1 Robot advisers to rock investment world (Goh Eng
Yeow in Straits Times) Robo advisers may prove the biggest game changer in the
world of investing, playing a key role in shaping people's financial future.
Robo advisers (robos for short) offer a cheap,
automatic version of the services provided by an expensive financial adviser to
pick the stocks and bonds you invest your savings in. They are able to do so by
using a computer which can perform a much more sophisticated job than its human
equivalent - at the touch of a button.
And if they become a part of our lives, we will find
that rather than try to figure out by ourselves which stocks to buy or sell, we
can use robos to get a diversified exposure to thousands of global stocks and
bonds - and if all goes well, end up financially better as well.
So far, robos are largely confined to much larger
markets such as the USs where start-ups are beginning to assert themselves -
disrupting the space now occupied by the traditional fund management industry.
In a recent article, Business Insider observed that
the global assets managed by robos reached $200 billion last year and may hit as
much as $600 billion this year. The journal also estimated that if this pace of
growth continues unabated, robos will grow their assets to a whopping $8.1
trillion by 2020.
2 Govts must invest in 4th industrial
revolution (Larry Elliott in The Guardian) The first industrial revolution was
about water and steam. The second was about electricity and mass production.
The third harnessed electronics and information technology to automate
production. Now it is the turn of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology,
biotechnology, materials science, 3D printing and quantum computing to
transform the global economy.
“The speed of current breakthroughs has no
historical precedent”, the WEF said. “When compared with previous industrial
revolutions, the fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear
pace.”
But if this really is the dawning of a new age, it
seems somebody forgot to tell the people with the power to turn ideas into
products. The multinational companies that bankroll the WEF’s annual meeting in
Davos are awash with cash. Profits are strong. The return on capital is the
best it has been for the best part of two decades. Yet investment is weak.
Companies would rather save their cash or hand it back to shareholders than put
it to work.
One possible explanation for this corporate caution
is that businesses think bad times are just around the corner. If innovation is
going on apace (which it is) and companies have cash in the bank (which they
do), one solution is simply to wait for the moment when entrepreneurs
rediscover what Keynes called their animal spirits.
Another would be for governments to say enough is
enough. If, despite the lowest ever borrowing costs and repeated cuts in
corporate taxation, the private sector won’t invest in the fourth industrial
revolution, the public sector will.
3 Federer’s 8th Wimbledon (Martyn Herman
in Johannesburg Times) Ruthless Roger Federer thrashed suffering Croat Marin
Cilic 6-3 6-1 6-4 to become the first man to win eight Wimbledon singles crowns
on Sunday, five years after landing his seventh.
The Swiss maestro, appearing in his 11th Wimbledon
final, was challenged early on but once he broke a nervous Cilic in the fifth
game of the opening set the match became a no-contest. Not that Federer was
concerned as, 23 days before his 36th birthday, the father of four became the
oldest men's singles champion at Wimbledon in the professional era -- doing so
without dropping a set throughout a glorious fortnight.
For Cilic, his first final on Centre Court became a
nightmare broadcast to hundreds of millions around the globe. After a
reasonably solid start he became discombobulated and after falling 3-0 behind
in the second set he slumped on his courtside chair and could be seen sobbing
as a physio and tournament referee attended him.
For a moment it looked as though the final might end
in a retirement for the first time since 1911. Given sympathetic cheers by the
Federer-favouring 15,000 crowd, the 28-year-old managed to regain his composure
but there was no chance of Federer letting up as he accelerated towards a record-extending
19th grand slam title.
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