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.
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 News
FinTech: FIS Flags Off $150M Fintech-focused Venture Fund With Flutterwave
FIS, the financial technology company, has established a venture arm. Known as FIS Ventures, the new unit has the mandate to invest across the world in fintech startups. The primary investing focus will be on early to growth-stage firms with a target to deploy $150 million within three years.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Could Help Realize the Holy Grail of Nuclear Fusion
Scientists have been grappling with the complexities surrounding the development of a thermonuclear fusion reactor for decades. A successfully working fusion reactor could provide nearly unlimited energy. Nuclear fusion occurs naturally in the sun, but the problem is reproducing the process in the dramatically different conditions of temperature and gravity here on earth. But machine learning may change all that.
DailyAlts Playbook: Icahn’s Victory Lap, An Opening Worth Celebrating, The Fed Talks, and the End of Mergers as We Know It.
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK April 29, 2020 DailyAlts Playbook: Icahn’s Victory Lap, An Opening Worth Celebrating, The Fed Talks, and the End of Mergers as We Know It. PRIME OVERVIEW Good morning, There is a plan. No, not the Federal Reserve. No, not from the White House. Major League Baseball is considering a plan that would…
Liquid Alternatives: Corona Spawns a Scarily-named ‘Biothreat’ ETF Theme
Somebody had to ride the trend. On April 21, ETF distributor Pacer Financial filed with the SEC to launch its Pacer BioThreat ETF, with the highly expressive ticker of VIRS. (FINANCIAL ADVISOR)
On April 24, ETF Managers Trust filed with the SEC for its ETFMG BIO ETF.
These are ‘biothreat’ themed ETFs are obviously trying to ride the trend of the coronavirus pandemic.
Alternative Investments: Warren, Ocasio-Cortez Move to Stop M&A Activity During COVID-19 Pandemic
Two prominent Democrats are moving to pass the Pandemic Anti-Monopoly Act, legislation to stop mergers while the U.S. deals with COVID-19. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez are pushing the bill. This new bill would place a moratorium on all mergers reported to the FTC. It would also stop any deals involving firms with more than $100 million or engaged in private equity.
Digital Assets: Which of Debt, Equity, or Digital is Best to Hold in a Recession?
Whereas the value of stocks and bonds has declined due to the coronavirus pandemic, digital assets have not fundamentally lost value, says Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at Arca. Further, investors are beginning to think more about the “return of capital” than “return on capital,” writes Dorman in an article titled “Digital Assets Are More Recession-Proof Than You Might Think.”
Liquid Alternatives: “It Should Go To Zero Faster Than It Did Last Time” – Jim Cramer on Crude Oil and USO
On Monday, the United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: USO) fell nearly 15% to close at $2.19. Weighing on the ETF was the latest announcement from USCF, the fund’s administrator, that the fund will close out its positions in the June WTIC futures contract, and roll them over to longer-dated contracts.
Liquid Alternatives: BNY Mellon Launches Five New ETFs at Low or Zero Fees
BNY Mellon has a 30-year track record in indexation and industry leadership in ETF sub-advisory services. Its index team currently manages $340bn for institutional and retail clients globally. As of April 16, it had $1.8 trillion in AUM. On Friday it rolled out five new ETFs listed on the NYSEARCA exchange.
Artificial Intelligence: Medical AI in A Real-World Setting is Very Different from a Lab – Google
When Google conducted field trials of its AI system for diabetic retinopathy in Thailand, the results were an eye-opener. The first study of its kind, it evaluated how nurses use an AI system to screen patients for the disease. While lab results were highly accurate, the system encountered a lot of difficulties in real-life testing.
FinTech: Credibly Approved for PPP Lending; Facilitates $500M Relief
Credibly announced Monday that it had facilitated $500 million in relief funding to SMBs after it was approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for PPP lending. Credibly moved fast when the second tranche of PPP forgivable loans of $310 billion was released by the government on Monday at 10:30 am EST. It processed more than 10,000 PPP applications aggregating over $500 million in requested funding.
Venture Capital: AbleTo, the Virtual Mental Health Provider is in Play
Optum, the technology services division of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) may acquire virtual behavioral telehealthcare provider AbleTo for $470 million. According to CNBC, which quoted informed sources, the deal talks are in an advanced stage.
DailyAlts Playbook: Gundlach Shorts, Technical Wizards, Germany’s Economy, PE Lobbying, and the Lakers Take a Loan…
The Federal Reserve will kick off its two-day meeting to discuss monetary policy in the wake of the history coronavirus outbreak. The Fed has taken extraordinary steps to stimulate the U.S. economy, including slashing interest rates to zero and buying junk bonds. The central bank will likely not announce any new plans until it has further information on the state of the American economy. The economy, which could face levels of unemployment we haven’t seen in more than 80 years, could take more than 18 months to recover. However, we could see some sectors fail to return to their pre-COVID strengths.
Digital Assets: IBM Creates Blockchain Platform to Onboard New Suppliers for COVID-19
As the coronavirus pandemic rolls across the globe it has created a severe shortage of supplies such as masks, gowns, sanitizers, test kits, gloves, ventilators, thermal scanners, consumables, and medicines. The huge unmet demand has attracted many new suppliers who have shifted from their usual line of business to make and/or supply these products for COVID-19. IBM (NYSE: IBM) has established a blockchain-based platform to bring these new suppliers and COVID-19 buyers together.
Alternative Investments: Institutions Spend At Least $3 Million in COVID Lobbying
CNBC examined a number of records tied to lobbying efforts. Reporters suggested that the firms were not attempting to obtain capital for the private equity industry. Instead, the firms aimed to ensure participation among portfolio companies in federal loan programs. Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman participated in a phone call with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Other established investors taking place on that call included Dan Loeb of Third Point, Intercontinental Exchange’s Jeffrey Sprecher, and Paul Tudor Jones.
FinTech: App Purchase Revenues +22%, Digital Banking +17% as COVID Strikes
Home-bound Americans stepped up in-app purchases during COVID-19, says a report.
Digital banking apps saw a surge in revenue of 17% over the past two weeks. Digital banking app downloads shot up 60% as more and more U.S. citizens resorted to online banking. The social distancing norms and lockdowns discouraged Americans from visiting banks’ physical branches, according to a study by mobile attribution and marketing analytics firm AppsFlyer.
Artificial Intelligence: China’s 6G Plans Could Power an AI-Enabled Military
China’s military is developing 6G internet to power an AI army of the future. Mobile 6G (sixth generation) technology is 10X faster than 5G, which in turn has 10 times the transmission speeds from the widely used 4G. The 6G technology is far superior to 5G and is said to have immense potential for military applications, especially AI-related. Since November, China has two teams working on 6G and is spending billions to make its military a cyber-force.
Liquid Alternatives: “ETFs’ Finest Hour” – Dave Nadig
Are stock ETFs a source of risk in the current environment? How did they perform under the weight of enormous flows, both in and out? These and other issues figured in a chat on “The Compound” between ETF Trends CIO and Director of Research Dave Nadig and Barry Ritholtz, Chairman and CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management.
The DailyAlts Playbook: Incentives for Work, Crude Crushed, Monty Bennett Keeps the Money, and Cuomo’s Collective
We start this morning with Scott Minerd’s take on the V-shaped recovery, unintended consequences of fiscal and monetary policy, and the moral hazard facing our economy.
The CIO of Guggenheim Partners dropped his latest insights in the middle of the night, and they’re quite jarring. If you don’t know Minerd, be sure to read his analysis during the COVID crisis.
Venture Capital: Starbucks Strikes Deal with Sequoia on Chinese Investment Partnership
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) has launched a partnership with venture capital firm Sequoia. The two companies will co-invest in China and look to launch “commercial partnerships with next-generation food and retail technology companies.”
In a statement, Starbucks said it will provide retail expertise, infrastructure, and scalability to targeted companies.
Venture Capital: M&A Deals to Dive Amidst Buyer’s Market, Says BI Survey of VCs
As prospects for IPOs dry up, the only other option for startups looking for exits is a Merger & Acquisition (M&A) transaction. Startups are staring at uncertain funding, recessionary conditions, and falling valuations, hence more of them are looking for an out.
Private Equity: Northwestern Studies Industry’s Crisis Reaction
Filippo Mezzanotti, an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, has been studying how private equity fares in a crisis.
He examined data from nearly 500 PE-backed companies in the United Kingdom before and after the Great Recession. He and his research team found that d that PE-backed companies weathered the crisis better than other companies.
Alternative Investments: Washington State Investment Board Makes Allocations
The Washington State Investment Board has committed up to $1.9 billion in new infrastructure, private equity, and real estate investments. The board oversees pension as well as other state assets. They have had an outsized commitment to private investment for several years. Washington State Investment Board Allocations Washington only has about 33% of its portfolio…
Venture Capital: DMV Invests $10M in Laird Superfood
Danone Manifesto Ventures (DMV) will pay $10 million for a minority stake in The Sisters, Ore.-based Laird Superfood. Laird creates and markets plant-based superfoods such as creamers, coconut water, nutrition powders, drink mixes, and plant-based sugars.
FinTechs: UK Fintechs Want to Help With CBILS Loans
UK fintechs hope to reach coronavirus loans, introduced by the government as a business relief measure, to struggling businesses quicker than traditional lenders. They have approached the British Business Bank (BBB) for authorisation to lend under the U.K.’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).