Sharesight at UNIT

Last week our mates at OnMarket Bookbuilds invited us to participate in a panel discussion held by UNIT, the University Network for Investing and Trading at the UNSW campus in Sydney. James Eyers from the Australian Financial Review moderated. I was joined by Ben Bucknell, CEO of OnMarket Bookbuilds, Brendan Malone, COO of Acorns, Georgia King-Siem, Fintech Advisor KPMG, and Jost Stollmann, CEO of Tyro.

The discussion centred on the future of finance and what implications it has on students facing a choice between a conventional career path at a big institution or a fintech. We maintain that banks will never be fully disrupted. Rightly or wrongly, they're too tightly woven into a country's economic future and far too regulated to be allowed to fail. Rather, we see a collection of applications working in unison as a viable alternative. Sharesight + an online broker + Xero is a true alternative to a investment platform, for example.

Thrilled to be at @UNSW with @OnMktBookBuilds @Tyro @acornsau @kpmgaustralia explaining #fintech to future leaders pic.twitter.com/Y4CqnllvNV

— Sharesight (@sharesight) May 11, 2016

We love doing events that involve students. It was great to see such a high level of engagement and refreshing to field a different set of questions.

@ben_bucknell @Gkingsiem @bbm1578 @Sharesight @joststollmann taking questions from the students @UNSW #fintech pic.twitter.com/eVhhKMR15L

— OnMarket (@OnMarketIPOs) May 11, 2016

Our advice for students and young professionals looking to enter fintech? Do. not. be shy. All fintech CEOs are reachable online. Send them your CVs. Use their products and send feedback. Applicable skill sets extend way beyond finance. One thing that all fintech CEOs dread is the time-consuming process of the traditional interviewing. Break out of the mould.

Thankyou to our panelists & moderator @Sharesight @Gkingsiem @bbm1578 @joststollmann @ben_bucknell @acornsau @eyersj pic.twitter.com/9AnmR3axbu

— OnMarket (@OnMarketIPOs) May 11, 2016