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Ever seen a movie on what the future will be like?
and you thought, '
yeah right'?
One of my favorite movies, 'back to the future' is credited with predicting wearable technology such as the Google glass. In the
Back to the Future franchise’s version of 2015, Marty McFly’s kids took calls on futuristic phones that they wore as sunglasses.
It seemed like fiction back then, i.e. something someone dreamed up, but it did inspire Google to think out of the box.
I've always been fascinated with technology and it's ability to provide easier ways to tackle basic things we grapple with. For instance with market places, you can easily find freelancers and pay them to do your work, With a mobile app, you can transfer money across the continent or sign up for courses on-the-go
No one can ignore the benefits of innovative technology today, especially in the financial services industry.
According to the FinTech ecosystem report by Business Insider, we are now in a profound era of change in the financial services industry. Technology is changing the nature of almost every financial activity; from banking to payments and wealth management.
In Africa, we're experiencing a lot of change in the banking and payments industry. It's likely to catch up with wealth management activities soon
So, I got curious about what the future of investing could mean for investors like you and I and found two (2) interesting trends to watch out for in terms of investment options;
Peer-to-peer lending (P-2-P lending)
P-2-P lending is the practice of lending money to individuals or businesses through online services that match lenders with borrowers. i.e. you can loan an individual money through this website and earn competitive interest income.
One P-2- P lending market place to watch in Nigeria is
Fint. You can loan out money and earn interest income at annual percentage rates from 24% - 37% on this market place. They seem to have all their bases covered in terms of giving the borrower a credit rating and insuring your capital.
P-2-P lending market places are quite popular in the US and UK and are growing much faster than traditional lenders—only time will tell if local banks will create their own small loan networks or partner with these market places to give out small loans.
I would tread carefully though, with investing in this trend though, and start with an amount I don't mind losing to test the terrain.
Robo-advisors
Robo-advisors (robo-advisers) are digital platforms that provide automated, algorithm-driven financial planning services with little or no human supervision.
A typical robo-advisor collects information from you about your financial situation and future goals through an online survey, and then use the data to offer advice and/or automatically invest your assets
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/roboadvisor-roboadviser.asp#ixzz4hZ40yGHN