Investments
Types of investments
Top Story
Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while the ROCm 6 open software stack introduces new features supporting Large Language Models (LLMs). Additionally, the Ryzen 8040 Series processors come equipped with Ryzen AI capabilities.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Investments
Alternative Investments: Direxion Launches Inverse ETFs To Bet Against Amazon, Google, And Microsoft
Direxion, provider of tradeable and thematic ETFs, announced the launch of an additional six single stock leveraged and inverse ETFs, listing on the NASDAQ. These new ETFs follow on Direxion’s previously introduced four single stock leveraged and inverse ETFs, namely TSLL, TSLS, AAPU, and AAPD.
Artificial Intelligence: Enterprise Voice Assistant Provider PolyAI Raises $40M
PolyAI, a provider of human sounding voice assistants for enterprises, announced its $40 million Series B round led by Georgian with participation from Twilio Ventures as well as existing investors (Khosla Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners).
Alternative Investments/ESG: Emerge Canada Launches Five Sustainable ETFs Under Its EMPWR Program For Women-Led Managers
Emerge Canada launched a new, proprietary EMPWR program that includes separate account strategies, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds available to investors in both Canada and the US. The program promotes sustainable investing while supporting women-led investment managers.
Alternative Investments/ESG/Digital: Fidelity Launches Five Thematic ETFs In Europe
Fidelity International has launched in Europe five thematic equity ETFs spanning the themes of clean energy, electric vehicles & future transportation, cloud computing, digital health, and the metaverse. The ETFs will trade on European bourses including London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse Xetra, and SIX Swiss Exchange, and Borsa Italiana. Each ETF features an expense ratio of 0.50%.
Alternative Investments/Digital: LGIM Launches Metaverse ETF With ESG Overlay
Legal & General Asset Management (LGIM) has launched four thematic ETFs to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana, Deutsche Boerse and Six Exchange. Of these, the L&G Metaverse ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (MTVR) will be a part of LGIM’s all-new “Access” range that is intended to be a strategic tool for investors seeking access to “non-traditional investment opportunities.” On the other hand, the L&G Optical Technology Photonics ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (LAZG), the L&G Emerging Cyber Security ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (ESPY) and the L&G Global Thematic ESG Exclusions UCITS ETF (THMZ) will be included in LGIM’s flagship thematic range.
Alternative Investments/ESG: DWS Expands ESG Range With Three Paris-Aligned ETFs
DWS has launched three new ETFs as an extension of its existing suite of climate-focused ETFs. To be listed in Europe, the three new Paris-aligned equity ETFs provide large and mid-cap exposure to stocks from the US, Europe, and Japan. The new ETFs are the Xtrackers USA Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XNUS GY), which comes with an expense ratio of 0.10%, and the Xtrackers Europe Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XEPA GY) and Xtrackers Japan Net Zero Pathway Paris Aligned UCITS ETF (XNJP GY), both of which are priced at 0.15%.
Artificial Intelligence: Japanese Drivers Unionize Against Amazon Protesting Unrealistic, AI-Drawn Routes
A labor movement is spreading across Amazon Japan, with delivery drivers in Nagasaki organizing themselves into a union, months after drivers in Yokosuka took a similar step. The group of 15 drivers in Nagasaki are protesting Amazon’s long hours and excessive load of deliveries without overtime pay, as well as impossible-to-execute delivery schedules and routes set out by the company’s AI system.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Franklin Templeton To Debut Metaverse ETF In Europe
Franklin Templeton is launching the Franklin Metaverse UCITS ETF (FLRA) on European exchanges this week, the announcement coming on the heels of the debut of the Fidelity Metaverse UCITS ETF (FMTV) earlier this week.
Alternative Investments/ESG: AXA Investment Managers Launches ETF Platform For Responsible Investments
AXA Investment Managers has launched an ETF platform with two active UN SDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) aligned ETFs, classified as Article 9 funds under SFDR regulation. To focus on climate and biodiversity themes, the two ETFs will offer investors the twin benefits of long-term financial growth as well as a positive impact on the environment. The platform would also feature active strategies and enhanced liquidity for investors.
Artificial Intelligence: Robotic, Solar-Powered Boat To Clean India’s Gomti River
The district administration of Lucknow, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, has pressed into service an AI-enabled trash boat to clean the Gomti river. In a 30-day trial, the boat, built by the Centre For Innovation Policy And Social Change, will operate on the river and collect plastics, water hyacinth and other types of waste.
Liquid Alternatives: Bobby Blue, Senior Manager Research Analyst, Morningstar, On The Rising Inflows Into Liquid Alts
As equities and bonds suffer in a challenging macroeconomic environment, liquid alternatives have made a comeback. Investors are plowing money into strategies such as managed futures, volatility, long-short equity, and more. Since last year, as bonds and stocks stumbled, inflows have surged into liquid alternatives. Liquid alts are mutual funds, closed-end funds, and ETFs that invest in alternative investment strategies offering downside protection and diversification opportunities while providing daily liquidity which makes them accessible to all investors.
FinTech: US Bank Subsidiary Elavon Launches Talech Register, An All-In-One Payments And Analytics Platform
U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB) subsidiary Elavon announced the launch of talech Register, a next generation Point-of-Sale platform suitable for small businesses in North America. Talech Register is an all-in-one payments and business analytics platform that frees up business owners to better manage their operations.
FinTech: Balance Money, A Fintech, Launches Digital Banking
Fintech company Balance Money has debuted a new digital banking service that also provides real-time spend management, thereby providing the additional benefit of budgeting and financial discipline alongside banking functions. Said to be a solution ideal for Millennials and GenZ’rs, it automatically calculates in real time what amount is safe to spend, saving them the “mental gymnastics’ of working it out by checking their bank account each time.
Digital Assets: Congress Wants Action Taken Reports On Crypto Fraud From Agencies, Digital Exchanges
The Committee shot off a series of letters earlier this week to four agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Trade Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as five digital asset exchanges — Coinbase, FTX, Binance.US, Kraken, and KuCoin, asking for details of actions taken to “identify, investigate, and remove or flag potentially fraudulent digital assets or accounts,” as well as highlight discussions around “whether to adopt more stringent policies.”
Venture Capital: Identity Decisioning Platform Alloy Lands $52M
As an identity decisioning platform, Alloy helps banks and fintech companies automate their decisions for onboarding, transaction monitoring and credit underwriting of customers. Using the platform, Alloy clients can access customer information, traditional credit bureau data, and other alternative data through a single point of integration, providing a complete picture of their customer. The company raised an additional $52 million led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Avenir Growth with participation from existing investors Canapi Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Avid Ventures, and Felicis Ventures.
Venture Capital/ESG: Plant-Based Meat Startup Planted Lands CHF 70M (US$72M) Series B Round
Planted, the Swiss startup making vegan meat from plant proteins, announced its $72 million Series B round to fund the launch of its new whole-cut line of products including chicken breast, increase production capacity and expand internationally.
Artificial Intelligence: Why An Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) Could Destroy Mankind
We’ve been pretty wrong about some historic events that eventually did come to pass. Example: The great physicist Ernest Rutherford had famously proclaimed in 1933 that anyone who propounded atomic power was “talking moonshine.” As recently as 1977, a computer industry pioneer supposedly said computers would not reach our homes. Yet those computers are here and in fact everywhere in various forms and power configurations. In fact, Torres is now worried about the “ever-growing computing power” that is touted as a boon for humanity. Could these rapidly evolving computers and advances in AI technology create an Artficial Superintelligence (ASI) that could then turn upon us – it’s creator?
Artificial Intelligence: AI-Generated Artwork Wins First Prize At State Fair; Ignites Controversy
Jason Allen has ignited afresh the chatter and debate surrounding AI art after his creation won the first prize in the Colorado State Fair’s art competition in the digital category. Allen’s work was made using Midjourney, the text-to-image AI art creation tool.
FinTech: Africa-Focused Payments Company Flutterwave Wins Nigerian Payments Processing License
Widely regarded as the CBN’s most valuable payment processing license, it allows the company to offer transaction switching and card processing services to its customers, including the ability to effect transactions between banks, fintechs and other financial institutions.
FinTech: Jupiter Fund Management Looking To Offload Its 10% Stake In Profitable Digital Bank Starling
UK-based Jupiter Fund Management has reportedly asked Citi to find a potential buyer for its 10% holding in Starling Bank, one of the first challenger banks and fintech to become profitable. The stake, said to be worth more than £ 200 million, is held by Jupiter in its UK Mid Cap Fund, as well as other funds.
Artificial Intelligence: US Government Bans Export Of High-Performance AI Chips To China By AMD and Nvidia
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) have been told by the US government to suspend exports of certain high-performance chips, that have application in artificial intelligence, to China. Nvidia clarified in a regulatory filing that US officials had taken the step due to fears that the chips could potentially land up in the hands of a “military end user.”
Artificial Intelligence: Rockefeller Foundation Partners With Atlas AI And e-GUIDE To Boost Economic Development In Africa
The Rockefeller Foundation will leverage machine learning technology and satellite data in a new $ 5.5 million collaboration with e-GUIDE and Atlas AI to boost economic development and build climate resilient infrastructure across sub- Saharan Africa. An innovative digital platform will make available valuable insight into agriculture, energy, and transportation sector development conditions, initially in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. The information (“dynamic situational awareness of local conditions”) will enable policymakers to prioritise infrastructure development, promote economic opportunities, and mitigate community vulnerabilities in these sectors.
Venture Capital: Seven Seven Six, A VC Founded By Reddit Co-Founder Ohanian, To Invest $177.6 M In Web3, Crypto
Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, has floated Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm focusing on investments in Web 3 and crypto currencies. A new fund from 776, titled Kryptos, is mobilising as much as $177.6 million and is expected its operations in October.
FinTech: Klarna’s First Half Result Sees Losses Triple From Last Year
Higher employee costs, an increase in credit losses, and investments in growth pushed Klarna to a loss of 6.17 billion Swedish crowns ($578.52 million) in the first half of the year, more than 3X of its loss of 1.76 billion crowns in the corresponding period last year.