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South African startup Lumkani has installed its early warning fire detection system in an additional 20,000 homes across the country, meaning it has now equipped 40,000 high fire risk homes in several of the country’s informal settlements.

Shortcomings of Robo-Advisors The entry of robo-advisors has broken down some of the traditional barriers between the financial services world and average consumers. Because of these online platforms, sound financial planning is now accessible to everyone, not just high-net-worth individuals. Still, many in the industry have doubts about the viability of robos as a one-size-fits-all solution to wealth management. Given the relative nascency of their technological capabilities and minimal human presence, robo-advisors have been criticized for lacking in empathy and sophistication. They are good entry-level tools for people with small accounts and limited investment experience, namely millennials, but are far from sufficient for those who need advanced services like estate planning, complicated tax management, trust fund administration, and retirement planning. Automated services are also ill-equipped to deal with unexpected crises or extraordinary situations. For instance, if a young person's parents passed away and he/she receives an inheritance, going online to a robo-advisor to manage the money is probably not the optimal decision. In fact, a study conducted by Investopedia and the Financial Planning Association found that consumers prefer a combination of human and technological guidance, especially when times are rough. According to the report, 40% of participants said they would not be comfortable using an automated investing platform during extreme market volatility. Furthermore, robo-advisors operate on the assumption that clients have defined goals and a clear understanding of their financial circumstances, to begin with. For many, that is not the case. Answering questions like, "Is your risk tolerance low, moderate, or high?" presupposes the user has a fundamental knowledge of investment concepts and the real-life implications of each option they choose.

Based on its success thus far in Ghana, WorldCover expects that its model could expand to work across the entire developing world, where 500 million smallholder farming households feed 80% of the population. Ultimately, this approach could scale far beyond drought insurance, to provide protection against other risks.

Investing is a boon for an organization or an individual, but hardly people have any idea about investment. So, when they plan to invest their money for a better ROI, the very first solution hit their mind is wealth advisory team. But it makes their work more tedious by adding an interaction with a team and spending team for it. Robo-Advisor has brought a revolution in the finance sector with a new approach of automation. It is a digital assistant that work on various algorithms to manage financial portfolio of clients. It gives an enhanced and secure experience. This is possible with the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence. These tools are no longer confined till chat-bots; rather it has grown in the field of fintech too with a number of finance management aspects, such as automating loan process, data management, wealth management, voice assistance, customized finance advisory, and many more.

Robo fees can range from zero — if the investor has less than $10,000 to invest — to as high as 0.89% of assets under $1 million in some cases, said Brett Hammond, research leader of Capital Group. But 0.25% to 0.30% of assets is more typical, he added. (The fee is on top of the cost of the investment itself.) As for performance, it’s a mixed bag with some robos doing better than others, Hammond said. The big question is how they will do in the long run, especially during a big market crash, since they don’t have an extended track record yet. “We don’t know in a complete cycle what these [robos] are going to deliver,” he said. “The real issue is, does it improve outcomes?”

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