisfied but also better informed – a dynamic which undoubtedly fosters greater human relationships in the industry.

Strategic considerations for asset managers

As the widespread adoption of AI in the financial services sector continues to materialise, asset managers face a crucial task in nailing down the right WealthTech solution. It’s not just about adoption; it’s about making strategic choices.

Ultimately, companies expect to see a strong ROI after adopting an AI solution. Only by making a well-informed choice will they see the expected tangible impact of AI in asset management. A lack of due diligence in the procurement process risks introducing a solution that is both ineffective and disruptive.

Integration is key. AI solutions should align seamlessly with existing systems to avoid unwanted disruption to day-to-day operations. Therefore, choosing a provider that is ready to provide extensive training to support a smooth assimilation into operations should also be a priority for management.

There is an element of self-assessment required in the decision-making process. By recognising areas in a firm that require enhancement and understanding the specific value offered by each AI solution, leaders will be best positioned to identify a product that will bring significant improvements in targeted areas.

With a sea of options available in 2024, selecting an AI solution demands thoughtful consideration. Managers need to assess how each aligns with their investment strategy and delivers results. Consulting with experts and analysing case studies from similar businesses equips managers with valuable insights for informed decision-making.

AI as an empowerment tool

While AI will be a revolutionary tool in the asset management industry that will drive efficiency and innovation, it is not intended to replace the human touch. The technology should be viewed as a tool that empowers asset managers to focus on high-value work of greater importance to clients.

AI’s transition from a nascent curiosity to an integral business tool underscores a pivotal shift in industry dynamics. Asset managers who are slow to adopt these technologies risk falling behind in a market that’s increasingly influenced by AI’s capabilities. By contrast, those dedicated to swiftly and responsibly adopting this technology will likely be rewarded with an extra edge in performance.

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