An important moment for FinTech
World in Motion – Global equities blog

An important moment for FinTech

Marketing for the new Apple card in the US seems to have ramped up, as there appears to be a lot more advertising on Twitter. With this level of marketing activity is it a concern for our positions in Visa and Mastercard? We are considering this, and coming in the same week as Visa paid $5.3 billion for fintech firm Plaid1, it’s always worth running through the investment case for the card networks and trying to get a feel for the size of their competitive “moat”.

A couple of recent pieces on the tech website Stratechery do a great job of explaining just how powerful the network effect of Visa and Mastercard are, how they have evolved differently from the payment systems in China and why they’re likely to co-exist going forward. As our payments analyst Chris Vandergrift has explained to our global equities team, the Plaid deal could be a really important moment for fintech in general, as access to underlying account information will be safely accessible by third parties via APIs. The commoditisation of banks, in our view, is going to keep on keeping on.

News bytes

An inspiring read this week was the 2019 letter from technology research analyst Dan Wang. He talks about a saying in California that “knowledge travels at the speed of beer”. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but we certainly like to share ideas quickly, not least with our colleagues in Boston, New York, Portland and Singapore.

The best news I have heard so far in 2020? Former colleague Scott Meech – a great man and a great investor – is in remission from cancer. It turns out that he was treated with a drug by Genmab, the Danish biotech, in which he is a long-term investor. On the global equities desk we do not have a position in the company, but I hope to not have to test my investments to a similar degree.

Finally, if we needed a further reminder as to the impact of climate change, the bush fires in Australia have impacted our friend and colleague Glen Giddings. So a big shout out to him and his family. ESG is definitely the key theme for the 2020s.

1 January 2020
David Dudding
David Dudding
Portfolio Manager, Global Equities
Share article
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on email
Apple web badge
Spotify web badge
Listen on Stitcher badge
January 2020
Share article
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on email

1 Visa To Acquire Plaid, visa.com, 31/1/2020

For use by Professional and/or Qualified Investors only (not to be used with or passed on to retail clients). The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested. Your capital is at Risk. The mention of any specific shares or bonds should not be taken as a recommendation to deal.
This information is not investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Investors should consult with their own professional advisors for advice on any investment, legal, tax, or accounting issues relating an investment with Columbia Threadneedle Investments. The analysis included in this document have not been prepared in accordance with the legal requirements designed to promote its independence and have been produced by Columbia Threadneedle Investments for its own investment management activities, may have been acted upon prior to publication and is made available here incidentally. Any opinions expressed are made as at the date of publication but are subject to change without notice and should not be seen as investment advice. Information obtained from external sources is believed to be reliable but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. This information includes forward looking statements, including projections of future economic and financial conditions. None of Columbia Threadneedle Investments, its directors, officers or employees make any representation, warranty, guaranty, or other assurance that any of these forward looking statements will prove to be accurate. (Include if use logos) All intellectual property rights in the brands and logos set out in this slide are reserved by respective owners.
Issued by Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. Registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 573204, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom. Authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies. columbiathreadneedle.com

Related Blog Posts

22 March 2024

Japan: we’re more convinced than ever

Investors are increasingly turning their attention to Japan. We spent two weeks there and met dozens of companies. But which businesses look best placed?
29 February 2024

Unknown pleasures: A new era for equity investors #3

Portfolio positioning
28 February 2024

Unknown pleasures: A new era for equity investors #2

The shape of the new economy – from inflation and growth to government debt and equity valuations.

You may also like

Investment approach

Teamwork defines us and is fundamental to our investment approach, which is structured to facilitate the generation, assessment and implementation of good, strong investment ideas for our portfolios.

Funds and Prices

Columbia Threadneedle Investments has a comprehensive range of investment funds catering for a broad range of objectives.

Investment Capabilities

Teamwork defines us and is fundamental to our investment approach, which is structured to facilitate the generation, assessment and implementation of good, strong investment ideas for our portfolios.