April 2020

European report suggests blockchain for welfare tracking

Government benefits and assistance might be more important now than ever. But even if you’ve been living under a rock, you know that holding government to account, and ensuring benefits reach their destination with minimal delay is important. A new report published by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) highlights how blockchain technology, like Bitcoin SV (BSV), could make that process more efficient. The April 2 report looks into several emerging technologies, like...

March 2020

OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2018

By OECD The OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2018 is the twelfth edition in a series that biennially reviews key trends in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in OECD countries and a number of major partner economies. The 14 chapters within this edition look at a range of topics, notably the opportunities and challenges related to enhanced data access, the impacts of artificial intelligence on science and manufacturing, and the influence of digitalisation on research and innovation....

February 2020

R3 To Provide Blockchain Identity Solutions To Help Recover $48B In Unclaimed Pensions

Blockchain technology provider, R3 has revealed that it is working on offering pension companies with the requisite technology to develop fresh identity solutions built on blockchain which could enable savers to recoup part or all of $48 billion worth of lost pension pots in the UK, CoinDesk reports. The head of R3’s digital identity unit, Abbas Ali, pension services providers are set to debut their solo solutions that will use R3 tech within this year. According to a study...

January 2020

Man versus Machine: A Comparison of Robo-Analyst and Traditional Research Analyst Investment Recommendations

By Braiden Coleman, Kenneth J. Merkley, Joseph Pacelli Advances in financial technology (FinTech) have revolutionized various product offerings in the financial services industry. One area of particular interest for this technology is the production of investment recommendations. Our study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the properties of investment recommendations generated by “Robo-Analysts,” which are human-analyst-assisted computer programs conducting automated research analysis. Our results indicate that Robo-Analysts differ from traditional “human” research analysts across several dimensions. First, Robo-Analysts collectively produce...

UK. Pensions dashboards: Minister urges providers to get data in shape

Pensions minister Guy Opperman has urged companies to help pave the way for the dashboards – apps to help people keep track of their savings . The pensions dashboards will give people information about their pensions via a smartphone app, and have been billed as the solution to bring retirement money “into the digital age”. However, they require secure and accurate data from providers. Schemes will be forced to supply this under new laws, but Opperman said...

December 2019

Realistic Expectations and Limitations to Consumer-Facing Robo-tic Advisors

By Dirk Cotton, Neville Francis We present a benchmark life-cycle simulation model (RFSM) that incorporates the financial, demographic, and mortality positions of retired households. By adjusting several features we nest a specific type of consumer-facing (generic) robo model that attempts to minimize the user's workload by imputing key inputs. We calibrate both models under robo policies using the Health and Retirement data for our benchmark model and robo-imputed data for the Generic-Robo model. Our findings indicate that retirees using...

Perceived Precautionary Savings Motives: Evidence from FinTech

By Francesco D'Acunto (Boston College), Thomas Rauter (University of Chicago - Booth School of Business), Christoph Scheuch (Vienna Graduate School of Finance; Vienna University of Economics and Business), Michael Weber (University of Chicago - Finance) We study the consumption response to the provision of credit lines to individuals that previously did not have access to credit combined with the possibility to elicit directly a large set of preferences, beliefs, and motives. As expected, users react to the availability of credit...

Managing Pension Risk With Amazon Managed Blockchain

Everyone is familiar with insurance, whether it's for a home, an automobile, or healthcare. The concept is simple: Individuals or entities pool their money to protect the group against risks. Fewer, however, are familiar with the concept of reinsurance, but it's equally important for the smooth functioning of our financial markets and the protection of insured entities and individuals around the world. Reinsurance is what the name implies: insurance on insurance. Insurers or other entities providing insurance-like solutions take...

November 2019

Leveraging AI To Accelerate Precision Health For Longevity

People over 50 are the fastest growing demographic group worldwide. This creates both opportunities and challenges for the global economy and healthcare systems. The Longevity Industry, which provides products and services for those aged over 50 is becoming a multi-trillion-dollar industry. There are currently 260 companies, 250 investors, 10 non-profits, and 10 research labs in the Longevity Industry in the UK alone. In the next decade, Longevity policies enacted by governments, and changes in the financial industry will transform...

The Tech Behind DC Plan Administration Solutions

As a plan sponsor, you know what entity provides administration services and recordkeeping for your defined contribution (DC) retirement plan—whether it’s a recordkeeping provider or third-party administrator (TPA). But do you know what is behind all of the processing your recordkeeping provider or TPA does? There are a number of technology providers in the retirement plan market that offer certain processes for recordkeepers with their own proprietary or legacy systems, as well as end-to-end recordkeeping for TPAs. According to...