News
Each day, DailyAlts tracks major developments across the alternative investment world. Our content is procured from primary contacts in the industry and secondary sources across the web. Our goal is to give readers the most up-to-date news and engaging experience to open new doors and areas of knowledge. Our stories cover nine separate verticals of the alternative investment industry.
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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.
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Private Equity: Recapping the KKR Q1 Conference Call
The KKR conference call for the first quarter occurred on Wednesday morning. Executives at the firm revealed that although they were stung a little by the economic upheaval, KKR continues to prove its business model.
The company exited some businesses early in the quarter at an average of 3.5 times the initial cost. Although they are working remotely like the rest of us, KKR, in the 2-month window from March 1 through May 1, has closed on or in legal documentation on over $10 billion of new commitments across our fund platform.
Liquid Alternatives: Cannabis Growth Projections Impressive; POTX to Benefit
The Global X Cannabis ETF (NASDAQ: POTX) has bounced back smartly from its mid-March, corona-induced price swoon to $6.50. In a high-volume rebound, the ETF rose to $10.64, and thereafter it has moved sideways. However, it is currently ruling above the 50-day moving average, and increasingly it looks like it will soon resume its rally. Though the ETF was punished along with the rest of the market, things may have improved for cannabis fundamentally.
FinTech: Black Knight Reports Strong Q1 Earnings on Flat Revenue
Financial technology specialist Black Knight Inc. (NYSE: BKI) reported robust earnings during the first quarter. Earnings per share of $ 0.34 beat estimates by $ 0.08. Revenue of $ 290.8 million, which was up 2.7% year-on-year, beat estimates by $ 4.21 million. However, the fintech factored in the impact of COVID-19 and lowered its annual guidance.
Digital Assets: Franklin Templeton Snaps up Digital Wealth Leader AdvisorEngine
Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE: BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton, has acquired AdvisorEngine Inc. AdvisorEngine is a digital wealth platform and provider of technology and consulting services to more than 1,200 financial advisory firms. These firms manage over $600 billion in assets.
Artificial Intelligence: Designing A Fair Taxation System – AI Rises to the Challenge
The AI Economist is an artificial intelligence system designed by American technology company Salesforce (NYSE: CRM). The program develops and tests the ideal tax system for a country inside a simulated environment.
Alternative Investments: An Interview With Tobias Carlisle, Founder of Acquirers Funds
This week, Tim Melvin sat down with Tobias Carlisle, founder of The Acquirer’s Multiple®. Tobias Carlisle is best known as the author of the #1 new release in Amazon’s Business and Finance The Acquirer’s Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market.
Venture Capital: Angel Investment in Michigan Rose 41% in 2019 to $73.7M
The 2019 Annual Research Report from the Michigan Angel Community is out. The report showed that angel investing in the high-tech sector in 2019 was in fine fettle. Both the number of angel investors and the amount they invested during the year grew impressively in percentage terms.
Private Equity: KKR Reports First Quarter Earnings
KKR (NYSE: KKR) had a massive Q1 loss on GAAP measures as a result of mark to market requirements.
Setting aside those marks, the firm said that After-tax Distributable Earnings and After-tax Distributable Earnings Per Adjusted Share were $355.3 million and $0.42, respectively, for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. After-tax Distributable Earnings Per Adjusted Share are 11% higher compared to the first quarter of 2019.
“Since February, we have seen more uncertainty and volatility than at any time since the financial crisis. KKR navigated the quarter well, and our results bear testament to the strength of our business model. We are enormously proud of the dedication of our employees and believe we are well-positioned to help our clients and communities for what lies ahead,” said Henry R. Kravis and George R. Roberts, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs in their statement.
Alternative Investments: An Interview with Jeffrey Chang of CBOE Vest.
Last week, Tim Melvin talked with Jeffrey Chang of CBOE Vest. His firm offers investment strategies called “defined outcome portfolios.”
These strategies help investors structure their portfolios to provide defined levels of growth, income, and risk.
Venture Capital: ApplyBoard, an Edtech Startup, is Canada’s Newly Minted Unicorn
ApplyBoard is an online platform that assists international students from around the world with their applications to study abroad. It’s a SaaS-enabled recruitment platform that was recognized in 2019 by Deloitte as Canada’s fastest-growing tech company.
ApplyBoard scored a phenomenal 12,525% GAAP revenue growth between 2015 and 2018.
On Tuesday it announced the closure of its series C funding round worth C$100 million (US$75 million).
FinTech: Cash-rich Revolut on the Prowl for COVID-hit Travel Aggregators
Nikolay Storonsky, chief executive of British challenger bank and fintech unicorn Revolut, says his company has “a real opportunity” to benefit from the pandemic. Speaking to the Financial Times, he revealed plans to use his cash hoard to buy corona-strapped, tech rivals.
Artificial Intelligence: Boeing Delivers AI-Enabled, Jet-Powered Drone to Australian Air Force
The Loyal Wingman, an unmanned jet-powered drone, could soon be flying alongside existing manned Australian military aircraft in teaming missions controlled by its artificial intelligence capabilities. Developed by Boeing Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force, it is the first to be designed, engineered, and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years.
Liquid Alternatives: A Fixed Income ETF for Exposure to Sukuks
Shariah is Islamic religious law that prohibits the earning of interest income. Therefore, the usual Western debt instruments such as bonds are not workable for Muslim investors. The Sukuk is an innovative structure that was introduced in 2000 in Malaysia. The SP Funds Dow Jones Global Sukuk ETF (NYSE: SPSK), is the first to offer access to Sukuk investments, a new asset class, in an ETF.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin, the First-Born Crypto, is Highly Bullish (Bloomberg Report)
The Bloomberg Crypto Outlook, May 2020 edition, issued by Bloomberg Senior Commodity Strategist Mike Mcglone, is unreservedly bullish on the prospects of Bitcoin. The “firstborn cryptocurrency” seems to be firing on all cylinders, being supported by favorable supply, demand, and macroeconomics.
DailyAlts Playbook: Coronavirus, Bond Bulls, an EU Slump, and Expectations for the Job Market
This morning, Johns Hopkins University announced that more than 3.65 million official cases of COVID-19 around the globe. States across the country will reopen their economies this week. Florida has opened restaurants with social distancing guidelines in place. California will permit clothing stores, flower shops, and bookstores to provide curbside pickup. And New York will let construction, manufacturing, and certain retail employees return to work. The official U.S. tally of coronavirus cases topped 1.2 million on Tuesday evening.
Community Banking – Seneca-Cayuga Bancorp To Become a Publicly Traded Stock
As part of the conversion and reorganization, the Bank would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of a new holding company. Shares of common stock of the Company held by persons other than the MHC (whose shares would be canceled) would be converted into shares of common stock of the new holding company pursuant to an exchange ratio generally intended to preserve the percentage ownership interests.
Alternative Investments: Carlyle Group Reports Loss in First Quarter
Like most of the other publicly traded private equity firms, the Carlyle Group (NYSE: CG) recorded an accounting loss for the first quarter.
The loss is a result of mark to mark accounting rules than none less than Warren Buffett has labeled ridiculous. Without the markdowns, Carlyle had Distributable Earnings of $175 million for Q1 2020 on a pre-tax basis or $0.48 per common share on a post-tax basis. Over the last 12 months, the alternative asset manager had distributable earnings of $721 million, or $1.93 per common share.
Private Equity: Apollo Global Management Reports Q1 Earnings Report
Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) reported earnings for the first quarter of 2020. Apollo reported an accounting loss for the quarter thanks to mark-to-market accounting regulations. That said they generated Fee-Related Earnings of $228.1 or $0.52 per share.
Apollo Global also declared a dividend of $0.42 a share. Apollo intends to distribute to its Class A common stockholders quarterly substantially all of its distributable earnings after taxes and related payables over amounts determined by the executive committee of its board of directors to be necessary or appropriate to provide for the conduct of its business and, at a minimum, a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share.
They have paid out more than twice the minimum dividend over the past year.
Liquid Alternatives: Muni Bond Caucus Wants Fed to Help; NY Fed to Buy ETFs in May
Members of the House Municipal Finance Caucus have written to the Fed to buy municipal bonds of terms up to 30 years. The move comes as states’ finances are badly hit by the coronavirus and the municipal bond market is still struggling after it shut down to new issues in March. Separately, in a previously announced move intended to support credit markets, the Fed is gearing up to commence, as early as this month, two emergency corporate lending programs. These would buy up to $750 billion in debt and ETFs.
Venture Capital: Ninja Van Scores $279M in Series D Funding as the Pandemic Boosts Ecommerce
Singapore-based parcel delivery startup Ninja Van raised $279 million from top-notch investors as the coronavirus epidemic triggered a huge surge in online transactions from people forced to stay at home. The funding round was led by existing investor Europe’s GeoPost with two sovereign wealth funds. Other investors included Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital, ride-hailing firm Grab, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund.
Artificial Intelligence: Avoid Migraine Medications with This AI-Powered App
People suffering from chronic headaches and migraines face a painful dilemma: choose between the pain or the side effects of the medications to treat the pain. Statistically, about one in seven people are prone to migraine and one in 100 suffer from chronic headaches. However, a daily training session of just 10 minutes with an AI-powered app developed by Norwegian scientists can dramatically reduce headaches.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Rallies as Halving Approaches
With halving now just a week away, is BTC repeating the script from its previous two halvings? On both the two previous occasions, bitcoin enjoyed sharp rallies post the halving event, though, in 2016, there was a dip before the rally commenced.
FinTech: Robinhood Raises $280 Million in Series F Funding Led by Sequoia
Robinhood Markets Inc, the pioneer of app-based, commission-free trading, homed in on two lucrative targets Monday. The fintech raised a $280 million series F funding at a valuation of $8.3 billion. The round was led by existing investor Sequoia Capital, with participation from existing and new investors including NEA, Ribbit Capital, 9Yards Capital, and Unusual Ventures.
Hedge Funds: Maniyar Trades With $1 Billion, and Other Fund Launches
Mayinar Capital Advisers has started trading with more than $1 billion under management. The fund, which spun out of Tudor Investment Corporation, launched Friday. It has already become a shining gem in a sea of coal for the industry. HFR reported recently that global AUM for hedge funds slumped under $3 trillion for the first time since 2016.