CFTE Newsletter 5th August – 12th August – CFTE Blog

Fintech Readings
Crowdsourcing AI Algorithms. Beautiful.
There’s a new kind of hedge fund on the market and its powered by AI. Numerai, based out of San Francisco, is on a mission to liberalise trading on Wall Street. It launched last year and aims to crowd source market movements.
The process: data scientists are given an encrypted financial data, they then analyse this data and produce models that best predict stock market movements. The data scientists that produce the winning models are rewarded with Bitcoin or cash.
Numerai’s business model is definitive of the disruption that the finance industry is undergoing. Utilising a new technology in an innovative way, in this case, using a platform model to crowd source the actual technology that executes the trade.
The caveat, the data scientists don’t even know its financial data! Genius… Click here to read full story
The Bank of PayPal 
Earlier this year, PayPal’s reported it’s lending to SME’s exceeded the 3bn mark and it has now completed its acquisition of Swift Financial, a lender to small businesses, for an undisclosed fee. We live in a data driven world, where machine-learning algorithms are producing new insights into consumer behavior. In addition to expanding its ability to make loans, this deal will enable PayPal to better leverage data by utilising Swifts technology and customer base. Smart move and we expect many more like it – the payment industry is ripe for consolidation…Read full story here
Winners and Losers of the Financial Meltdown 
It’s been 10 years since the global financial meltdown of 2007. A lot has changed. The crisis that engulfed finance opened the door for Fintech companies to offer more transparent and consumer friendly services. So exactly how has the industry fared since? Fnlondon.com paint the picture of the winners and the loser’s across a number of metrics. JPMorgan (thanks to some shrewd risk avoidance) and Goldman Sachs come out winners – they are also the two banks leading the way in Fintech adoption…Click here for all the stats
Beyond Fintech…
Productivity secrets from Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and more…
The average CEO works 58 hours a week, putting in 10 to 11 hours per day, plus an extra six hours on the weekend, according to Time. That’s 11 hours more than the average full-time worker. More time means the potential to get more done, but many enlist powerful productivity hacks to give them an edge. Here are nine secrets top CEO…Read full story here.
14 CEO’s on the most valuable jobs skills right now
There’s no shortage of career advice out there and everyone from your favorite self help gurus to your least favorite in-law thinks they’re an expert on the subject.
Good advice — useful, nuanced, and proven — is harder to come by. After all, it’s tough to suss out what employers value in their workforce, or their applicant pool, without asking them directly. So we decided to do just that. Below, 14 CEOs reveal the skill they’re most excited to see in an employee these days…Read the full article here.
Networking and Career Development for the Next Women Leaders
For women in leadership roles, managing and growing in your career is an ongoing process of professional, networking, and active engagement with the ever-evolving landscape of work. As technology and innovation transform the workplace, it’s more important than ever for women who aspire to take on leadership roles to be proactive about development…Read the full article here.