Business Mention

Business Consultant

Should You Play this Video Games ETF?

By Paul Taka 4 days ago

Video games aren’t just games. They are also TV content, judging by the millions of people who watched some 1.75 billion hours of streamed video-gaming programming on Twitch, the live-stream platform for gamers, just in May alone. They’re live events, too, with thousands of people showing up to watch top-level gamers face off in e-sports arenas. That makes video games big, big business. Consultant Research and Markets forecasts that the global video-game market will increase revenues at a 6.4% annualized rate between 2019 and 2024, when it will hit $179.1 billion in sales.

Global X Video Games & Esports ETF is one of a handful of funds that allow investors to cash in on that growth. HERO sports a tight portfolio of 40 firms involved in developing, publishing, distributing or streaming video games, producing related hardware, or operating e-sports leagues or teams. The fund weights holdings by market value, so the larger the stock, the more HERO invests in it. Gaming is global, and so is HERO; it has 71% of assets invested outside of the U.S.

The ETF will only invest in companies that derive at least 50% of their revenues from video game–related businesses. That means you won’t see tech conglomerates such as Sony and Microsoft in the fund. You will see graphics chipmaker Nvidia, whose products power high-end gaming rigs; Chinese internet and video gaming company NetEase; and familiar Japanese powerhouse Nintendo. “If it’s a leading company in the theme, we want to own that company,” says

Business Ideas

Influencers live a pandemic-free fantasy, Quibi dismisses ‘YouTuber ideas,’ and what’s happening with Shane Dawson

By Paul Taka 4 days ago

Instagram/TikTok

Happy Thursday!

This is Amanda Perelli and welcome back to Influencer Dashboard, our weekly rundown of what’s new in the influencer and creator economy.

Before we get started, I want to first introduce a new reporter on BI’s business of influencers team: Sydney Bradley! You can reach Sydney and say hi at [email protected] and on Twitter @SydneyKBradley. She will be covering Instagram, TikTok, and all things related to the business of internet creators and influencers.

And now to the news.

This week, Dan Whateley and I wrote a piece on the influencers who are ignoring the coronavirus pandemic on social media, and how Los Angeles health officials want these creators to stop living a dangerous, mask-free fantasy.

LA is bracing for a potentially devastating wave of coronavirus cases as COVID-19 transmissions and hospitalizations both spiked this week.

But for many of LA’s celebrities and influencers, it appears life has returned to normal, with some choosing to collaborate without masks in videos, host parties, and in some cases travel out of the country.

Here are some examples:

Influencer and MTV star Tana Mongeau threw a two-day birthday bash at a Beverly Hills mansion last week and documented the event on Instagram.
Music artist Jason Derulo, who has over 25 million followers on TikTok, has been appearing in group videos with other TikTok stars throughout June.
A Capitol Records exec hosted a birthday party over the weekend in Los Angeles. TikTok star Addison Rae Easterling (48 million followers), musician

News Business Finance

No politics, please! Hong Kong finance professionals impose self-censorship after security law

By Paul Taka 4 days ago

By Sumeet Chatterjee and Scott Murdoch

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A year ago, growing anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong were a hot topic in conversations among bankers, lawyers and other investment professionals in one of the world’s biggest and freest financial hubs.

On Thursday, two days after China imposed a controversial new security law on the city, you could almost hear a pin drop. Bankers were tight lipped, shunning any mention of the legislation over the phone or messaging apps in a sign of how much disquiet it has triggered.

More than half a dozen people Reuters spoke to said they chose not to talk about the impact of the law on their businesses with their colleagues and external contacts, though there had been no such official instruction from their respective organizations.

The sweeping legislation pushed the semi-autonomous city, which is the regional home for a large number of global financial companies, on to a more authoritarian path.

The law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

While it doesn’t directly impact the financial sector, its provisions including giving a special police unit extra powers of search, electronic surveillance and asset seizure that have stoked concerns among some professionals.

‘IT COULD CHANGE THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE’

Both Hong Kong and Chinese government officials have said the law is vital to plug gaping holes in national security defences exposed by months of sometimes violent protests against the local government and Beijing

Business Consultant

How Can Influencers Stay Relevant Amid Global Concerns?

By Paul Taka 6 days ago

Click here to read the full article.

As recent as this past February, influencers’ social media pages were full of imagery of global fashion weeks, giving eager followers behind-the-scenes looks and glimpses into exclusive after parties. Today, these same social media pages look quite different, reflecting instead on a longer period spent at home that spotlighted family members rather than designers or celebrity insiders.

Since becoming a staple in the fashion industry, influencers have also been a continued access point for brands to reach wide audiences. And early reports stated that although influencer marketing would change during the pandemic it could prove to be extremely powerful amid the crisis. According to Influence Central, since the onset of COVID-19, 64 percent of consumers are doing all clothing and apparel shopping online and thus causing direct impact on how brands and the influencers they work with will engage followers and drive shopper marketing.

“The influencers aren’t the only player that should be pivoting strategy in this post-COVID-19 environment,” said Stacy DeBroff, chief executive officer of Influence Central. “From a marketing perspective, fashion brands need to shift from traditional advertising and catalogue marketing to invest in social media marketing and influencer engagements. This creates a new type of opportunity for brands collaborating with fashion influencers in social media campaigns. Social media platforms from Instagram to Pinterest have introduced myriad ways to shop from online pictures and influencer content. With online products accessible, consumers have an avenue to purchase themselves in the moment and

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Should You Play this Video Games ETF?

Influencers live a pandemic-free fantasy, Quibi dismisses ‘YouTuber ideas,’ and what’s happening with Shane Dawson

No politics, please! Hong Kong finance professionals impose self-censorship after security law

How Can Influencers Stay Relevant Amid Global Concerns?