SigmaWay Blog

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a major consideration for any fixed income portfolio and offer a wide diversification and higher returns. There are many types of REITs available but we will have a look here at some of them. Approximately 24% of REIT investments are in shopping malls and freestanding retail. This represents the single biggest investment by type in America and is known as Retail REITs. REITs that own and operate multi-family rental apartment buildings as well as manufactured housing or the residential REITs are mostly urban centered. Healthcare REITs invest in the real estate of hospitals, medical centers, nursing facilities and retirement homes. The success of this real estate is directly tied to the healthcare system. Office REITs invest in office buildings and they receive rental income from tenants who have usually signed long-term leases. Approximately 10% of REIT investments are in mortgages. Here investing in mortgages instead of equity does not imply that they are risk free. The bottom line is REITs, like every other investment in 2008, suffered greatly. But despite this, they continue to be an excellent addition to any diversified portfolio. Read more at: : http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/10/real-estate-investment-trust-reit.asp

One may think how anyone can make a profit by issuing credit cards. Lending money to people up front, so they can buy what they want to with it, then 30 days to pay it back without interest. But the contradiction is with a market valuation of about $133 billion and profit margins at 42%, Visa has proven that extending credit to consumers and assuming they'll be irresponsible is as gainful an industry as any. The process involved in the Visa model is: Bank X distributes its Bank X Visa cards to accountholders, who now have the convenience of not having to carry wads of bills for every commercial transaction. Now the banks start charging 14% or 19% or 24% interest which keeps adding to its total revenue. Visa, in the form which it is today would not have existed if people bought only what they could afford and saved for their large purchases. If you pay your Visa bill entirety every month, it costs your financial institution to accommodate you. They'll lose money on the deal. On the other side if you incur a balance and add to it with each pay period, you'll be contributing to a scenario whereby Visa's stock price has not only tripled over the past three years, but remains well shy of an ambitious one-year target estimate. Read more at: : http://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/080714/how-visa-counts-your-credit-card-balance.asp

Many companies have a huge capacity for making money though they have a small clientele. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is unusual among the largest companies in the United States ranked by market capitalization. Their profit margins are small, but their stocks are expensive. It is one of those companies which tries to do something novel and thinks of its impact on finances later on. So, the answer to the question on how Amazon makes money is simple. Revenue is only a part of profit and Amazon's most profitable endeavor to date is something blessedly low-tech - the one-price shipping of Amazon Prime. Amazon has redefined commerce for the whole world and has leveraged itself to a position of market dominance. With unparalleled convenience and receptive customer service, Amazon seems bound to continue its prosperous growth in its third decade of existence and beyond. Read more at: : http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/060914/how-well-all-be-amazoncom-customers-eventually.asp

Most of us do not think too much about retirement though we change our jobs and careers many times. But when we reach our midlife it is the time for us to get organized. The first step is to locate what you have and search for all assets scattered as they might add to the retirement funds. Also, locate your lost records especially if you have moved a lot. For any policy purchased earlier find out how much cash value is in the policy, if any, and the amount of its death benefit; whether it is still in force or how much it will cost to reinstate it if it has lapsed. Find your misplaced saving bonds, bank accounts and safe deposit boxes. It's worth checking with Social Security to make sure earnings from all your jobs are factored into your benefits. Then determine your objectives, organize your assets and future plan is ready. To know more, follow Mark P. Cussen (financial author)'s article link: http://www.investopedia.com/university/consolidating-your-retirement-money/

Research shows that fraud against bank deposit accounts cost the industry $1.744 billion in losses in 2012. Debit card fraud accounted for more than half of 2012 losses (54 percent), followed by check fraud (37 percent). According to Prakash Santhana, a director in the Advanced Analytics practice for Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, there has been a significant increase in the number of cyber-criminal groups who are trying to get their hands on customer lists, personal identification data, and anything else that could be of economic value. Some strategies for fighting fraud are listed below: Continuous tracking of online and face-to-face transactions to avoid any unauthorized ones. Development of “chip and PIN” technologies. The implementation of additional controls within ERP platforms that require dual approval on all payments to vendors. Read more at: http://deloitte.wsj.com/cio/2014/07/30/fraud-trends-in-the-banking-industry

According to Larry Fink, if you want to be a better investor than stop worrying about daily fluctuations and think of long term investing goals. Also, three major changes worth noticing have happened in past years which have long term implication on the economy. The developed world’s aging population is the first changing picture as the proportion of developed market population is expected to double (30%) by 2025. As a result labour force will shrink and greater people will take advantage of entitlement programs. It will be a challenge to all government to maintain the spending with such a rise. The phasing out of financial repression by U.S., i.e. financing its debt on own will benefit shareholders through capital structure arbitrage, while not appreciably hurting debt holders. These conditions will create a framework for equity optimization that allows risk asset prices to grind higher even in the face of what some believe are extended valuations. The rapid change in technology has displaced a lot from employment in many sectors. As such structural unemployment is expected to rise there will be a check on core inflation ( because inflation in real economy is generally due to wage increase). All these shifts matter a lot while deciding upon investment and also encourage corporations to engage in aggressive stock buybacks at the expense of capital reinvestment. Read more at: http://www.investopedia.com/partner/blackrock/articles/investing/072514/three-big-picture-shifts-worth-paying-attention.asp

Over the last few years, stocks have climbed to lofty heights. Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ index all have gained new heights. It is the great time to own stocks but at the same time, it is hard to please investors. For rational investors the continuous rise might seem to be a bubble and they can start getting defensive. Many companies that have recently released earning reports have either missed expectations or relied on cost cutting measures rather than revenue growth to bolster their results. While the ride can continue stocks can also go sideways. The bottom line is though it has not yet happened, but the stocks can be frothy and correction could be near. So, investors getting defensive will make sense. Read more at: http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/073114/it-finally-time-get-defensive-def-usmv-idlv-hdge.aspx

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Big business is asked to solve social and environmental evils. As a result, a rising number of important companies are accepting the confront of sustainability gravely, not only to diminish their environmental footstep and reinforce their reputations but also to progress operations and financial performance. Many ecosystem challenges cross limitations and need changes beyond the capability of person companies or even of an manufacturing. In these cases, the best loom for commerce can be to associate up-with governments, shareholders, local society, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Such partnerships often go through good, bad, and sometimes unattractive.The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a company that sets principles for the fishing industry, move violently in its initial few time with high staff proceeds and unstable support. To understand how to make these collaborations work, Mckinsey had meeting  with many business, administration, and NGO leaders . Read more at:

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/sustainability/creating_partnerships_for_sustainability

Risk analytics is increasingly important for banks as they cope with a complex regulatory and competitive environment. Important technologies and calculation engines are now available that are critically important to the future of banks and the entire industry. At the same time, it is possible to develop an over-reliance on analytics, so a balance needs to be found.

Developing more comprehensive and integrated capabilities is increasingly important. Integrated stress-testing, for example, is an important means by which the science of risk management can be turned into more of an art, such that it can be communicated and appreciated by a wider audience. An effective stress-testing framework encompasses a wider spectrum of macro-economic, social, political and environmental considerations and forecasts and so can help banks avoid the tunnel vision that can prevent them from making good decisions and taking timely action.

Companies are investing in risk analytics and intend to increase those investments, yet the potential return is often stifled by inconsistent or incomplete data. This prevents organizations from generating the insights needed to support a more predictive approach to risk management. To read more: http://www.baselinemag.com/analytics-big-data/banking-on-big-data-and-analytics.html

In financial markets, the ability to take risk while investing indicates risk profile. This is an important variable considered by a financial planner before advancing a product to an investor. Risk profile classifies the individuals in conservative, moderate or aggressive. Wealth management services suppliers use psychometric surveys to estimates the risk profile of a customer. Generally, the individual taking the test is asked to choose that option that best describes his response to the position out of the many options provided. The responses help the financial planners and wealth managers to insight how the person will react in a given situation. That is the basis of the individual's capacity to take risks. The survey minimizes the probability of wealth managers from being biased in the financial-planning process. An individual taking the test should be honest enough to select that option which best explains him.Read more about this aspect at: 

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-04-21/news/29459327_1_wealth-managers-risk-profile-financial-planner

It will take several years for banks to implement the necessary changes to become customer-centric. They need to assess their operations, identify what needs to change, and then implement the changes and the systems to support them. After the 2008 crisis, customers have eschewed “too big to fail” institutions in favor of local banks. Customers realize they have multiple banking options, often selecting different institutions for different services. A customer with a credit card from a multinational may keep savings and checking accounts locally. Attracted by competitive interest rates, the same customer may apply for a loan or mortgage with a regional bank – or even an online institution.To increase their share of wallet with customers, banks must address three fundamental areas: organization, processes and technology. However, once they crack the code on how to deliver a better experience to customers, they will position themselves to seize phenomenal opportunities to engage with customers. Ultimately, that translates to higher revenues. To know more on why banks should embrace a customer-centric model go to:

http://www.banktech.com/business-intelligence/banks-must-embrace-a-customer-centric-mo/240166955 .

When it comes to businesses and increasing their profitability, it is of no doubt that Big Data has brought in revolutionary changes. With proper handling of Big Data and data management, companies are trying to increase customer satisfaction and increase customer retention. Now, let's take a different look. 

Consider trading - capital market is one industry, where millions and millions of data float around. Regulatory bodies, banks, financial institutions store and analyze all these data that range over a large time horizon. They also need to study risk management practices and create new trading strategies. In capital market where focus has shifted from high frequency trading to discovering patterns and insights from financial data that can be used as case studies, big data can be made to its use. Financial services organizations are needed to invest in data management software that can harness the power of big data technology and extract hidden information.

How can they do so? Read them at: http://www.bankingtech.com/221932/big-data-and-data-management-in-capital-markets/ .

Though applying cutting edge technologies are on unprecedented rise in banking industry, security issues are cropping up more and more. Banks are becoming vulnerable to increased frauds and cyber-attacks.  This can negatively hamper the image of the bank in the minds of its customers.

To counteract this, banks have developed various analytics tools. But, they are rule based that depend on arbitrary thresholds to trigger alerts for potential frauds. The flip side here is that it may generate false positives. These can cause deep frustrations among honest customers who are falsely blocked for fraud or are constantly asked to undergo strict security procedures.

 A new type of analytics tool has been developed to solve this problem. The new tool is called Adaptive Behavioral Analytics. It produces an accurate result that reduces false positives. Unlike rule based analytics, Adaptive Behavioral Analytics combine customer information to create a behavioral profile at an individual level. This gives a clear picture about the customer and generates an alert if there is any deviation from typical behavior spotted in real time. Interested to know more?

Read at http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/2014/May/16/and-now-for-some-good-banking-news.html  for more details on how this new Analytics tool is helping banks to detect and fight fraud.

Neural Network is the buzzword in Financial Analytics nowadays. You may be thinking now 'what is a neural network?' Well, Neural Network is a state - of - the - art trainable algorithm which is emulated to function like a human brain. Speaking in terms of stock markets, you can train the algorithm with some historical stock market data and the algorithm will predict the pattern for you.

As forecasting of stock markets, currency markets and other markets are becoming increasingly difficult, neural network is gaining prominence among traders to predict where markets are heading in the near future. Certainly, there are reasons for it. As generation is progressing at a fast pace, people are adopting technologies quickly. The usage of Neural Network has amplified because of the availability of several open source software which have the capability to form a neural net framework. To enhance your shareholder wealth maximization, it is desirable that you must be equipped with the knowledge of how neural network is applied in forecasting markets. Though, as a thumb rule you must remember that no forecasting is accurate, but still this neural network can give some valuable insights.

Wondering how to go about it? Read at http://www.geocities.ws/francorbusetti/KaastraArticle.pdf to know how a neural network is designed for forecasting financial time series data.

Private banking in Asia-Pacific is a dynamic and evolving market with regional variations in regulations and requirements. As wealth management continues to grow with more opportunities in the mass affluent market, private banks will need to rely on technology to handle the increased volume. In addition, private banks are also dedicating more resources and budget on technology solutions to support and ensure compliance with regulation changes. While there is potential for the convergence of private banking and asset management, it is still important that the technology platform can deliver a personalised client experience as wealth management is still predominantly a relationship-based business, especially so in Asia-Pacific.

Together with panellists from Bank Julius Baer and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, investment management solution provider Charles River has drawn some key conclusions about the industry in the Asia-Pacific region during Private Banking Asia 2014 event, held on March 19th and 20th in Singapore. To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140410005052/en/Charles-River-Discusses-Increasing-Role-Technology-Wealth#.U0dzt1VgXgw

Most banks nowadays implement Analytics intensively to gain insights from their customers’ data. By generating reports with the help of queries and analytical tools, questions are answered for better decision makings. But still formulating and testing the hypotheses, tuning the model and tweaking the data structures are being done manually. Though much of the work is done by computers, the main part, which is thinking requires human intervention.

But, all these are set to change with the help of Cognitive Computing and Analytics. So, what is cognitive computing? Cognitive computing is the ability to master natural language processing and draw deductions that are not typically possible.

To provide impetus to the growth of its products and services, Global financial services firm DBS Bank has redefined its financial operations with the power of Cognitive Computing and Analytics and they are bearing fruits from it. Read more at http://www.baselinemag.com/analytics-big-data/bank-turns-to-cognitive-computing-and-analytics.html  on how they are doing so.

In order to become premier international financial company in the next millennium, Citibank, a Citigroup company, implemented quality initiatives to provide quick customer service anywhere in the world. They took the challenge of implementing Six Sigma to improve customer satisfaction by using methodologies like cycle time reduction (CTR), coupled with detection of defects using Six Sigma methods which resulted in significant improvements in process timeline, cash management and customer loyalty and satisfaction. To read more about this aspect please visit Rochelle Rucker’s (a freelance writer and publicist for Motivators Inc) article link as given below.

http://www.qualitydigest.com/dec99/html/citibank.html

Data analysis is an important part of BFSI organisations. It helps to manage huge customer database of the organisations. It also automates the day-to-day transaction process. An article by Mohan Jayaraman, Managing Director of Experian Credit Information Company of India Pvt. Ltd. and Country Manager of Experian India describes that it is necessary to bridge the gap between information and its effective usage. For this, data analytics solution requires ability to manage and draw interferences from large amounts of data.

 For more information, please go through: http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/perspective/287791/indian-banks-improve-customer-lifecycle-analytics?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-indian-banks-can-improve-the-customer-lifecycle-by-using-data-analytics

With the advancement of new technologies, big data and internet, young professionals are getting opportunities for new career options. With the growth of facebook and twitter, different organisations of BFSI sector require more professionals for their work like collecting data, prediction and forecasting revenue. So doors for new jobs are being opened in front of the young pool of talents.

For more information, please go through: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/rise-in-demand-for-social-media-experts-in-fmcg-bfsi-pharma-companies/articleshow/29500508.cms

In the recent years, social media has become a place where emotional roller coaster of the stock markets can be captured. How the Twitter and Facebook users are reacting to different business news can foretell where the index is heading. Knowing this information can help the companies in predicting their market price, top line, etc.

To know more on how social media can help in predicting in stock prices read http://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/031814/can-tweets-and-facebook-posts-predict-stock-behavior-and-rt-if-you-think-so.asp .