Smart legal contracts are legally binding contracts converted into computer code governing interactions between counterparts and other stakeholders. Consequences decided upon by the contractors will be self-executing when the defined conditions are fulfilled. This innovation will greatly improve business operations for example, large banks face between €4-5Billion in regulation and compliance related fees annually and smart legal contracts will drastically reduce this burden.

 Benefits

The smart legal contracts will remove the need for a third party to implement the contracted obligations, which will significantly reduce contractual costs. Alongside of that, the smart legal contracts will provide legal certainty for the parties as the language of code does not allow scope for ambiguity regarding interpretation of the terms. This will have added benefit to international contracts with variation of meanings in different languages, they will now be described in a computer language code instead.

Moreover, smart legal contracts reduce costs and risks by eliminating paper-based processes, enabling complete automation of many business functions. Regarding regulation and compliance, Smart legal contracts will also allow regulations to be incorporated into the computer code along with the contractual agreements to ensure compliance. Smart legal contracts can also integrate production instructions to drive, for example, 3D printers, creating a single computer protocol that governs a production process, compliant with the contract and regulation. 

                     kmc@finscoms.com

                       +353 1295 3844

Thomas Schumann Capital is the sponsor of Water Risk Index, world’s first benchmark index to price financial water risk in securities and Water Security Fund, world’s first fund to pursue UN Sustainable Development Goal #6. TSC serves 7 billion humans and $145 Trillion in global assets under management by 2025 through advancing a water-secure world. Today’s investors aren’t just focused on profit, they want impact too. TSC’s investment products aim to capture and protect alpha, reduce volatility, create long-term capital appreciation, and social and environmental returns.

As disposable income rises among many emerging and established economies worldwide, increasing numbers of individuals are exploring investment in funds to prolong the life of their hard-earned wealth. Therefore, service providers and fund managers are having to work even harder to provide their clients with the services they need and ensure that they remain competitive in this booming market. At Wealth & Finance International, we firmly believe that these firms, and the individuals driving them, should be recognised and rewarded for their hard work and diligence.

To learn more about the deserving award winners and to gain insight into the working practices of the “best of the best”, please visit the Wealth & Finance website where you can access the winners supplement.

For more information about the fund please click here

About Wealth & Finance International

Wealth & Finance International is a monthly publication dedicated to delivering high quality informative and up-to-the-minute global business content. It is published by AI Global Media Ltd, a publishing house that has reinvigorated corporate finance news and reporting. Developed by a highly skilled team of writers, editors, business insiders and regional industry experts, Wealth & Finance International reports from every corner of the globe to give readers the inside track on the need-to-know news and issues affecting banking, finance, regulation, risk and wealth management in their region. www.wealthandfinance-news.com

About Thomas Schumann Capital

Thomas Schumann Capital (“TSC”) provides financial products and services to public, private and philanthropic capital to advance a water-secure world. TSC embraces social and environmental impact and responsibility, and financial outperformance. Thomas Schumann is a global thought leader and expert in the water and water investment space, specifically relating to water risk and water security. TSC is sponsor of Water Risk Index and Water Security Fund both of which operate in global equity markets. TSC also provides investors with access to proprietary, private water investment opportunities including water technology, wastewater and water infrastructure deals.

www.thomasschumann.com

If you are interested in getting involved please contact us

Ken Carmody

mkt@finscoms.com

+353 1295 3844

Finscoms takes a look at the US real estate outlook fundamentals with a focus on the Office and Retail market. Both markets remain bright despite cloudy forecasts in other real estate sub sectors. The key in these markets is often agility. Can you find a nimble and dynamic investment?

Office Market

Improving U.S. office market fundamentals should continue in 2019, but perhaps at a reduced pace due to higher completions and also the tight labour market’s impact on tenant demand. Older buildings that lack the amenities favoured by a modern workforce and the infrastructure to handle evolving technologies will most likely struggle, mostly in markets where large volumes of high-quality product are being provided. Adding to this, suburban submarkets that offer an array of housing choices coupled with urban amenities (retail and restaurant options, public transit and walkability) are well positioned to capture demand from the maturing millennials.

Improved business confidence in 2018 should support continued office-using employment growth in 2019. Unemployment will likely remain low next year.

The tech sector is set to remain the top occupier. This sector has been accountable for nearly 20% of major office leasing activity in recent years. In primary tech markets like the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, as well as emerging, lower-cost tech hubs like Charlotte and Phoenix, it should remain a principal demand driver in 2019. The tech sector is growing at about twice the rate of overall job growth, despite having slowed during the past few years. Several lagging sectors have boosted their shares of office leasing activity in 2018. This is a positive indicator of demand coming from a wider range of industries. Specifically, prospects for reduced financial industry regulation and oil price stabilization have fuelled optimism in the financial services and energy sectors, and markets with concentrations of these industries, such as New York and Houston, should benefit.

The consumer trend toward off-price and discount retail will most likely continue in 2019, with mid-range retailers seeking new ways to limit share losses to lower-priced players. Since the 2008 recession, greater consumer access to lower-priced goods has shifted consumer spending among all age groups toward lower-priced options.

This is especially the case in key soft-goods categories like apparel and with the expansion of key discount and value retail brands. This has placed significant pricing pressures on retailers in the mid-price range, who struggle to compete with the quality and brand cachet of luxury brands and the value offered by low-price players. In 2019, it is anticipated many of these mid-range brands will focus on lower prices and discounting in a bid to retain customer share and adapt to new price expectations of consumers.

Strong rent growth is expected for some non-gateway markets like Atlanta, Houston, Nashville and Denver. These should see rent growth of at least 2.5% over the next five years, as demand outpaces supply. Successful redevelopment in the urban core and a rise in mixed-use projects in the suburbs, together with strong employment and population growth, make these markets especially attractive to investors. Major gateway markets like Washington, D.C. and Chicago, where demographic and demand growth are steady but less robust, are expected to see rents grow, but at a more moderate pace.

Finscoms is helping the investment community. For more about our client in the Real Estate industry within these markets and beyond – agile, nimble, and dynamic projects – click here.

To find out how to get involved please contact us.

Ken Carmody

In 1854, installation began on the first transatlantic telegraph cable, which connected Newfoundland and Ireland. Four years later the first transmission was sent. This advance reduced the communication time between North America and Europe from ten days (message via ship) to a matter of minutes. Transatlantic telegraph cables have since been replaced by transatlantic telecommunication cables running a combined distance of 1.1 million km and some laid at a depth matching the height of Mount Everest. They are responsible for 99% of transmitted international data. We rely heavily on these cables and our reliance will continue into the foreseeable future. The worldwide data traffic is expected to grow at an exponential pace. Projections show a constant growth of at least 10% for the next 5 years.

Alternatives

Right now there are no reasonable alternatives. Competition comes from satellite communications however submarine communications cables are faster and cheaper. Satellites have two major problems: latency and bit loss. Sending and receiving signals to and from space takes too long. Optical fibers can transmit information at 99.7 percent the speed of light. 186,000 miles per second. The circumference of the Earth is only 24,000 miles at the equator, which in essence means data could technically circle the globe almost eight times in one second and all done from the bottom of the ocean. Submarine cables will remain the cheapest and most used technology for years to come.

Ownership

Traditionally, private companies or consortiums formed by telecom carriers owned cables. That model is changing as content providers such as Google and Microsoft are increasingly becoming major investors in new cables. Google already has the world’s largest privately owned fiber optic network, which currently handles a massive 25% of the world’s internet traffic for its search and YouTube offerings, according to the VP of engineering for Google’s cloud business, Ben Treynor. Microsoft and Facebook jointly lay a high capacity subsea cable capable of transmitting 160 terabits of data per second, the equivalent of streaming 71 million HD videos at the same time, and 16 million times faster than an average home internet connection. As more millions around the world adopt cloud computing, we’ll be certain to see even more cables criss-crossing the world’s oceans in the near future.

Drivers affecting demand for increased submarine cable capacity include:

• Global population growth
• Economic development of the BRICs, international trade agreements (Canada-EU, USA-EU, Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement)
• Lower cost of cable data transmission
• Global financial market trading
• Global security and privacy concerns.
• Ongoing surge in ICT developments
• Use of Internet
• Increased video services
• Sophistication of hand-held devices
• Wider geographic cable coverage throughout the oceans (southern hemisphere; around Africa, Australia, South America, India, Canadian/US Arctic) and between island sates (Caribbean, Southern Asia, Pacific)
• The move to offshore routing to avoid permitting issues in densely populated coastal regions).

Congestion and lagging infrastructure

Today’s infrastructure is not sufficient to meet the demand for two main reasons:

• Existing cables are aging and have been built with older technology
• In the last 5 years the number of new cables has been too low compared to the increasing demand

Congestion has become a real concern for example the route between North America and Europe is the most developed but also the most congested. Connexions from South America and Europe are now growing at a faster pace than any other regions but they suffer as all traffic is routed through North America.

Solution

Ideally the world needs deployment of next-generation “100G” technology. This type of cable offers ten times the capacity of previous systems. These lines could have a capacity of up to 60Tbs (600x100Gbps).

We need more direct lines for example a direct line from South America to Europe would alleviate much congestion through North America. The European Commission and some south America countries have set as objective to bypass North America and develop direct connexions.

Our telecoms client looks to achieve the above. To find out how to get involved please contact us.

Written by Ken Carmody