Venturing into uncertainty

Is VC worth the risk? The barrier of entry to private equity is dwindling. Funds have at least a million-dollar buy-in, available only to accredited investors, and catered specifically to start-ups in need of cash, writes The New Yorker. But now, VC seems to be behind nearly everything we use: delivery apps, shoe companies, real estate development — the list goes on.

Despite this, a seepage of doubt is spreading among venture capitalists themselves. Taking these two sides, the publication talks about if venture capital is worth the risk. 

Crafting independent retiree advice: Those who want to avoid high advisor fees are looking at a DIY option for retiree investment advice: newsletters. According to The New York Times, there is a surge of independent, low-cost newsletters. One couple reported their “individual retirement account earned an annualized 6 percent rate of return … Then it started climbing after the couple began following the newsletter’s model portfolios. They earned 24.9 percent in 2019. For the decade ending in 2019, they earned an average of 12.7 percent.

Fidelity offers partial stock trade: Fidelity Investments announced Wednesday that clients can now trade fractions of stocks and ETFs. This “dollar-based trading” option will allow individual investors to own any company they want, regardless of the share price, reports CNBC

“Customers can now own a piece of their favorite companies and ETFs based on how much they want to invest, independent of the share price,” head of Fidelity’s brokerage platform Scott Ignall said in the release.

Fidelity joins Charles Schwab in its offering, as well as smaller companies like Stockpile. The hope is to tap into the Millennial market and compete with Robinhood and similar start-ups.

Coronavirus tanks China’s market: China’s stocks plunged almost 8 percent today, while the yuan sank below a key point compared to the dollar, reports Bloomberg. Officials tried to ward off panic selling before trading resumed but to no avail.

“The pandemic is not something that will only impact the market for just a few days, it’ll last for a while,” said Sun Jianbo, president of China Vision Capital in Beijing.

Fintech Leaders Make their Mark: Our CEO Daniel P. Simon explores the history of fintech and its key players in his new book, “The Money Hackers.” Dan takes a deep dive into technology’s disruption of Wall Street after the 2008 financial crisis and how it’s paved the way for money today. Preorder it today!

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