[alert type=yellow ]Every week at Tradestreaming, we’re tracking and analyzing the top trends impacting the finance industry. The following is a list of important things going on we think are worth paying attention to. For more in depth trendfollowing, subscribe to Tradestreaming’s newsletters .[/alert]
- Oscar Health raises $400m, said to be valued at $2.7b in Fidelity-led round (Bloomberg) Health insurance startup, Oscar Health was valued at $2.7 billion in the startup’s latest round of funding, according to a person familiar with the matter. That’s about $1 billion more than when the health insurer raised funds in September. In the latest round, the company said it took in $400 million from backers led by Fidelity Investments.
- Oops, Vanguard sent 71 account emails to wrong investor (TheStreet) The tweet by a Vanguard Group customer went out on the morning of Feb. 11. “Just got 77 e-mails from @Vanguard_Group detailing how much money people withdrew from their accounts along with names,” he wrote. “Yay security.” With the rising sophistication in hackers targeting global financial systems, it’s kind of disappointing to see such an established player like Vanguard making such rookie mistakes.
- Should roboadvisors be regulated like investment companies? (Michael Kitces) Ultimately, then, the question of whether robo-advisors are in violation of Rule 3a-4 really highlights a broader question of whether any investment adviser that heavily leverages technology to standardize their investment process is coming too dangerously close to mimicking an investment company.
- How Curve is changing the nature of physical credit cards (Tradestreaming) The way we use credit cards is changing and many of the solutions, like UK-based Curve, are hardware/software hybrids. But much of the technology-enabled change doesn’t require major changes from a user’s point of view.
- Jon Steinberg launches 'CNBC for Millennials', Cheddar (Business Insider) Jon Steinberg, former president of BuzzFeed and CEO of Daily Mail US, is launching a startup called Cheddar. Steinberg is focused on attracting a smaller, savvier audience — business-minded millennials. Cheddar will stream one to two hours of live content every day, primarily from the NYSE trading floor, and distribute them across the web on platforms like YouTube.