INVESTING AND THE FUTURE

What is investing?

The Bible tell us a great story of what is investing in Matthew 25. Three servants are given 5, 2 and 1 talent respectively by their master, who is leaving for a certain period of time. Soon after he left, the first two servants start to put their money to work and they gain their capital back - a 100% return! The third servant, instead, digs a hole in the ground and buries his talent. We all know the ending: when the master went back he praised the two faithful servants and award them more things, but he scolded the third one, calling him lazy.



I believe investing is putting hard work, time, dedication, focus and energy to build something that will have value in the future. So if a man wants to invest in something he has to be willing to work hard and to trust in the future. He cannot be like the unfaithful servant, who was lazy - unwilling to work hard - and fearful - unwilling to put trust in the future.

I want to be a faithful servant.

WHAT WILL LOOK LIKE BANK INDUSTRY IN THE FUTURE?

Few days ago the former CEO of Barclay's, one of the largest bank in the UK, said that the fate of today bank industry is already written. The technology will very likely disrupt the way banks make profits (lending, wealth management, payments) as more and more financial technology startups will arise.





One main reason of the proliferation on fin.tech is the relative low cost to set up a software startup. A report by CB Insight estimates it can be as low as $ 5,000.
Customers want to spend less for services they see mundane and with little cost, like payments. On the other hand they want highly sophisticated financial advises, but they are better informed about the choices on the market.

Today traditional banks, either national or global ones, offer a vast array of financial services, from mortgage to personal insurance and credit default swaps. Startups are trying to offer the same services for less than a bank can do.

The real difference right now lies in the reputation and customer base big banks and fintech have. Once customers will learn about cheaper and easier bank operators, a Uber-style revolution will unfold.

WILL LAWYERS BE REPLACED BY COMPUTERS?

I already knew Richard Susskind, a lawyer and technology thinker on future change on legal profession, so I wasn't surprised to find an article on The Times of Israel.

He basically argues that the legal profession is going to face a technological change in the next future thank to improved capability by computers to process legal issues and deliver advices. After all, giving advices is what law firm are about, isn't it?

The fact is how we need to come to such landscape? Is computer-generated-advices an inevitable future?



Surely there is a trend to more and more processes become streamlined. Every time an act is been performed and repeated, the intelligent lawyer can design a set of rules and procedures to make it a "commodity" process. That trend lead to a competition at the bottom of the law profession pyramid, where mundane tasks can be delegated to outsourced firm or - that's Susskind's point - to computer programs.

Another way law is going through change is in the structure of law firms. It has long been stated that firms cannot raise money from the public. The subdued principle is that the subsequent duty to shareholders could be in conflict with lawyer's primary duty of loyalty to clients. But, now even this barrier has been overcome, having Australia allowed since 2007 law firms to be listed in the stock market.

I think the legal profession will keep to have a strong link to reputation, knowledgeable and trusted professionals. I don't think giving non-lawyers financial stakes can improve quality and efficiency. It might increase the chance of ethical conflicts and distress.

On the other hand, I believe technological improvement can arise for legal professions. Software that can read documents and find legal flaws, algorithm to design a strategy or a array of them, research tools. I am eager to see what will come.