Welcome to the FPPad fintech briefing, Here are the top fintech stories you need to know today.
Links:
The Spectre of an Advertising Meltdown: What You Need to Know
https://www.lawfareblog.com/spectre-advertising-meltdown-what-you-need-know
uBlock Content Filtering
https://www.ublock.org/
Vanguard’s digital advice platform crosses $100B
https://www.financial-planning.com/news/vanguard-digital-advice-platform-hits-100-billion
Meltdown and Spectre Vulnerabilities
Have you updated your software lately? Security researchers worldwide are recommending that everyone install available software updates on computers and mobile devices in the wake of vulnerabilities called Meltdown and Spectre. The exploit allows malicious software to retrieve data from computer memory used by other programs, potentially exposing things like passwords, instant messages, bank account numbers and more. In addition to updating software, experts recommend installing open source content-filtering software like uBlock Origin in your internet browser to block malicious code.
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services Exceeds $100 billion AUM
In online investment news, Vanguard’s Personal Advisor Services crossed a milestone of $100 billion dollars in assets under management, becoming the first of the low-cost hybrid advice services to do so. While online investing startups have raised hundreds of millions in dollars in venture capital to tackle this market, established incumbents like Vanguard are having the most success in attracting assets to their digital platforms. Here’s Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein with his thoughts on Vanguard’s milestone.
“Vanguard has found a way to profitably bring hybrid human-robo advice to the market, and there is absolutely a need for better advice among smaller investors,” he adds. “The big realization most advisors have had is that Vanguard is serving a different market — one that will accept simpler, phone-based advice. It’s a rising tide that is lifting the advice boat and that’s a good thing for the industry.”
Reinvest 2017 Year-End Dividends in HSA Accounts
And do you or your clients have investments in you HSA accounts? if so, be sure to check with your HSA administrator to see what happened with dividends paid out at the end of 2017. Not all plans automatically reinvest dividends, so you may have to manually log in to your plan if you want the extra cash reinvested back into your HSA’s investment portfolio.
I’m Bill Winterberg, and those are your fintech headlines for today from FPPad.com, be sure to check back in with me later for more fintech news.
