Is Ruth Porat’s move to Google indicative of an exodus from financial services?

The rise of fintech will no doubt provide an attractive proposition to some of our bankers and CFOs.

By Martha Harvey-Jones | May 05, 2015

Google CFO Ruth Porat ©Associated Press


OPINION

Ruth Porat’s highly publicised move from Morgan Stanley to tech giant Google highlights the increased freedom of movement between the financial services and tech sectors. Whereas previously, the two shared few similarities in terms of job roles, the increasing amount of money in Silicon Valley has led to tech companies setting up investment strategies. Bankers’ financial skills are therefore now in high demand amongst tech firms. Anthony Noto’s move from Goldman Sachs to Twitter last year is another recent example of this. It is likely that this trend will be replicated in the UK as the tech scene here grows. Therise of fintech will no doubt provide an attractive proposition to some of our bankers and CFOs.

Although the buzz around Ruth’s move has focused on how Wall Street should be concerned that it is losing chunks of its key talent to Silicon Valley, some of this is overblown. These moves have far more to do with individual needs and skill sets rather than a wider brain-drain. Broadly speaking, there are two types of CFO working in banks:

1. bankers who have risen up through the ranks and moved across to a CFO seat, and
2. highly trained accountants who may have previously worked at large professional services firms.

Many of this first group of current bank CFOs rose up as bankers in the dotcom boom – they witnessed the dawn and explosion of the internet and as such have a grounded background in technology. Porat is a great example of this – in her early career, she cut her teeth with companies such as eBay and Amazon from inception and fostered an exceptional track record of identifying high growth companies at early stages. Her strong personal connections to California notwithstanding, having grown up and attended school there, her desire to return to the global mecca of tech is unsurprising. The movement of these financial professionals to tech focused firms can be more of a natural career progression than anything else.

For many bankers that have been in the sector since before the crisis, the reduction in the amount of investment activity from banks has had the most dramatic impact on their role – they have gone from an investment powerhouse with (nearly) endless financial resources to a penny pinching business in the space of a decade. By comparison, wealthy technology firms have almost taken the banks’ traditional role through their investment and acquisition efforts. Many tech firms are struggling to cope with their massive financial resources so they are a much more attractive proposition for financial executives with a tech background to return to their roots and offer real value.

In comparison, the training and background of accountant-bankers leaves them far more regulatory and process-focused. Whereas the first group might look elsewhere, executives with accounting backgrounds are much more likely to stay put within financial services. This is especially true given how much regulatory attention has increased since the financial crisis.

When high-flying bankers make the move to tech, the question of what this means for the finance sector inevitably emerges. Ruth was, without doubt, the most powerful woman on Wall Street and so her move will inevitably create an example that may be followed by others in her network. Her appointment also highlights the importance the technology sector is now placing on female leadership. Ruth is joining a prominent club of female leaders including Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and Melissa Mayer, CEO at Yahoo. The technology sector efforts around diversity are starting to put the finance sector to shame. With just a handful of powerful women left on Wall Street, banks must address their diversity issue if they do not want other women to follow suit. Technology is arguably the hottest sector in terms of job prospects at the moment in both the US and the UK. In America, where the sector is more established, the pull is currently stronger but this cannot make UK firms complacent. As the UK grows as a successful tech hub, the financial services industry will run the risk of losing some of its banking talent to these rising companies. Technology is clearly a sector in which money can be made, dreams can be realised and – more so recently – where exceptional women can excel. It isn’t for everyone, however, and for many financial services employees the structure and regimented approach of a bank will remain the perfect fit for their skillset.

Martha Harvey-Jones, a director at executive search firm, Leathwaite, recruits CFOs and leaders of financial & product control, tax, treasury & audit. She works across London and New York supporting Leathwaite’s full spectrum of financial services clients.

Source: http://www.techworld.com/startups/opinion-is-ruth-porats-move-google-indicative-of-exodus-from-financial-services-3610607/

Elon Musk's Ex-Wife on What She Learned Living With an Extreme Entrepreneurial Success

CATHERINE CLIFFORD

 

ENTREPRENEUR STAFF

Frequently covers crowdfunding, the sharing economy and social entrepreneurship

Image credit: TEDx Talks | YouTube

 

APRIL 20, 2015

Insanity and godlike genetics. Those are the qualities needed to achieve extreme success, à la Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs or Elon Musk.

That’s according to the intimate perspective of Justine Musk, who was, of course, Elon’s wife.

Elon Musk is a co-founder of online payment processing system PayPal, the founder and CEO of both spacecraft company SpaceX and electric vehicle manufacturing company Tesla Motors and the chairman of solar power company SolarCity. He is, categorically, a super success.

Those who have achieved “extreme success,” says Justine, who divorced Elon in 2008, live differently than most others. “These people tend to be freaks and misfits who were forced to experience the world in an unusually challenging way,” she writes in response to a questionon the user-generated response platform Quora. “They don't think the way other people think. They see things from angles that unlock new ideas and insights. Other people consider them to be somewhat insane.”

Related: Great Entrepreneur, Lousy Lover?

Justine met Elon as students at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and married in 2000. They lost their first child to sudden infant death syndrome and then went on to have a set of twins and a set of triplets -- all boys.

As her husband achieved astronomical success, Justine, who is a writer, watched herself slowly take a back seat to his work. She watched herself become a trophy wife, she revealed in Marie Claire in 2010.

Marital woes aside, Justine walked away with a courtside view of success that many don’t get to see. One of her key takeaways is that you shouldn’t pursue something simply because you want to become great. “Pursue something because it fascinates you, because the pursuit itself engages and compels you. Extreme people combine brilliance and talent with an *insane* work ethic, so if the work itself doesn't drive you, you will burn out or fall by the wayside or your extreme competitors will crush you and make you cry.”

Related: Reality Check: You Need to Care About More Than Your Business

Once you have found a topic that compels you, then find a problem. And in your obsessive pursuit to solve that problem, don’t expect to have role models. You will be forging your own path, she says.

Forging that path is not all mental; taking care of your body is key. “It helps to have superhuman energy and stamina. If you are not blessed with godlike genetics, then make it a point to get into the best shape possible,” says Justine. “Keep your body sharp to keep your mind sharp. It pays off.”

Six weeks after after they separated, Elon texted Justine to let her know that he was now engaged to be married to a young, British actress named Talulah Riley. He and Riley would go on to divorce, remarry, and divorce again.  

While insanity and superhuman levels of energy are required to achieve extreme levels of success, wisdom in the world of love is, apparently, not.

 

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245286  

Marine Le Pen in New York: "I do not speak English, me. I am French! »

Le Monde | 22.04.2015
By Stéphane Lauer (New York, correspondant)

Marine Le Pen may well have been named by Time one of the hundred most influential people in the world, it is in French that the president of the National Front tried to get his messages, Tuesday, April 21, at the ceremony organized by the American magazine. "Oh no, I do not speak English, me. I am French! "Does it loose, just before the gala begins at Jazz Lincoln Center in New York.

"I'm part of the majority of the French, who speak little English. In this I am very Gaullist: I speak very badly, "she jokes with an accent you could cut with a knife. It is therefore Ludovic Danne, the European Affairs Adviser of the party, who played the interpreters, the previously requested professional who is failing at the last moment.

"It's a political appointment than 2011 one."
Ms. Le Pen appeared smiling, marching down the red carpet in the middle of a bunch of people, including rapper Kanye West and his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, and Julianne Moore, Oscar for Best Actress 2015 "This is the first time I go to this kind of event, "says the president of the FN. In a strapless midnight blue dress - we never change - his companion, Louis Aliot, tuxedo at his side, Ms. Le Pen was visibly delighted to find themselves in the middle of this global elite.
"Let me show curiosity, she justifies. I think we will come to power and, therefore, it is mandatory cross, meet, discuss with powerful people in their respective countries. "" The forgotten France is not forgotten, "she dared before joining her to dinner, as night fell on Central Park.
Although Ms. Le Pen was already in the Time list in 2011, he came to the gala is a first. "It's a political appointment as 2011. At the time, it was a promise. Today, it is the result of an analysis of the political importance takes the FN, "she said. The magazine says the same thing, writing to justify his choice: "There are less than a year, Marine Le Pen announced to Time that his party was in power in a decade. His prediction seems more absurd. »

Source: http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2015/04/22/marine-le-pen-a-new-york-en-francais-dans-le-texte_4620265_823448.html

Axa CEO Henri De Castries is lamenting that low interest rates are punishing insurers

Goldman Sachs Says Insurers With $6 Trillion Mull Mortgage Loans

by Sarah Jones

Global insurers who oversee more than $6 trillion in assets plan to invest capital in commercial mortgage loans and private equity this year to generate higher returns, a Goldman Sachs Asset Management survey showed.

Thirty-five percent of insurance executives said they plan to invest in the mortgages, 30 percent in infrastructure debt and 29 percent in private equity and middle market loans, according to the survey published Wednesday. About 66 percent of the 267 chief investment officers and chief financial officers said low yields were the greatest risk to their portfolios.

Insurers’ income from fixed income has dwindled after central banks expanded their stimulus programs. Executives say they don’t expect to see any “meaningful increase” in interest rates this year. Zurich Insurance Group AG said this week that it started to buy junk bonds after yields on investment grade debt turned negative.

“Insurers are concentrating on finding new investment opportunities, which are sparse because yields still remain at low levels,” said Michael Siegel, GSAM’s global head of insurance. They “believe equities will outperform credit and are looking to increase allocations to less liquid, private asset classes.”

Highest Returns

Private equity, U.S. and European equities are expected to generate the highest returns this year, according to the survey, conducted between Feb. 3 and Feb. 25. More than 60 percent of respondents said investment opportunities were getting worse compared with 39 percent with that view last year, Goldman Sachs said.

BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Laurence D. Fink said Tuesday that central bank policies were “destroying the viability of insurance companies.” He joined executives including MetLife Inc. CEO Steve Kandarian and Axa SA’s Henri De Castries in lamenting that low interest rates are punishing insurers.

U.S. insurers have the greatest appetite for commercial mortgage loans, the survey showed. Firms in Asia and Europe want to invest more in infrastructure debt and U.S. investment grade corporate debt.

Most respondents said the industry took on an appropriate amount of investment risk, while 21 percent thought peers took too much risk.

Sanford C. Bernstein analysts warned in February that the European Central Bank’s bond buying program may accelerate the creation of credit bubbles, driven by insurers who are among the biggest buyers of debt.

Most respondents expected the 10-Year U.S. Treasury yield to not exceed 3 percent this year. More than 70 percent saw equities returning between zero and 10 percent.

Goldman’s asset management unit oversees more than $160 billion in insurance assets.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-21/goldman-sachs-says-insurers-with-6-trillion-mull-mortgage-loans

Richard Branson, Peter Thiel take aim at Western Union

View photo

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, invested $25 million in Transferwise,
a startup that offers affordable international money transfers.

By Mandi Woodruff - Tahoo! FinanceApril 15, 2015

Look out, Western Union. A new startup is making it easier – and a lot cheaper — for Americans to send and receive money overseas and it's attracted funding from big name investors like venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson.

Typically, U.S. banks impose fees as high as 12% per international transfer, while money transfer juggernauts like Western Union and MoneyGram’s average fees of 9% of assets sent.

TransferWise, a UK-based startup that opened its first U.S. office earlier this year, uses a clever loophole to make it possible to send money to other countries.

How it works: TransferWise acts like something of a matchmaker for people looking to send cash overseas. When a customer in the U.S. wants to transfer funds to, say, a relative in the UK, TransferWise receives their cash in dollars and looks for a customer in the UK who happens to be looking to transfer pounds to dollars. Since no bank ever gets involved and money doesn’t actually cross national borders, TransferWise is able to charge very little in the way of fees — just 1% per transaction for U.S. customers., who also get better deals on exchange rates.

“There’s just no need to charge as much as many of these companies do,” says Joe Cross, general manager of TransferWise’s US operation.

Since launching in the UK in 2011, TransferWise has been valued at $1 billion and secured funding from major investors like Thiel and Branson. In a statement to Yahoo Finance, Branson said of his $25 million investment in the company: “Foreign exchange has been ripe for disruption for decades and it’s great to see start-ups like TransferWise bringing transparency to the market — offering better rates, great customer service and an ease of use that is transforming its market." 

The company is able to offer exchanges for only 22 currencies so far with plans to add more. In countries where the amount of money coming in does not quite match the amount of funds sent out (which is common in developing nations), TransferWise steps in and acquires currency from local vendors itself. This is an additional cost to the company but so far they’ve chosen not to pass it along to customers.

View photo

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Source: TransferWise

The market opportunity for TransferWise’s business in the U.S. is substantial. One in eight Americans is foreign-born, the vast majority of whom hail from Latin American and Asian countries. The U.S. is the no. 1 sender of international remittances, accounting for more than one in five transactions, according to the Pew Research Center.

Jordan McKee, a mobile payments analyst, says TransferWise is “nimble and opportunistic” enough to pose a serious threat to traditional wire services.  

“International money transfer remains a glaring area of banking in need of fixing,” he says.

But like most startups that have lofty dreams of putting bricks-and-mortar financial services out of business, McKee says banks are still winning in one front: “While large banks may score poorly in terms of fees and experience, they earn high marks for trust, a powerful attribute that cannot be understated.”

Whether Americans will put their faith in a new startup like TransferWise is yet to be seen, but the success of other mobile-first payment platforms like Venmo could bode well for the company. One thing for sure is that they won’t win favor without stiff competition. There are dozens of other startupslooking to disrupt international money transfer business, including peerTransfer, which targets international college students, and Hellobit, which uses bitcoin to complete transfers.  

Cross says the majority of U.S. users so far have been expats who live in the U.S. and may have property or family to support abroad. In the UK, college graduates like French national Guillam Agis, 25, use the service to pay for student loans back home while working abroad.

“My friends used it and gave me really good feedback,” says Agis, a software engineer. “I can save more money with them than with my bank so why not?” He’s used the company to make student loan payments from his UK bank twice so far.

Remittances to developing nations topped $435 billion in 2014, up 5% from the previous year, according to the World Bank. Western Union is the dominant player in the sector, handling nearly $1 of ever $5 wired around the world, according to the Economist magazine. The company was responsible for moving $85 billion in 2014 alone from its network of half a million agencies. Despite its onerous fees, it has a clear advantage over TransferWise: supporting cash transfers, as opposed to bank account transfers.

But Cross and his team aren’t bothered by Western Union’s ubiquity, nor the fact that TransferWise’s digital-first platform is inaccessible to the nearly 10 million Americans who are considered unbanked.

“I think it would be mental for any startup now to think they could create such an extensive network of bricks-and-mortar storefronts [as Western Union],” he says. “The world is going less and less cash-based. We don’t really want to provide a cash service. We feel there’s enough people in the world...to keep us busy for a long time.”

There’s at least one other part of Western Union’s legacy they don’t intend to mimic — the prevalent use of cash-based money transfer services to precipitate fraud (a la “Nigerian Prince” scams).

To that end, the fact that TransferWise doesn’t allow cash-only transfers is a positive thing. It’s much harder to remain anonymous when transferring funds digitally, thanks to strict international anti-money laundering regulations. In that regard, TransferWise plays by the same rules as traditional banks, as well as requiring proof of ID and in some cases a Social Security number before transfers can be completed.

“We have to adhere to [regulations] down to the letter,” Cross says. “It’s something we’ve taken seriously from day one."

For more on how TransferWise works, check out their video demo here.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/look-out-western-union-%E2%80%94-a-new-startup-is-making-money-transfers-way-cheaper-202315065.html

Bank Of The Future, Number26, Deposits €10M Check From Peter Thiel

Ben Kepes - Forbes   

4/16/2015

https://number26.de/

A few months ago Ben Kepes covered Number26, an excellent example of disruption in the banking space. Peter Thiel, no stranger to disruptive financial solutions, noticed what the company was doing and today they are announcing a €10 million Series A from Thiel’s Valar Ventures.

Number26 is a European banking startup, itself enabled by Wirecare Bank, a German bank. What Number26 has done is to take the Wirecard service, and wrap it completely in order to deliver a completely new banking experience. If you were to take a traditional banking experience, you’d likely complain about it being hard to set up, having high fees and charges and being difficult to use in a mobile setting.

Number26 is the antithesis of this – a customer can set up a bank account in almost no time at all (the company says it takes a mere 8 minutes). Number26 charges no fees (account or credit card) and the company is very much mobile first. It even has a personal financial management (PFM) product integrated into its app.

As I said, Number26 is banking disruption writ large. So it makes sense that Thiel, himself an integral part in financial disruptors PayPal, Transferwise andXero , is backing the company. What is interesting is that it is Thiel’s first FinTech investment in Germany, and only the second in Europe (Transferwise being the other). Also participating in this round is Daniel Aegarter who tookTRADEX to one of the largest software exits in history.Existing investors Earlybird and Redalpine are also participating in this round.

The company has grown strongly – over 8,500 customers have signed up in the first two months that Number26 is in operation, on top of that 15,000 are on a waiting list to sign up.

Banking26 may or may not be the one that cracks the code on how banking should look in the future, but one thing is sure and that is that banking is going to be disrupted and solutions like Number26 show what the future of banking will start to look like.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/benkepes/2015/04/16/bank-of-the-future-number26-deposits-10m-check-from-peter-thiel/

CSR Europe asks move from compliance to innovation in CSR

The plenary session of the European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR brought together 40 European partners, with a range of up to 10,000 companies, which required moving from 'compliance to innovation' 'in the new European CSR strategy.

20.02.2015 | Europe

CSR Europe calls for a new strategy seeking a balance between "compliance" and "innovation" to support the development of new products and services that meet sustainable social needs.
We also recommend putting in the center of the strategy to employees and their job training mainly in young populations.
On the other hand, argue that it is imperative to adopt a pragmatic strategy in the supply chain in human rights issues.
Finally, CSR Europe urged to bring transparency in the European action plan to require integrated reporting and ensure effective implementation of the EU Directive on disclosure of non-financial information.
Étienne Davignon, Minister of State and President of CSR Europe, requested the Commission to '' the European Strategy 2020 CSR not only focus on a common understanding of CSR to minimize risks and meet obligations, but also to support companies to seize opportunities to innovate in products and services. ''
Celia Moore, President of CSR Europe and Director of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, IBM, reiterated his call to '' put young people and European workers in the center of a European strategy '' adding that '' should include a strong proposal for action to improve youth employability through Entrepreneurship and Learning Systems ".
CSR Europe hopes that the renewed EU CSR for 2015-2020 to be built in coordination with all stakeholders.


Source: http://comunicarseweb.com.ar/?CSR_Europe_pide_pasar_del_cumplimiento_a_la_innovacion_en_RSE

Interview with Chairman & CEO Henri de Castries - FY 2014 Results - AXA

EuroBusinessMedia (EBM): AXA, a world leader in insurance and asset management, reports results for 2014. Henri de Castries, welcome.You are the Chairman and CEO of AXA, to begin, what are your comments on the 2014 results?

Henri de Castries: They are pretty strong results, 2014 has been a very strong year for the group, revenue wise and earnings wise. Revenue wise the business has been growing in all segments; Life business, where the new business is up; Property & Casualty where we are growing in nearly all of our geographies and Asset Management where we have significant positive inflows for both AXA Investment Managers and AllianceBernstein. Earnings wise, the picture is also a pretty nice one, because we are reaching the highest level ever of underlying earnings for the group and the net income is up in the double digits. This is a satisfactory situation for the group in an environment which has not been benign. We have had our share of natural catastrophes. We have also seen a significant decrease in long-term interest rates and despite that, we have strong earnings. These strong earnings are allowing us to significantly increase the dividend paid to the shareholders. So a good year.

EBM: Are you on track to reach the targets that you had set for the Group at the end of 2015 under the Ambition AXA plan?

Henri de Castries: Yes, I think we are very much on track with what the long-term plan was. You have to remember that this plan started in 2010 and that the goal was to have underlying earnings progressing between 5 and 10% on average. We are there, and well there. The second thing that we were trying to achieve was to accelerate the growth in emerging countries. We’ve built further blocks on that way in 2014 by acquiring a very good business in Nigeria, by setting up an agreement with a good bank in Poland, as examples. We had decided to increase the efficiency of the group by reducing costs further and at the same time preparing the future through digital investments. We are there. We will have saved, at the end of the plan, probably more than €1.9 billion, so this is good. And the last part of the plan was selectivity in the business and if you look at the business mix it has evolved according to what our plans were, especially on the Life side. So overall, a satisfactory situation, well aligned with the full completion of Ambition AXA.

EBM: How do you see the future for the Group?

Henri de Castries: Beyond Ambition AXA, we will have, of course, to come up with a new strategic plan, but we are looking at the long term. We think that there is good news and that there are some challenges. The good news is that the need for security, the need for coverage, the need for insurance protection is growing everywhere in the world. This is true in mature markets, this is true in emerging markets. So basically the demand addressed by the insurers will grow. And we will have to satisfy our customers in the coming years, in an environment where even if the macro picture is contrasted, the needs will be there. That’s good news. The way to satisfy the customers, nevertheless, is going to change. We will have to adapt the new technologies, we will have to satisfy more and more demanding customer needs and this is going to lead us to invest more in the technologies of the future. We are going to invest €950 million on the digital side in the coming years. We think it’s a necessity. We think that it’s a good thing for the group because it’s going to enable us to acquire new clients and to treat better the ones we already have.

EBM:Henri de Castries, Chairman & CEO of AXA, thank you very much.

Henri de Castries: Thank you.

Source: http://eurobusinessmedia.com/ceo-direct/axa/interview-with-chairman-ceo-henri-de-castries-fy-2014-results