The coolest new "chip" in information technology today - robokonsultirovanie, briefly about it
The direction of Fintech, which is a technological projects in the field of financial services, has acquired a new cool "catchword": robotic consulting.
In the first half of the last year, they were constantly talking about peer lending, and in the second half of the year, the blockchain dominated. Now, it seems, robotic consulting and robotic consultants are beginning to come forward - a growing field of online investments and savings platforms.
No, R2D2 will not become a fund manager.
The exact term is difficult to define, because this phenomenon covers a wide range of areas, but essentially it means replacing advice on savings and investments made by people with automated online guidance and execution. This phenomenon does not include the robots themselves — at the most what you get, these are algorithms — and this can often be much more than just a tip with some online suggestions for investing your money for you.
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Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance, a UK-based organization engaged in technology projects in financial services, tells our publication: “Often in the US, this covers everything from purely execution — when you go to a certain platform, such as Charles Schwab, and buy something in a mutual investment fund or stock, doing it yourself - and to the discretionary sphere, where you, as a client, simply sign an agreement with the company, which then manages all your transactions. willows for you and gives you some profitability, while you most likely do not know where they invest your funds. That's why this seems like a rather large area. ”
The Robot Advisor unexpectedly appeared in the British news this week after the Financial Conduct Authority = FCA issued its Financial Advice Market Review = FAMR. The inspectorate concluded that up to 16 million people in the UK could be involved in the “financial advice service” - they need advice, but cannot afford it.
Wintermeyer says: “The majority of the UK population is outside the scope for consultation, mainly because IFAs [independent financial advisors = independent financial advisers] are not stimulated, and their hourly pay makes such a service too difficult to access. An ordinary person with his income, in general, can not afford the services of an adviser. ”
He adds: “Independent financial advisers and the procedures they carry out are, in fact, intended for rich people. This does not mean that they are not important for ordinary people, but the current approach resembles, in part, the use of a sledge hammer to open chestnut nuts. ”
One solution, FCA believes, is to implement more “online automated consulting models that can provide advice in a more economical way.”
This is essentially what the robot consultant does. Fill out the online form, outlining your circumstances and needs, and the algorithm will recommend you some products for investment - or make this investment for you (depending on the platform).
The advertising glamor for the United States is the automated investment platform Wealthfront, launched in 2008, and the online investment consultant Betterment, formed at the same time. They claim that they jointly manage about 6.5 billion dollars (4.5 billion pounds).
Wintermeyer says: “Robo consulting was probably the third largest cluster of institutional and venture capital investment in the United States. With the exception of "Nutmeg" and several other players here in the UK, he was not as big. As the attention of the FCA turns to this area of ​​counseling, the situation will change. ”
Roboconsultants began to appear in the UK. Founded in 2011, Nutmeg was a pioneer in the online investment model, although it remains significantly less automated compared to the latest startups in this area.
The latter include Wealth Kernel, which hopes to sell its wealth management platform to financial advisors, and Gear Investments, an online discretionary private asset / capital management system. The Italian MoneyFarmalso was also recently launched in the UK.
“I really don’t think this is just a short-term change in the way people handle investment and financial services in general,” says Adam French, co-founder and technical director of UK online investment management company Scalable Capital. "I believe that this is the beginning of a wider movement of weaning of intermediary functions for some traditional players of financial services."
From left to right: Co-founders of Scalable Capital's CMO & UK, Dr. Ella Rabener, Simon Miller and Adam French (Technical Director in the UK).
French and four of his five co-founders worked in the securities market division at Goldman Sachs Bank and left from there to establish Scalable Capital. He tells “BI”: “At the end of 2014, we all tried to solve the same problem, which constantly required an answer in the same questions of friends and relatives - where to place their money. We all got together and said that we simply do not have an answer to this question. ”
Scalable capital increased by 4 million euros during the initial investment last year and received its license three months ago, starting work in the UK and Germany.
The model used by the company is based on an investment algorithm that predicts risks and then “gives out an optimal portfolio,” says French. “But then at the end comes the interaction with the person. You get a delicate balance between using the tools that the technology provides and the overall view that a person provides. "
A funny peculiarity of robotic consulting is that startups in this area hate the term itself. French explains: “We prefer the term“ digital investment manager ”, because there is a feeling that the word“ robo-consulting ”covers a lot of business models.”
Jeff Salway, a freelance financial journalist who also participates in the Consumer Financial Services Concilium, said at a business forum at Westminster, The Future of the Financial and Technological Sphere in the United Kingdom, in his speech: “I don’t like this term. Many of the participants in this area - too. But he comes from the States, and he seems to like the FCA, so he will have to put up with it. ”
French explains: “At present, we see that business models differ significantly. About 10 business models can be identified in this area. What is significant is that we all recognize a deficit in the wealth management market. ”
“The main reason for the rapid growth in this area is the presence of a huge“ undeveloped ”part of the population that did not have access to these types of services. Thanks to technology, we are able to target specific groups, and I suppose we will see the emergence of various players serving different niches. ”
But the appearance and elevation of the roboconsultant does not look at all like an adamant march of progress. Salway said in a business forum at Westminster: “We have concerns about automated counseling; I believe the authorities too. "
“The main thing is that this is, in fact, not a consultation. A number of automated consulting services are based on decision trees, and they are, indeed, managed with invested sales. They are not financial advice that takes into account your aspirations and goals and how your circumstances change in your life. ”
“There are a lot of people who with enviable persistence form such portfolios that do not necessarily suit them. If you have a website with six or seven portfolios, they must find a way into them. ”
Adam Nash, Wealthfront CEO
He adds: Do people know how this information is used? They know how this will affect the final result? If not, it can affect how much and what information you put into action, resulting in the wrong product for you. It misses what you get through direct communication with the person. "
But Salway says that if these downsides are somehow mitigated, then robotic consultants have great potential - not only for 16 million people who are not covered by financial counseling, but also for the state management sphere.
From Salvay's speech: “Many consultants see this phenomenon as a threat. In fact, they could seriously win in this situation. This is the gateway to potentially long-term consultations, if you think about the younger generation who could use the online services they prefer.
Wintermeyer agrees: “We hear that the pension industry is talking about problem solving for 55-year-olds who have been in their scheme for 20 years, but they forget that a whole generation of“ two thousand ”is coming, for which we have to develop more modern and simple approaches to pensions. "
Larger wealth managers and investment companies are already aware of the growth prospects of robot consultants. Charles Schwab launched an automated investment product last year that, he said, attracted $ 1.5 billion (ÂŁ 1 billion sterling) from 23,000 users in the first six weeks of its operation.
BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, bought FutureAdvisor's platform last August, and in December Deutsche Bank launched its own robot consultant for investors in AnlageFinder.
Wintermeyer says: “If someone can make such an application that is available for mere mortals and does not use words like“ passive ”,“ asset ”,“ volatility ”in their language, any of the meta-languages ​​that come to mind when managing investments, - and just say: "Hey, this thing is going to do the work for you" - then this will definitely be the place where there is an opportunity for a robocon-consultant. ”
French says: “I would be surprised if within five years we complete this whole“ robo-epopee ”and finish, nevertheless, call it investing.”
In the first half of the last year, they were constantly talking about peer lending, and in the second half of the year, the blockchain dominated. Now, it seems, robotic consulting and robotic consultants are beginning to come forward - a growing field of online investments and savings platforms.
No, R2D2 will not become a fund manager.
The exact term is difficult to define, because this phenomenon covers a wide range of areas, but essentially it means replacing advice on savings and investments made by people with automated online guidance and execution. This phenomenon does not include the robots themselves — at the most what you get, these are algorithms — and this can often be much more than just a tip with some online suggestions for investing your money for you.
')
Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance, a UK-based organization engaged in technology projects in financial services, tells our publication: “Often in the US, this covers everything from purely execution — when you go to a certain platform, such as Charles Schwab, and buy something in a mutual investment fund or stock, doing it yourself - and to the discretionary sphere, where you, as a client, simply sign an agreement with the company, which then manages all your transactions. willows for you and gives you some profitability, while you most likely do not know where they invest your funds. That's why this seems like a rather large area. ”
The Robot Advisor unexpectedly appeared in the British news this week after the Financial Conduct Authority = FCA issued its Financial Advice Market Review = FAMR. The inspectorate concluded that up to 16 million people in the UK could be involved in the “financial advice service” - they need advice, but cannot afford it.
Wintermeyer says: “The majority of the UK population is outside the scope for consultation, mainly because IFAs [independent financial advisors = independent financial advisers] are not stimulated, and their hourly pay makes such a service too difficult to access. An ordinary person with his income, in general, can not afford the services of an adviser. ”
He adds: “Independent financial advisers and the procedures they carry out are, in fact, intended for rich people. This does not mean that they are not important for ordinary people, but the current approach resembles, in part, the use of a sledge hammer to open chestnut nuts. ”
One solution, FCA believes, is to implement more “online automated consulting models that can provide advice in a more economical way.”
This is essentially what the robot consultant does. Fill out the online form, outlining your circumstances and needs, and the algorithm will recommend you some products for investment - or make this investment for you (depending on the platform).
The advertising glamor for the United States is the automated investment platform Wealthfront, launched in 2008, and the online investment consultant Betterment, formed at the same time. They claim that they jointly manage about 6.5 billion dollars (4.5 billion pounds).
Wintermeyer says: “Robo consulting was probably the third largest cluster of institutional and venture capital investment in the United States. With the exception of "Nutmeg" and several other players here in the UK, he was not as big. As the attention of the FCA turns to this area of ​​counseling, the situation will change. ”
“This is the beginning of a wider movement.”
Roboconsultants began to appear in the UK. Founded in 2011, Nutmeg was a pioneer in the online investment model, although it remains significantly less automated compared to the latest startups in this area.
The latter include Wealth Kernel, which hopes to sell its wealth management platform to financial advisors, and Gear Investments, an online discretionary private asset / capital management system. The Italian MoneyFarmalso was also recently launched in the UK.
“I really don’t think this is just a short-term change in the way people handle investment and financial services in general,” says Adam French, co-founder and technical director of UK online investment management company Scalable Capital. "I believe that this is the beginning of a wider movement of weaning of intermediary functions for some traditional players of financial services."
From left to right: Co-founders of Scalable Capital's CMO & UK, Dr. Ella Rabener, Simon Miller and Adam French (Technical Director in the UK).
French and four of his five co-founders worked in the securities market division at Goldman Sachs Bank and left from there to establish Scalable Capital. He tells “BI”: “At the end of 2014, we all tried to solve the same problem, which constantly required an answer in the same questions of friends and relatives - where to place their money. We all got together and said that we simply do not have an answer to this question. ”
Scalable capital increased by 4 million euros during the initial investment last year and received its license three months ago, starting work in the UK and Germany.
The model used by the company is based on an investment algorithm that predicts risks and then “gives out an optimal portfolio,” says French. “But then at the end comes the interaction with the person. You get a delicate balance between using the tools that the technology provides and the overall view that a person provides. "
A funny peculiarity of robotic consulting is that startups in this area hate the term itself. French explains: “We prefer the term“ digital investment manager ”, because there is a feeling that the word“ robo-consulting ”covers a lot of business models.”
Jeff Salway, a freelance financial journalist who also participates in the Consumer Financial Services Concilium, said at a business forum at Westminster, The Future of the Financial and Technological Sphere in the United Kingdom, in his speech: “I don’t like this term. Many of the participants in this area - too. But he comes from the States, and he seems to like the FCA, so he will have to put up with it. ”
French explains: “At present, we see that business models differ significantly. About 10 business models can be identified in this area. What is significant is that we all recognize a deficit in the wealth management market. ”
“The main reason for the rapid growth in this area is the presence of a huge“ undeveloped ”part of the population that did not have access to these types of services. Thanks to technology, we are able to target specific groups, and I suppose we will see the emergence of various players serving different niches. ”
“We have concerns about automated consulting”
But the appearance and elevation of the roboconsultant does not look at all like an adamant march of progress. Salway said in a business forum at Westminster: “We have concerns about automated counseling; I believe the authorities too. "
“The main thing is that this is, in fact, not a consultation. A number of automated consulting services are based on decision trees, and they are, indeed, managed with invested sales. They are not financial advice that takes into account your aspirations and goals and how your circumstances change in your life. ”
“There are a lot of people who with enviable persistence form such portfolios that do not necessarily suit them. If you have a website with six or seven portfolios, they must find a way into them. ”
Adam Nash, Wealthfront CEO
He adds: Do people know how this information is used? They know how this will affect the final result? If not, it can affect how much and what information you put into action, resulting in the wrong product for you. It misses what you get through direct communication with the person. "
But Salway says that if these downsides are somehow mitigated, then robotic consultants have great potential - not only for 16 million people who are not covered by financial counseling, but also for the state management sphere.
From Salvay's speech: “Many consultants see this phenomenon as a threat. In fact, they could seriously win in this situation. This is the gateway to potentially long-term consultations, if you think about the younger generation who could use the online services they prefer.
Wintermeyer agrees: “We hear that the pension industry is talking about problem solving for 55-year-olds who have been in their scheme for 20 years, but they forget that a whole generation of“ two thousand ”is coming, for which we have to develop more modern and simple approaches to pensions. "
Larger wealth managers and investment companies are already aware of the growth prospects of robot consultants. Charles Schwab launched an automated investment product last year that, he said, attracted $ 1.5 billion (ÂŁ 1 billion sterling) from 23,000 users in the first six weeks of its operation.
BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, bought FutureAdvisor's platform last August, and in December Deutsche Bank launched its own robot consultant for investors in AnlageFinder.
Wintermeyer says: “If someone can make such an application that is available for mere mortals and does not use words like“ passive ”,“ asset ”,“ volatility ”in their language, any of the meta-languages ​​that come to mind when managing investments, - and just say: "Hey, this thing is going to do the work for you" - then this will definitely be the place where there is an opportunity for a robocon-consultant. ”
French says: “I would be surprised if within five years we complete this whole“ robo-epopee ”and finish, nevertheless, call it investing.”
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/299550/
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