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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, aims to secure $1 billion in equity financing to compete with industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. The company, co-founded by Musk, has already garnered $135 million from investors, as revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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The DailyAlts Playbook – January 6, 2020
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks zero-fee hedge funds, where REITs go from here, our chat with Daniel Rasmussen, and the CFTC manhunt for a crypto manager and his client’s $147 million.
Green Street Advisors: Data Center REITs Will See More Demand
Green Street Advisors analyst David Guarino says that data consumption trends will accelerate in the future. This provides support to his thesis that data center demand will increase. It also signals that investors will continue to pour capital into associated real estate assets like data center REITs.
The DailyAlts Interview With Daniel Rasmussen of Verdad Advisors
Today, we’re chatting with Daniel Rasmussen, a founding partner at Verdad Advisors. Daniel was a member of Forbes 30 under 30 at Forbes. His fund aims to replicate private equity returns in the public markets by using research and quantitative methods to build a portfolio of leveraged companies.
Digital Assets: Fraudulent, Unregistered Crypto Firm That Stole from Investment Advisors Shut Down
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division issued a final order to cease and desist against unregistered firm Mavixbtc Limited.
Mavixbtc had fraudulently represented itself as registered with both the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. To do this the firm used false registration numbers.
The DailyAlts Playbook – January 3, 2020
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks about tensions in the Middle East, the fall of hedge fund fees, capitalists without capitalism, and the rise of Boise, Idaho.
Hedge Fund Greenlight Finishes 2019 Up 13.8%
Hedge fund Greenlight Capital finished 2019 up 13.8% after a small dip in December. The iconic value-oriented fund saw a 0.3% decline last month to finish off the year, according to Bloomberg. As we reported last month, the fund also saw a 1.8% decline in November.
Alternative Investments: Breaking Down the BlackRock 2020 Forecast
Alternative investment manager Blackrock (BLK) has issued the Blackrock 2020 forecast. The firm believes that growth will pick up next year with little risk of inflation. They also warn that the years of friendly central bank policies could be behind us and that inflation risks are underpriced.
Hedge Funds: Korea’s Lime Asset Management in Fresh Trouble With Regulators
Korea’s largest hedge fund is under probe for involvement in an alleged US Ponzi scheme Lime Asset Management, the large Korean hedge fund, is accused of continuing to market a trade finance fund when it knew the investments could land in trouble. Lime had raised client funds amounting to 243.6 billion won and a loan…
EY: Private Equity Firms Really Loved Germany in 2019
Private equity investment in Germany topped out at about 32 billion euros, according to EY. That figure represents a year-over-year increase of about 80%, the firm said this week. Private equity investment in Europe’s largest economy hit 17.9 billion euros in 2018.
Hedge Funds Record Best Year Since 2013, But Departures Loom
Hedge fund returns in 2019 averaged 8.5% but fell well short of the broader market rally. Heading into Monday, the S&P 500 has gained 29.1%. HFR says that the firm reached 8.5%, a figure that was even well short of the U.S. Bond Market’s gain of 14.5%.
Digital Assets: Swiss President Says That Facebook’s Libra Has Failed
Switzerland president Ueli Maurer took a swipe at the Facebook Libra project as he prepares to walk out the door. The nation’s finance minister and the outgoing president called for a reworking of the cryptocurrency project.
Digital Assets: Chinese Stock Exchange Sets Up Blockchain Index
China’s tech-heavy bourse, the Shenzen Stock Exchange, announced December 24 its introduction of an index to track the performance of China’s top 50 blockchain companies including startups.
According to a report in CrowdFundInsider, the Shenzen Stock Exchange will include in the index those firms that are active in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and crypto industries.
Venture Capital: Electric Vehicle Maker Rivian’s Monster Funding Round
Rivian just raised $1.3 billion from top-notch investors.
The humongous new raise, led by T Rowe Price, added $1.3 billion to Rivian’s coffers. It included existing investors Ford Motor and Amazon.com. BlackRock Inc also invested in the round, according to Fortune.
This raising follows on previous funding this year of $1.55 billion from Amazon ($700 million), Ford ($500 million), and Cox Automotive ($350 million).
Digital Assets: Facebook’s Libra Rollout Plan Hazy
There is no concrete plan yet for the launch of the Facebook-led Libra digital currency, according to Reuters’ interview with Ellis.
Though Libra is scheduled to roll out by June of 2020, a regulatory backlash has put a cloud on that date.
Aberdeen Standard to Manage LF Woodford Income Focus Fund
Standard Life Investments will now manage the LF Woodford Income Focus fund, according to Link Fund Solutions. The arm of Aberdeen Standard Investments will replace Neil Woodford, whose flagship fund collapsed in October. Regulators suspended the fund that month thanks to ongoing challenges around its liquidity. ASI will take over the $351 million fund on December 31. Link said in a statement last week that it will reopen the fund in February 2020.
Artificial Intelligence: Walmart’s Cutting Edge Use of AI and Machine Learning in Retail
Walmart straddles both brick-and-mortar and online, giving it a unique tech perspective. In new applications, Walmart uses machine learning, barcode technology, facial recognition, IoT, and RFID to enhance the shopping experience. Earlier this year, Walmart unveiled its store of the future at the Neighborhood Market in Levittown, New York.
Digital Assets: The ESCB has Proof-of-Concept of Anonymous Digital Currency
An ECB-coordinated project, conducted by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), has established a proof of concept (PoC) for anonymity in digital cash, reports COINTELEGRAPH.
The experiment does not indicate that the ECB will actually proceed with a CBDC. It’s just that – a prototype, so to speak.
Sun Life Financial Takes Big Stake in Real Estate Manager
Sun Life Financial and its alternative asset management arm just received a boost. Sun Life announced it plans to purchase an 80% stake in the infrastructure and real estate investment manager InfraRed Capital Partners.
Alternative Investments: Bank of England Weighing Redemption Rejig for Open-Ended Funds
The Bank of England considers the liquidity mismatch in open-ended funds a potential “systemic risk.”
After the recent debacles in the Woodford Equity Income Fund and M&G Investments property fund, the Bank of England may change redemption rules for open-ended funds.
The Bank of England may impose delayed payouts for investors in open-ended funds that hold hard-to-liquidate assets. Alternatively, it may impose a haircut on investors demanding immediate redemptions in such funds.
The bank made these proposals in its latest Financial Stability Report.
Hong Kong Funds See $5 Billion in Outflows
Hong Kong capital flight may have hit as much as $5 billion for investment funds in 2019.
The figure comes from the Bank of England, which released its Financial Stability Report on Monday. Since April, when the Hong Kong riots began, investment funds have raised alarms about the impact on both the local economy and their ability to perform. That figure – $5 billion – represents roughly 1.25% of the region’s GDP.
Digital Assets: Fidelity Digital Assets Could Add Support for Ether in 2020
Fidelity’s crypto arm has already done a lot of work on Ethereum.
Speaking in an interview with TheBlock, Tom Jessop, who is president of Fidelity Digital Assets, said the firm intended to support the Ethereum cryptocurrency in the New Year, according to cointelegraph.
“We’ve done a lot of work on Ethereum. We intend to support it in the New Year. We’re very led by our clients,” he said.
Artificial Intelligence: AI May Put the Finishing Touches to Beethoven’s Tenth
A year of celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday starts today.
The celebrations begin today in Bonn with the inauguration of Beethoven’s home as a museum after extensive renovations. This 250th year of Beethoven’s birth may be notable also in the annals of artificial intelligence (AI). That’s because machine learning algorithms will try to write the final notes of the legendary composer’s unfinished 10th symphony.
Bank of America: ETF Assets to Go 10X, Hit $50 Trillion in 10 Years
ETF assets could hit $50 trillion by 2030, a figure that is more than ten times current levels, according to Bank of America. The bank also said this week that these assets may hit $5.3 trillion by the end of 2020 (Note: total assets are $4.3 trillion as of this publication date).
Artificial Intelligence: Banks Can Leverage AI For a $450 Billion Bonanza
Banks could save a humongous $447 billion by 2023 by deploying artificial intelligence (AI), says the AI IN BANKING research report from Business Insider Intelligence.
Of this, front office banking AI applications could yield $199 billion, middle office $217 billion and the back office $31 billion.