Fintech Impact

In this 22th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host shares a recording of his presentation at the Wealth Professional Summit on Leadership and Technology that occurred on May 30th, 2018 in Toronto at The Westin Harbour Castle. Jason’s discussion covers a series of tech tools that are of use to financial planners and advisors. Show Notes:●     01:06: – Technology Tools for Practice Management and Efficiency is the name of Jason Pereira’s talk.●     01:42: – A trend in the FIntech space is Application Programing Interface (API) that allows systems to communication with each other like Facebook to Google.●     02:51: – Zapier focuses on creating APIs.●     03:50: – Canadian-based Hootsuite allows you to preprogram social media content and does his podcast for under $100 per episode.●     06:34: – ScheduleOnce allows people to see your availability for meetings and request a meeting and SalesForce.com for CRM and data platform.●     08:53: – Ring Central is a voice over internet protocol company that will allow you to have a standardized phone system but also allows you to call from your work number from anywhere.●     12:02: – Woodgate Financial at IPC Investment Corporation sends clients 4 things: 1.) Invoice, 2.) Access to a personal financial management platform 3.) Online Questionnaire 4.) Risk-assessment Question●     13:15: – Fathom is a reporting and visualization tool that produces stunning reports for business profitability.●     14:00: – Honest is a personal financial management platform that does data aggregation, relationship tracking, data vault, and secure communication channel.●     15:40: – Precise FP is an online questionnaire and is a FinaMetrica risk-tolerance questionnaire.●     18:15: – Finally Technology is a company Jason and his partner launched to solved Fintech Technology problems, including a CRA data-scraping tools for SalesForce.●     21:44: – Jason created an Insurance Needs Assessment Tools spreadsheet.●     24:41: – Last Pass is a password management system to place all your passwords in a digital locker.●     27:19: – Google Authenticator is is a software token that implements two-step verification options.●     28:29: – Slack is for collaboration and SalesForce chat for chatting through SalesForce.com.●     31:00: – The future of financial planning is letting AI handle client data points and focus on human relationships and needs.●     35:34: – Where are you feeling pain?3 Key Points:1. Ring Central is a voice over internet protocol company that will allow you to have a standardized phone system but also allows you to call from your work number from anywhere.2. Woodgate Financial at IPC Investment Corporation sends clients 4 things: 1.) Invoice, 2.) Access to a financial management platform 3.) Online Questionnaire 4.) Risk-assessment Question.3. Fintech Technology problems, including a CRA data-scraping tools for SalesForce.Tweetable Quotes:-   “So you know how we talk about goals-based planning in this industry? Guess what, we can actually have goals-based reporting for the first time.” – Jason Pereira.-   “The invoice I send them (clients), it’s actually done through our accounting system Zero. Zero is a cloud-based accounting system, that frankly is a million times better than anything I have ever used before.”– Jason Pereira.-   “The reality is that data rights are one of the biggest contentious issues in the world right now.”– Jason Pereira.Resources Mentioned:● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● https://www.finally.technology/ – Website for Finally Technology Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the 21st episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira interviews Othalia Doe-Bruce, the Public Relations Officer for One Ledger, that creates an API level so that blockchains can communicate with each other. The discussion revolves around what One Ledger has to offer, how it is being funded, and the Blockchain Hub education group. ●     01:24: – One Ledger technology is trying to resolve the issues related to blockchains not being able to communicate with one another.●     02:29: – Othalia has been working in the investment management field for over a decade and became interested in blockchain and Bitcoin.●     03:22: – One Ledger was founded by David Cao, an engineer architect from China.●     04:06: – The benefit of interoperability between blockchain networks is being able to pick and choose between the different features that each may have.●     08:25: – Polymath is a partner of One Ledger and one of the biggest VCs in Asia has already invested in the company.●     12:11: – One Ledger isn’t currently monetizing, but it plans to do so in the future.●     13:25: – One Ledger is planning to do an ICO and have already begun preselling and will offer the ICO publically in the near future.●     16:30: – They are targeting B2B and clients that can help them monetize the platform after the ICO.●     18:27: – The challenge for One Ledger has been finding blockchain developer talent.●     19:41: – Blockchain Hub at York University provides a plethora of adaptive courses to meet the current needs of the industry.●     22:44: – One of the most prominent consulting groups for blockchain in the United States is students at Berkley.3 Key Points:1. Polymath is a partner of One Ledger and one of the biggest VCs in Asia has already invested in the company.2. One Ledger will be a decentralized platform, and essentially, it will belong to the token holders and the community.3. One Ledger is targeting B2Band clients that can help them monetize the platform after the ICO.Tweetable Quotes:-   “For One Ledger, we have…as a partner Polymath, another type of blockchain platform. And what Polymath is trying to do is facilitate the issuing of securitized tokens.” – Othalia Doe-Bruce-   “The beauty of block chain is that it is a decentralized platform, right, so One Ledger will be a decentralized platform, and essentially, it will belong to the token holders and the community.” – Othalia Doe-Bruce-   “Blockchain Hub is a non-profit organization affiliated with York University, and that’s primarily education and then research and commercialization of blockchain start-ups.” – Othalia Doe-Bruce.Resources Mentioned:● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Twitter – Twitter for Othalia Doe-Bruce● One Ledger – Website for One Ledger Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 20th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, Jason Pereira is actually the one getting interviewed this time by his colleague, financial advisor Guy Anderson. The goal will be to identify and define the acronyms, nomenclature, and tech speak that is typically used in Fintech Impact, and in the industry at large. Consider this Fintech 101. ●02:38 – API: stands for application protocol interface. APIs are rules or a language that a company puts out there for something else to talk to its programs.●05:10 – AWS: stands for Amazon Web Services for cloud computing. Companies that use AWS include: Netflix, and Dropbox.●08:37 – GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, a series of data regulations and digital rights established by the European Union. ●17:36 – Whatever you put online, consider there forever. Stupid things posted in the past could prevent you from getting certain jobs in the future.●18:02 – Platforms: technological systems that allows other people to build other functions over top of it.●20:31 – Narrow AI is artificial intelligence that essentially focuses on one task, like Apple Siri. Machine learning is throwing a ton of data at a computer system for it to mine and look for patterns of recognition that the human mind can’t recognize—teaching itself to learn as new data comes in.●27:00 – Blockchain: the underlying architecture and code of every cryptocurrency that exists, creating a timestamp and transaction data that is resistant to modification of the data, and is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties.●34:11 – Cryptocurrency transactions aren’t instantaneous but they are ultra-fast compared to bank transactions: which are “controlled ledgers.”●34:49 – So much of the financial system before cryptocurrency has been based on trust.●35:50 – You have to convert money into cryptocurrency coins, transfer those coins to who you are doing your transaction with, and then they convert it back to money again.●37:36 – You can send money anonymously from other users with cryptocurrency anywhere in the world because they are sent to private keys, and there are also public keys.●37:50 – People can create their own cryptocurrencies relatively easily.●42:20 – Bitcoin has implications for impacting anti-money laundering. 3 Key Points:1. API: stands for application protocol interface. APIs are rules or a language   that a company puts out there for something else to talk to its programs.2.You have to convert money into cryptocurrency coins, transfer those coins   to who you are doing your transaction with, and then they convert it back tomoney again.3.You can send money anonymously with cryptocurrency   anywhere in the world because they are sent to private keys, and there are   also public keys.Podcasts that explain Crypto & Blockchainhttps://tim.blog/2017/06/04/nick-szabo/http://investorfieldguide.com/hashpower/ Tweetable Quotes:-“APIs allow integration across different modules.” – Jason Pereira.-“I think I once saw a survey that something between 40-60% of all cloud services offered on the internet are offered through AWS .” – Jason Pereira.-“Europe typically looks at it (technology) from a consumer-first standpoint. As opposed to the North American attitude of looking at it from a business-first standpoint.” – Jason Pereira. Resources Mentioned:●LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn●Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook●Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the 19th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, and Jason Pereira interviews Eric Arnold, the Chief Executive Officer at Planswell, an online financial planning software platform that is really targeted at individual consumers, helping customers implement their financial self-planning. Eric shares how Planswell was started, its capabilities, and ways in which it continues to expand.●     01:36 – Eric began his career starting many businesses including tea at shopping      malls, driveway sealing, independent music distribution, children’s birthday parties, and window cleaning.●     03:11 – Eric and his wife moved to Toronto from Aurora for her to attend the University of Toronto and he took on a job as an investment advisor at Wood Gundy.●     06:14 – In 2016, investor dollars went into building up Planswell and have since made over 30,000 financial plans for people—about 20,000 in the last six months.●     07:12 – The client experience begins with clients hearing about Planswell from ad campaigns or referrals, going through about 40 questions in 3 or 4 minutes, and they are then walked through their strategy plan.●     10:56 – The 3 Pillars to Implementing a Plan: Acclimation of investments, Insurance, and Mortgages.●     12:00 – Planswell Portfolios is a stand-online PM, a no-call a robo advisor license.●     12:45 – On the insurance side, Planswell is a fully licensed insurance brokerage essentially, it’s called an MGA in the industry, which is the highest relationship that you can have with insurance manufacturers●     17:06 – A lot of the plans Planswell have implemented were before they were even onboarding.●     20:13 – Currently, Planswell has about 50 team members, doubled from last year, and next year the staff should increase to between 100-150.●     20:56 – Over 25% of the potential investors Planswell has pitched to have invested.●     25:20 – The general feedback from the financial advisor community is that many are uneasy about their futures.●     26:50 – The demographics of Planswell skew a little older and coming from high net-worth brokerage and homeowners. The average client age is 40 years.●     29:46 – About 5% of advisors are actually making plans for clients.●     32:12 – Everyone is on a salary and receive performance incentives to get them excited about onboarding clients effectively and efficiently.3 Key Points:1. Planswell has since made over 30,000 financial plans for people—about 20,000 in the last six months.2. The client experience starts with clients hearing about Planswell from ad campaigns or referrals, going through about 40 questions in 3 or 4 minutes, and they are then walked through their strategy plan.3.The 3 Pillars to Implementing a Plan: Acclimation of investments, Insurance, and Mortgages.Tweetable Quotes:-     “Planswell is a way to figure out what you need to do on a monthly basis to maintain your lifestyle into the future.” – Eric Arnold.-     “We are like a fully licensed insurance brokerage essentially, it’s called..an MGA in the industry, which is…the highest relationship that you can have with insurance manufacturers. – Eric Arnold.-     “We definitely see a future where there are probably still a lot of advisors. I don’t see a future where top advisors are making $3 or 4 million a year, I don’t think the financial institutions thinks that either.” – Eric Arnold. Resources Mentioned:● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial● LinkedIn – Eric Arnold’s LinkedIn● Planswell – Website for Planswell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the 18th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, and Jason Pereira interviews Anthony Stich, the Chief Operating Officer of Advicent, the largest provider of financial software in the world. Anthony shares information reguarding Advicent’s product line which includes NaviPlan, the power of their advancements and influence, and the ways in which they are able to service their clients. ●  01:06 – Advicent is the financial software developer that created NaviPlan. They                    are in seven countries and on four continents. They also have client portals, advisor dashboard, and API technology.●     01:31 – They have about 100 enterprise clients, about 60 of which are blue chip clients, and service about 100,000 users.●     02:03 – Advicent’s roots trace back to 1969 by Gus Hansch, a CFP referred to as “The Father of Financial Planning.”●     03:18 – Anthony Stich began with Advicent, which is a name comprised of advice + enterprise, four years ago, and his career began in marketing first.●     04:25 – NaviPlan, by user counts, and adoption rates, is the biggest financial planning software in the world with a cash flow first priority.●     06:56 – NaviPlan’s average enterprise contract length is between 10-12 years.●     10:30 – NaviPlan is highly customizable thanks to building their portal on top of                    APIs.●     14:08 – Figlo is Advicent’s European tool, available in five countries, with an office in Rotterdam outside of Amsterdam. Figlo used the APIs first.●     15:51 – Adviser Briefcase is their marketing and communication engine that has about 700 documents that have been reviewed by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority).●     17:01 – As far as integration, Advicent is enterprise-first with back offices with all the core processors of the top five custodians.●     23:35 – Advicent has about 300 team members, most are in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the Fintech capital of the world. There are also members in Toronto, Winnipeg, about 50 in Rotterdam, and scattered throughout the United States.●     30:36 – The mission state at Advicent is to enable everyone to understand and impact their financial future, and it is about the end client.  3 Key Points:1. Advicent has about 100 enterprise clients, about 60 of which are blue chip   clients, and service about 100,000 users.2. NaviPlan’s average enterprise contract length is between 10-12 years.3. Advicent has about 300 team members, most are in Milwaukee Wisconsin,   the Fintech capital of the world, the rest in here are also members in Toronto,   Winnipeg, Rotterdam, and throughout the United States. Tweetable Quotes:-   “We’ve built a portal on top of APIs. What we’ve done is decoupled the user experience from those engines itself. And by doing so, we’re allowing larger enterprises and institutions the ability to use that API within their ecosystem.” – Anthony Stich.-    “We’ve given them the keys to the kingdom. We have unlocked the powerful calculations of NaviPlan, and allowed people to access them and put them wherever they so choose” – Anthony Stich.-    “Not only are we thought leaders in consulting our partners through these regulatory challenges, we are also developing in advance.” – Anthony Stich. Resources Mentioned:● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial● LinkedIn – Anthony Stich’s LinkedIn● Advicent – Website for Advicent Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This 17th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira interviews Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf, Founder and CEO at Flinks, a Canadian-based data aggregation software company that pulls data from various financial institutions, allowing third parties to use that data. Over the course of the discussion, Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf explains how Flinks began, what products they are offering, and how the data aggregation world is taking shape.●     01:02: – Flinks began about 16 months ago in Montreal, connecting software with financial institutions as a data mover.●     01:37: – Before Flinks, Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf was a tech consultant for lending companies, working on origination automation.●     05:30: – One of the products that Flinks is launching is called Behavioral Score, analyzing consumers transactional behavior with their consent, and providing risk assessment scores—think of it as Credit Score 2.0.●     07:38: – Flinks doesn’t have any plans to use identifiable data for now, focusing more on the behaviors of the data of the end users.●     12:16: – Flinks doesn’t currently work with that many start-ups or financial institutions. The average clients are Canadian software companies with between 30-150 employees, and they service a total of about 8 different market segments.●     14:46: – They have experienced a lot of openness from financial institutions, but there is often a lack of communication and plan direction within institutions.●     18:28: – Two major recent events helped change regulators’ perceptions financial aggregation or financial data access: 1.) Composition Report Borough in December 2017 stating regulators should more openly except financial aggregators.2.) The mention of open banking in the financial budget.●     21:30: – As of now, Flinks is self-funded, with about a million dollars raised from friends and family to maintain control.●     22:14 – Flinks was incorporated in December 2016 and generated its first revenue in May 2017.●     23:02: –They have grown from three founders to a team of 27 people and have put a lot of effort in developing company culture and core values.●     24:46 – They aren’t planning a consumer portal but will have online forms and it will be a B2B product.●     25:25 – Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf is excited about the opportunities that the industry is making available.3 Key Points:1. Flinks is launching a Behavioral Score, analyzing consumers transactional behavior with their consent, and providing risk assessment scores—think of it as Credit Score 2.0.2. The average Flinks clients are Canadian software companies with between 30-150 employees, and they service a total of about 8 different market segments.3. Flinks is self-funded, with about a million dollars raised from friends and family to maintain control.Tweetable Quotes:-   “I think what we can say about the Canadian market is that, because we have a small amount of financial institutions covering a high percentage of the population, it makes us basically work a lot on the quality side and the speed of the data.” – Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf.-   “The average Canadian has like about three different banks accounts from three different institutions.” – Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf.-   “Some financial institutions basically use aggregators but at the same time put in their terms and conditions that you should not share your information.” – Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf.Resources Mentioned:● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf – LinkedIn for Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf● Flinks – Website for Flinks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the 16th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, and Jason Pereira interviews Peter Demangos, the Co-Founder of Collage, a human resources benefits technology platform that works in tandem with broker partners. Peter explains how Collage was created, the ways in which it is pushing technology in the financial advisement and human resources spaces, forward, and the ways they plan to scale.●     01:06 – Collage aims to assist mid-sized companies in Canada with 200 employees or less, but the average tends to be 20-100 employees.●     02:28 – Peter’s original passion began with health and wellness at the corporate level that led him to the benefits space.●     03:18 – PDF Employee Benefits that focuses on health and dental is a company that Peter started and which he still runs today.●     08:09 – Collage works with all of the insurance companies across Canada.●     11:21 – The Collage team has been complimentary with each partner bringing vital skills to the table. Fund-raising, hiring and figuring out the right process were extensive and intensive procedures.●     15:11 – The reaction from advisors in the benefits space was a lot of questions, but also a lot of support.●     23:39 – Collage is between 30-35 employees now, with their headquarters in Toronto and a support and sales team in Montreal.●     25:50 – There are about 20,000 employees on the platform, the average customer is around 40-50 employees.●     26:41 – The more noise in the space is bitter-sweet. Customers realize they need to take action and competitors add clutter for customers to sift through.●     28:10 – Peter is excited about advisors that don’t add value phasing out and seeing the ample opportunities to assist the strong and committed advisors.3 Key Points:1. Collage solves all of the HR, payroll, benefit, and administrative related tasks for small to id-sized businesses.2. Collage is between 30-35 employees now, with their headquarters in Toronto and a support and sales team in Montreal.3. There are about 20,000 employees on the platform, the average customer is around 40-50 employees.Tweetable Quotes:-     “Collage is an all-in-one HR platform built specifically for the mid-sized market in         Canada. For us, mid-sized means 200 employees and below.” – Peter Demangos.-     “The reality is the more noise breaks the feeling of customers, now they recognize      that they need to do something about their HR. ” – Peter Demangos.-     “I’m very proud of the advisory space that we have in Canada, and the relationships       and the trust that exists between clients and the advisor.” – Peter Demangos.Resources Mentioned:● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial● LinkedIn – Peter Demangos’s LinkedIn page● Collage – Website for Collage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the 15th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira interviews Pauline Shum Nolan, the Co-Founder and CEO of Wealthscope, an online tool for accessing portfolios. Pauline shares the creation and opportunities available with Wealthscope, which digs beyond performance, into various parameters like factor-based investing, fees, and long-term projections of income.●  01:09: – Wealthscope is a web application, looking to “open the black box in retail wealth management.”●     02:18: – Pauline began as a professor of finance for the last 25 years, and worked with the university penchant plan for the last 14 years the on the institutional side.●     04:40: – Wealthscope has a free B2C version for students, and investors, but will launch a premium version for investors that are willing to pay for more customized opinions through a subscription.●     08:01: – Wealthscope built in analytics for proof of concept which allowed them to raise some pre-seed money for an in-house IT team. Downside protection is a big focus.●     09:06: – Wealthscope has a proprietary portfolio scorecard that rates and grades risk-adjusted performance, downside protection, income, fees, and diversification including exposures. ●     12:15: – They are crafting the accumulation phase for retirement planning and are working on the drawdown phase.●     13:52: – As far as grading for fees, if you are paying 2.5%, you are getting a poor mark.●     16:06: – They use supervised machine learning with about 25 asset classes for Canada, and build different portfolios factoring in human capital.●     21:06: – Data sources that Wealthscope is drawing from include: subscriptions to Exchange Traded Securities and Morningstar, and the use of a risk- tolerance survey.●     26:03: – Wealthscope is currently a team of 10, including Pauline’s two business partners—one being an angel investor.●     28:30: – It is important for investors to understand what is driving the risk.3 Key Points:1. Wealthscope has a proprietary portfolio scorecard that rates and grades along five dimensions: risk-adjusted performance, downside protection, income, fees, and diversification including exposures. 2. They use supervised machine learning with about 25 asset classes for   Canada, and build different portfolios factoring in human capital.3. It is important for investors to understand what is driving the risk.Tweetable Quotes:-   “At Wealthscope, we’ve launched the beta of the B2C version, which is free.” – Pauline Shum Nolan.-   “You (Wealthscope) are the first true second opinion service I’ve seen that is completely objective, as you are not tied to product in any way. That within itself is something that has been sorely mission from the marketplace.” – Jason Pereira.-   “Risk management over the long-term is a lot easier, and a lot more important as returns.” – Pauline Shum Nolan.Resources Mentioned:● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn● Pauline Shum Nolan – LinkedIn for Pauline Shum Nolan● Wealthscope – Website for Wealthscope Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the 14th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, interviews Paolo Sironi, Fintech thought leader and author who currently works at IBM Watson Financial Services at the IBM Industry Academy. Paolo shares information that he has gained about our relationship with money, how it is changing, and the ways in which Fintech plays a role in that relationship.●01:06: – Paolo Sironi is Italian, splitting his time between Frankfort Germany and Milan Italy.●01:19 – Through his role at the IBM Watson Financial Services at the IBM Industry Academy, he works with a 100-person team worldwide that engaged in conversations with the Fintech industries.●03:35 – Paolo began his career in banking as the head of quantitative business management for financial institutions for about 15 years, then moved to Germany in 2008 pushing towards Fintech, and in 2012 IBM brought his Fintech and brought him into their fold.●10:00 – The global financial crisis demonstrated to a lot of investors that the regulators have to toughen the rules so that more value is transferred to the investors.●12:56 – Companies have the opportunity to revise their business model from transaction volumes to services with added value for the clients where the relationship is more valuable than the experience.●16:09 – Silicon Valley missed the ball when it has come to Fintech because they approach it with the same psychology that makes customers purchase through Amazon.com, and they think this equally applies to financial and insurance products.●22:22 – Paying is more engaging than posting pictures because it is something we all have to do. ●29:27 – IBM uses the phrase “cognitive” instead of “artificial intelligence” when referring to A.I.●33:31 – What clients buy from financial advisors is not performance or risk, the client pays for the comfort of making a financial decision. That’s why they need a conversation, which builds trust.●38:02 – WeChat, a multi-purpose Chinese social network got a license this year to sell investment funds directly.●39:29 – Disruptive innovation is when an industry is saturated and customers don’t understand the value proposition any longer—and someone comes along offering a cheaper and/or simpler to use solution. While sustaining innovation is offering an improved version of your product.●48:37 – With the goal of retirement, you have to make many decisions before: saving, investing, insuring, lending, and donating.●50:40 – The next global financial crisis may be triggered by retirement because our retirement system is very imbalanced everywhere. Investing will need to start earlier.●52:07 – Paolo Sironi has written several financial technology books: “FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal Based Investing and Gamification,” “Modern Portfolio Management: From Markowitz to Probabilistic Scenario Optimization,” and “MiFID II: Value-Generation for Investors.”3 Key Points:1.The United States is where technology was born. Europe focuses on regulation. China concentrates on the business model.2.Digital is a “pull” technology because it is demand-driven and investing and insurance is a “push” technology because it is offer driven.3.Disruptive innovation is when an industry is saturated and customers don’t understand the value proposition any longer—and someone comes along offering a cheaper and/or simpler to use solution. Sustaining innovation is offering an improved version of your product.Tweetable Quotes:-“In the U.S., in particular, technology was born, and still this is the case largely speaking. Europe likes regulation which is important. China is the business model.” –Paolo Sironi.-“This industry has to change from a transaction mechanism where you make money by selling products which have an embedded commission or fee, into packaging those products into something which is called advice that the clients are willing to pay for transparently.” –Paolo Sironi.-“The cost can bite your sandwich, while the risk can eat your lunch.” –Paolo Sironi.Resources Mentioned:●Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook●LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn●Paolo Sironi– LinkedIn for Paolo Sironi●Website – Website for Paolo Sironi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the 13th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira interviews David Katz, the Executive Vice President of Benecaid, a traditional health benefits platform where he runs a separate division called Honeybee their digital platform for their delivery of benefit solutions for advisors, underwriters, lawyers, and end-to-end users. David shares his journey to the creating of Honeybee, how it has progressed, and the industry problems that it is addressing.●     01:31 – Honeybee is designed to allow employers to set up benefits account for their employees, health and allowance accounts, and the employees can use those account to personalize their benefits.●     01:54 – David started his career as a lawyer practicing corporate commercial law for a little over four years.●     05:39 – He really enjoyed the marketing and customer acquisition side.●     06:01 – David focused on building an online community with Porfolios.com or professional commercial artists for advertising projects—with over 80,000 creatives on the platform. ●     10:41 – People using learn about benefits once you get your first job.●     12:52 – When he looked at Honeybee the focus was on the problems that they have to solve: rising cost of benefits, multigenerational problem, lack of perceived value of these plans, and an employer’s culture.●     17:17 – Companies can get to Honeybee a number of ways, but it starts with the advisor, who can have Honeybee on a tablet, do a video conference, or just send a link to a client who can self-serve.●     17:47 – Employers provide some information about size and demographics of their company, match them with products, have them configure their group into “hives,” the employer sets up a health account, pick or not pick a dental plan, decide if you will add more for family, and funding for each hive.●     26:32 – Bundling has made things easier for Honeybee.●     29:03 – Allowance categories adds benefits for items such as kids, fitness and pets.●     33:48 – Their offer network which gets create by the employee works similar to affiliate marketing networks. ●     35:39 – Honeybee has a per employee per month fee for the company from about $12.50-$20 with a portion of that going to the advisor.●     38:34 – Honeybee wasn’t funding through bootstrapping for through VCs.●     41:22 – Obstacles have stemmed around product, coming from the carriers.●     44:31 – David Katz is excited that they can integrate with every form of business productivity software.3 Key Points:1. Honeybee focused on the problems that they have to solve: rising cost of benefits, multigenerational problem, lack of perceived value of these plans, and an employer’s culture.2. Data sharing is a huge component of where Honeybee is going, but in a measured way.3. The steps for Honeybee set-up include: employers provide some information about size and demographics of their company, match them with products, have them configure their group into “hives,” the employer sets up a health account, pick or not pick a dental plan, decide if you will add more for family, and funding for each hive.Tweetable Quotes:-   “Honeybee is designed to allow employers to set up benefits account for their employees, health and allowance accounts, and the employees can use those account to personalize their benefits.” –David Katz.-   “You really have to think hard about distribution, and really understand what sells online, what transacts offline, and where the different value points are.” – David Katz.-   “Nothing gets on our platform if it doesn’t help the employer.” – David Katz.Resources Mentioned:·        Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook·        LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn·        Honeybee – Website for Honeybee Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.