Opinion

January 15, 2015 @ 12:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Outspoken finance executive Louise Beaumont has taken the UK finance sector to task once again.  Beaumont is the founder of Platform Black (now part of GLI Finance), an invoice trading site. At a recent event she criticized the current environment as stifling for SMEs.  She is… Read More

January 15, 2015 @ 10:25 am By Erin Hobey  |  

European Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey UPDATE Since late November, the University of Cambridge teamed up with EY, the global professional services organization, and launched the European Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey with the support of major European industry associations. As readers may know, this is the largest study to date on crowdfunding,… Read More

January 14, 2015 @ 11:42 am By Dara Albright  |  

As a growing number of entrepreneurs and even corporations turn to crowdfunding as way of accessing capital and increasing brand awareness, a new breed of eager retail investors known as “investumers” are standing by with open checkbooks, looking to invest in the companies that make products that… Read More

January 14, 2015 @ 7:54 am By Conrad Ford  |  

Let’s start with what won’t happen in business lending. Politicians and pressure groups love to opine that we need a return to branch-based local ‘Bank Managers’, who knew each customer personally and made lending decisions on a firm handshake. However attractive this nostalgia, most small… Read More

January 13, 2015 @ 8:51 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Since late November, The University of Cambridge teamed up with EY, the global professional services organization, and launched the European Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey with the support of major European industry associations. As readers may know, this is the largest study to date on crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending and other forms of alternative… Read More

January 12, 2015 @ 9:33 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

  As far as the peer-to-peer or marketplace lending industry is concerned, 2014 ended with a bang and not a whimper as Lending Club, the leading online lender, completed its initial public offering. On December 10, 2014 the Lending Club offering went effective, and ultimately… Read More

January 8, 2015 @ 10:03 am By Kevin Berg Grell  |  

“Let’s be clear… Reward- and investment-based crowdfunding are VERY different funding models. The underlying economics are simply too different to ignore, and we have to keep that in mind and be clear on what model we talk about when we discuss CROWDFUNDING.” A little while… Read More

January 7, 2015 @ 8:04 am By Erin Hobey  |  

2014 proved to be a strong year for fledgling Sliced Investing, an investment platform connecting accredited investors to hedge fund investments: in November the platform closed seed financing of $2 million to develop new funds for investors and accelerate the platform’s growth. Venture capital firms… Read More

January 7, 2015 @ 7:35 am By JD Alois  |  

Commenting on the just published results from the Bank of England Credit Survey, Louise Beaumont of GLI Finance, criticized the traditional approach to capital allocation as an economic failure; “With credit availability remaining unchanged despite increased demand for lending from medium sized business, today’s figures… Read More

January 6, 2015 @ 3:53 pm By Dara Albright  |  

As a growing number of entrepreneurs and even corporations turn to crowdfunding as way of accessing capital and increasing brand awareness, a new breed of eager retail investors known as “investumers” are standing by with open checkbooks, looking to invest in the companies that make products that… Read More

January 6, 2015 @ 9:26 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The European Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey deadline is today, 6 January 2015. Since late November, The University of Cambridge teamed up with EY, the global professional services organization, and launched the European Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey with the support of major European industry associations. As readers may know, this is the largest study to date on… Read More

January 5, 2015 @ 7:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

Paul Niederer, founder of the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB) and crowdfunding protagonist, has tackled the global regulatory regimes around the world as they attempt to create rules for the new forms of finance. Niederer criticizes most approaches stating: “The [regulatory] implementation balance to… Read More

January 5, 2015 @ 1:30 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

The StartUp Nation Scales Up. According to OurCrowd’s blog, “This past week, we waved 2014 goodbye and welcomed in the new year – but not without a bit of self reflection at what an amazing year it’s been for the Startup Nation. In 2014, Israel… Read More

January 5, 2015 @ 10:09 am By Erin Hobey  |  

In a recent post on FxPro by Ron Finberg, he cites the fintech tends to watch during 2015, may they be “either high opportunities or stumbling blocks,” as “service-based investing,” robo investing (“anti-social trading”) and digital-based crowdfunding. “Fintech was a great sector to be in… Read More

January 2, 2015 @ 9:35 am By JD Alois  |  

With 2014 finally at an end and 2015 just kicking off it is that time of year when predictions on the future of crowdfunding roll in.  Crowdfund Insider has already published more than a few interesting predictions for 2015 and we expect more to follow…. Read More

December 31, 2014 @ 11:15 am By JD Alois  |  

The past year has been eventful in the world of alternative finance.  From crowdfunding to peer to peer lending the world of finance is changing rapidly – and for the better.  While no industry is ever stagnant, the past several decades of the finance industry… Read More

December 30, 2014 @ 6:39 am By JD Alois  |  

For the third year in a row the Securities and Exchange Commission has published an annual review of the past year, the primary focus being financial results.  The document is a nice summary of just about everything the SEC did last year.  As with any… Read More

December 29, 2014 @ 9:42 am By Erin Hobey  |  

In his blog on Spend Matters Network, David Gustin eloquently highlights several themes that impact the world of business credit during 2014: “The first of course is the rise of alternative lending products that go by such categories as online receivable auctions, private pcard exchanges, and peer… Read More

December 29, 2014 @ 6:51 am By Barry James  |  

Forget the hype. A team of hard-data scientists – including at least one who is an expert in studying the formation of ecosystems – from UC Santa Barbara have released an important piece of hard academic research – which explodes the hype and myths built up… Read More

December 29, 2014 @ 6:31 am By Jenna Cohen  |  

With reports that the final rule-making dates for Titles III and IV of the JOBS Act have been pushed back once again (potentially as late as October 2015), it’s as if the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped a giant piece of coal in our… Read More