ReleaseWire

German institutional investors may open up another frontier for Bitcoin investment, continuing a recent trend in which more and more organisations are looking for opportunities in the industry.

Over the course of the past 10 years, smart investment sections have been tough due to the market's easy categorisation of low interest rates, low volatility levels that have experienced periodic surges. When we look back at what has happened in the financial markets over the last decade, one of the most significant factors we have experienced is the age of low or even zero interest rates.

A reputed global workforce expert, Volt Singapore offers payroll and IC management solutions to mitigate co-employment risks. Their payroll services enable customers to deploy a skilled workforce and reduce the administrative burden of hiring employees. The company provides comprehensive solutions and helps in minimizing operational overhead costs of recruitment companies in Singapore. They commit to managing every aspect of the Human Resources process to ensure it runs seamlessly, assisting in hiring the candidates as per the business requirements.

Cyber crime is an area of increasing innovation - you can almost guarantee that where advances go, cyber criminals will follow. This is something that has been highlighted by a recent report that reveals that increasingly advanced security techniques are being used by cyber criminals to allow them to carry out "crypto jacking."

The idea of using neural networks in quants is not something that has always been met with particular enthusiasm. In particular the use of neural networks in derivatives pricing met with a lot of scepticism when the idea first surfaced, not least those who argued that neural networks could take far too long to train and were not exactly reliable.

As the international battle with coronavirus continues, scientists in Europe have been testing the efficacy of mixing the AstraZeneca vaccine with the Pfizer vaccine.

Covid-19 has driven businesses and governments to accelerate approaches to digital transformation and bring this online much earlier than previously planned. This has created many challenges but also shown just how much more is possible and there are some notable examples of success, including the vaccine booking system. One of the major differences with the digitalisation that has occurred during the pandemic is that it has proven to be much more user friendly - it's far simpler to deal with the vaccine system, for example, than it is to work through digital tax systems.

In June, Germany's industrial production unexpectedly decreased 1.3% from the previous month, as supply chain disruptions continued to pose problems for manufacturers across the country.

Throughout the international health crisis, the worldwide market for pharmaceutical contract manufacturing, which was anticipated to be worth US$ 100 billion in 2020, is expected to grow to US$130.2 billion by 2026.

New research has indicated that the most crucial technology trend within the German industry is the noteworthy transition from hardware to services. In the digital age, Germany's technology sector has proven to be of vital importance. Not only does the industry produce sales revenues that exceed €230 billion annually, representing 7% of German GDP, but it is also a key enabler that has a significant influence on other industries.

Germany's software development industry is booming. Within Europe, it represents the largest software market covering around 25% of the total European market, ahead of the United Kingdom and France.

HFT Trading hit the headlines once again this year as it emerged that the Treasury had decided to commission an investigation into the impact that HFT Trading is having on the markets. No scope has yet been published for the investigation but it follows similar moves in the US where issues arising as a result of growth in HFT Trading (which now makes up 60% of trading on US equity markets and 30% in the UK) are also being looked into.

Flooding and torrential downpours have wreaked havoc on regions of western Europe with Germany and Belgium seeing some of the worst floods, causing pressure to mount on the already depleted supply chain by reducing the movement of cargo in and out of the region. This year's shipping has already been severely disrupted, with increased expenditures as areas of the world recovered from the coronavirus pandemic which resulted in a shortage of containers, causing catastrophic delays.

Investment banking developments in China & Hong Kong have expanded exponentially in recent times, as the world's second largest economy has opened up its financial markets. One of those looking to shift focus in the region is Citigroup, which has already begun to move away from retail banking in this part of the world in order to focus on investment banking. Citigroup Inc is driving ahead with plans to establish fresh investment banking and trading operations in China.

When it comes to international sourcing strategy, cost is often a defining factor for many businesses. This is especially so given the changing conditions that every enterprise has faced over the past year and the increased need for resilience and agility in order to be able to respond at speed. Competitive sourcing has had a big role to play in this, whether that is with respect to looking overseas to find the best prices on raw materials or outsourcing processes to help keep costs down - and that often means looking overseas at low-cost countries.

Digital stock management is a tool that could help to overcome many of the challenges that continue to arise in supply chain management today. Over the past year we have seen a lot of disruption to supply chains as well as issues of stockpiling and shortages. One of the most pressing areas where this caused the most concern was with respect to essential medication. COVID-19 vaccines have made a huge contribution to opening up the UK once again but there have been issues with these - and many other medications that have either been in short supply or forecast to run out due to pandemic or Brexit obstacles. Digital stock management provides many more options when it comes to ensuring that the right stockpiling is being done, and that there is effective monitoring in place.

The pandemic has caused many supply chain issues, across Asia Pacific and beyond. However, it's auto chip shortages that are emerging as one of the most significant crises that is taking the longest to resolve. Not only that but many manufacturers have now highlighted that the swift shift that we are seeing to electric vehicles may be making the problem worse.

Digitisation has a lot to offer when it comes to innovation in supply chain markets. From improvements to speed and transparency to minimising costs and increasing efficiency there are many benefits for business in investing in a digital upgrade. While initially met with some resistance, digitisation is now a driving force, in particular because of the huge savings that are possible - one recent survey found, for example, that switching to an automated system, rather than relying on manual invoice entering, could generate savings of $600,000 a year.

Private debt has been a solid part of the investing landscape in the US and Europe for many years. However, it's not so well embedded in Asia Pacific where it's an asset class that is still relatively under-invested in. In recent years that has been starting to shift with around a 15% growth rate in private debt AUM per year since 2014.

The asset management industry currently exists in a challenging environment, one that is experiencing shifts in asset classes, market volatility, a potentially long recession and new swathes of corporate debt. However, there are also many opportunities thanks to the large amount of capital that is available for investment and the markets that are expanding in locations such as China and Asia Pacific.

The airline industry has been on the frontline of the impact of COVID-19 with carriers - and investors - really feeling the effects of a world that has largely shut its borders over the past 12 months. Now there are signs of trouble for investors in Cathay Pacific's foreign-currency bonds, as prices drop.

Innovation and growth in renewable energy is moving at a fast pace today with new projects springing up all over the Asia Pacific region. One of the most notable is the search for green ammonia, a gas that is widely used to make agricultural fertilisers. Green ammonia has the advantage of being a 100% renewable and carbon free process, meaning that there are currently many enterprises exploring the possibilities for creating it. Origin Energy Ltd (an Australian electricity and natural gas company) and Mitsui O.S.K Lines, a major Japanese shipping giant are joining forces to look for opportunities to create green ammonia in Australia for the purposes of export.

The vulnerability of energy supply is something that countries like Singapore understand only too well. There is now a pressing need to establish energy security and this is creating many renewable energy career opportunities across Asia Pacific thanks to the potential of sources such as wind and solar power. Singapore is a country that has a large carbon footprint (for its size), contributing 0.11% of global emissions despite being only 0.0005% of the world's land. 95% of Singapore's power needs are currently met by natural gas and the country is dependent on fossil fuels - although not for much longer.

Climate change is likely to be the biggest issue that the world faces over the next decade and this has been putting increasing pressure on embedding sustainability into procurement processes and external partnerships. This goes much further than just purchasing low carbon products and requires a much more invested commitment from organizations than we have seen in the past.

The unfolding situation in Afghanistan has been the biggest news story of recent weeks. Now it's emerging that some of the American tech that was so necessary for forces in the country could be creating problems for those who are left behind. In particular, a biometric database that was used to track terrorists could be employed by the Taliban to identify those who were allies of the US.