The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

• These days, it's easier than ever to handle all your banking needs without ever visiting a branch.
• With the ability to deposit checks by taking a photo with your phone, and to use virtually any ATM, being near a physical branch is no longer a requirement when choosing a bank.
• Here's what you need to know about online-only banking — and why it might be right for you.

As one of the cool kids at school, I started a coin collection in fifth grade. I remember going on trips to the bank with my mom for rolls of coins to sort through, looking at dates and years to fill in the slots in my blue coin-collecting albums. That, alongside my parents owning a business, sent me on many trips to local banks. But over time, my number of visits to the bank have dropped to zero.

These days, I stick with an online-only bank as my primary bank. I don't have a single branch available. While it seemed strange at first, it was easy to grow accustomed to.

Let's look at the pros and cons to help you better understand if you could survive with online-only banking.

Online account offers from our partners:

How online-only banking works

With online-only banking, you are the teller and new accounts representative for yourself. Instead of going into a bank branch, you handle your own banking transactions from your computer or smartphone — like you could with many traditional banks, too.

Online banking uses secured connections, so as long as you use strong, unique passwords, it's totally safe to bank online. The best accounts allow you to deposit checks from your phone, transfer funds to or from any account at any bank with no fees, pay bills online, and avoid fees common to traditional brick-and-mortar banks.

As long as you get paid via direct deposit or check, as opposed to cash, online banking should easily meet all of your financial needs. Now, let's take a more detailed look at how some of the features work so you understand how the replace your old banking experience.

Managing your money with mobile banking

You don't need to go to any specific place when you have an online bank. Instead, every online bank uses a website and offers a mobile app to handle your banking wherever you are. It doesn't matter if you're on the way out of work, sitting on the couch at home, or standing on the beach on vacation, you can log in and manage your banking with a few taps on your screen.

Once logged in, you can view balances, pay bills, make transfers, and deposit a check with a photo. If you have other accounts at the same bank, such as credit cards, loans, or investments, you can manage and make transfers to those accounts as well.

With online banking, it is easy to have all of your accounts under one roof. But even if you don't, it's easy to manage everything through convenient mobile apps.

Learn more: The best credit cards to open in 2018, according to The Points Guy

Cash and online banking

The only real downsides of online banking are losing the in-person banking option and depositing cash with a teller. If you have a job where you are paid mostly in cash or tips, like a restaurant server or valet parking attendant, online-only banking probably isn't viable for you.

Taking cash out of an online bank account, though, is easy. Most online banks charge no fees for any ATM access, and some reimburse fees charged by other banks' ATMs. Some popular accounts that offer no-fee ATM access include Ally Bank (up to $10 per month reimbursed) and Charles Schwab Bank (unlimited reimbursements).

To deposit cash, you may want to consider pairing your online banking account with a favorite local credit union. Most credit unions offer a basic no-fee checking and savings option, which you can use to deposit cash and transfer to or from your online bank account.

Even online banks that don't charge fees usually offer a large network of free ATMs. Through memberships in various banks networks, Capital One (39,000 free ATMs), Discover Bank (60,000 free ATMs), and others typically have a convenient location near your work or home.

Expect better interest rates and lower fees

Traditional banks spend a lot of money on human tellers and fancy branch locations. They tend to pass those costs on to customers in the form of fees and less favorable interest rates. If you are willing to give up the human on the other side of the desk or counter, you can save a bundle.

For example, most big banks charge huge fees for overdrafts. Online banks charge lower fees, if any. Capital One gives you four options for how to handle overdrafts to help you avoid or manage fees. Simple and Chime don't charge those fees at all — in fact, the only fee online bank Simple charges is for foreign debit card use. Otherwise, you won't pay them a cent. Ever.

Capital One and Ally typically stand at the top of the leaderboards in terms of interest rates, but other online banks don't lag far behind. Online savings rates are commonly around 20x better than what you get from the big, nationwide traditional banks.

Learn more: The best credit card rewards, bonuses, and perks in 2018

Does online-online banking make sense for you?

If the idea of better interest rates, lower fees, and managing your own banking online is tempting to you, online banking may be the right choice.

To get started, you can keep an old account in addition to your new online account, slowly shifting your banking. Alternatively, you can get an online account and keep a local credit union account for physical banking needs. The truly bold dive in without looking back.

Online banking may feel new to you, but it has been around since the early 1980s. It's safe and secure and the future of managing money. As long as you don't need to regularly deposit cash, online-online banking may be a great decision for your money needs.

Online account offers from our partners:

Click here for more Insider Picks personal finance stories

SEE ALSO: How automated saving and investing really works — and why more of us should be doing it

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

Regtech solutions seemed to offer the solution to financial institutions' (FIs) compliance woes when they first came to prominence around 24 months ago, gaining support from regulators and investors alike. 

However, many of the companies offering these solutions haven't scaled as might have been expected from the initial hype, and have failed to follow the trajectory of firms in other segments of fintech.

This unexpected inertia in the regtech industry is likely to resolve over the next 12-18 months as other factors come into play that shift FIs' approach to regtech solutions, and as the companies offering them evolve. External factors driving this change include regulatory support of regtech solutions, and consultancies offering more help to FIs wanting to sift through solutions. Startups offering regtech solutions will also play a part by partnering with each other, forming industry organizations, and taking advantage of new opportunities.

This report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, provides a brief overview of the current global financial regulatory compliance landscape, and the regtech industry's position within it. It then details the major drivers that will shift the dial on FIs' adoption of regtech over the next 12-18 months, as well as those that will propel startups offering regtech solutions to new heights. Finally, it outlines what impact these drivers will have, and gives insight into what the global regtech industry will look like by 2020.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Regulatory compliance is still a significant issue faced by global FIs. In 2018 alone, EU regulations MiFID II and PSD2 have come into effect, bringing with them huge handbooks and gigantic reporting requirements. 
• Regtech startups boast solutions that can ease FIs' compliance burden — but they are struggling to scale. 
• Some changes expected to drive greater adoption of these solutions in the next 12 to 18 months are: the ongoing evolution of startups' business models, increasing numbers of partnerships, regulators' promotion of regtech, changing attitudes to the segment among FIs, and consultancies helping to facilitate adoption.
• FIs will actively be using solutions from regtech startups by 2020, and startups will be collaborating in an organized fashion with each other and with FIs. Global regulators will have adopted regtech themselves, while continuing to act as advocates for the industry.

In full, the report:

• Reviews the major changes expected to hit the regtech segment in the next 12 to 18 months.
• Examines the drivers behind these changes, and how the proliferation of regtech will improve compliance for FIs.
• Provides our view on what the future of the regtech industry looks like through 2020.
  Get The Regtech Revisited Report
  

   

Join the conversation about this story »

• President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon to ask House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to "make a deal" that includes funding for a wall along the southern US border.
• Trump's tweet comes 11 days into a partial government shutdown that came after gridlock among congressional lawmakers who did not secure Trump's requested $5 billion for a wall along the southern US border.
• Democrats have released plans to reopen the government, but none include funding for the wall. 

President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon to ask House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to "make a deal" that includes his desired $5 billion in funding for a wall along the southern US border.

Trump wrote: "Border Security and the Wall "thing" and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let’s make a deal?"

The government has been partially shut down for 11 days after gridlock among congressional lawmakers who did not approve Trump's requested $5 billion for a wall along the southern US border.

The tweet comes a day after House Democrats released bills that would reopen the government but not provide funding for the wall. The new Congress is expected to pass them when it convenes Thursday.

Pelosi is expected to be elected speaker when Democrats take control of the House Thursday.

Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer implored Trump to avoid a shutdown in a fiery meeting that took place ahead of the deadline, but Trump was indignant on the matter of funding the wall, telling the top Democrats he'd be "proud to shut down the government."

Since the shuttering of several federal departments on December 21, Trump has tweeted several times to pressure Democrats into resolving the shutdown, but negotiations have stalled over the holidays.

SEE ALSO: Trump sends all-caps New Year's tweet wishing 'HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA!'

DON'T MISS: We asked 1,000 Americans what they think Trump's New Year's resolutions should be. Here's what they told us.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

• Ecovacs is back at it with its latest robotic vacuum, the $350 Deebot 711.
• This may just be my favorite robot vacuum yet, with its Smart Navi Mapping Technology, 110-minute battery life, and ability to double the suction power on command.
• If you're looking for a way to spend more time doing things other than vacuuming, this is one product that you need in your life.

To convince members of your household to fight over the privilege of vacuuming your home, you'll need a very special vacuum indeed.

That special vacuum may just come in the form of the newest robotic offering from Ecovacs. Because let's face it — the only way to inject excitement into cleaning the house is to eject any and all effort associated with the task. As it turns out, the new Deebot 711 is capable of doing just that.

The Ecovacs family of vacuums has long been a customer (and Business Insider) favorite. They're some of the best-selling robots on Amazon, and back in June, we just couldn't get enough of the Ecovacs Deebot 900, a $400 smart vacuum that cut cleaning time in half. But now, the team has come out with yet another iteration of its popular cleaning assistant, and this one is $50 cheaper and just as effective.

The Deebot 711 is a sleek little vacuum that adopts the same circular shape that you've likely come to expect from the robotic cleaners. Its black finish gives it a slightly more modern and sophisticated edge, but the aesthetics of the 711 are far less important than its other attributes. What I've been most impressed by in my few weeks with the new Deebot is its ability to map my home and quickly learn which areas are most in need of cleaning. That's thanks to the robot's Smart Navi Mapping Technology, which not only helps it adapt to any environment with ease, but also helps it to avoid bumping into furniture or avoid falling down stairs.

While other robot vacuums I've used have taken some time to determine where in the world (or room) they really are before getting to work, the Deebot 711 is surprisingly efficient at scanning its surroundings and beginning to move. Plus, rather than learning to avoid furniture by first hitting it, the Deebot does a great job circumventing obstacles.

The Smart Navi Mapping Technology is capable of creating an optimized and systematic cleaning path that covers up to 1300 square feet, which makes it more than enough for at least one floor of your home (if not your whole home). Many other robot vacuums I've tried seem to clean by trial and error, randomly moving around a room with hopes that they'll ultimately reach every corner. The Deebot 711, on the other hand, seems much more regimented — or dare I say, more human — in its cleaning.

Thanks to the Deebot's compatibility with both Alexa and Google Assistant, you can begin cleaning simply by telling the robot to do so. Either use a voice command or download the companion smartphone app to start the cleaning process, and you'll be able to spend your time doing more important things. Of course, if you'd like to exercise a bit more control over the cleaning process, you can use the app to direct the robot, or schedule a cleaning. You can also ask for status updates while you're away so that you know exactly what the Deebot has and hasn't done.

One of my favorite features of the Deebot 711 is the maximum power suction mode, which doubles the suction power of the machine and helps it take care of tough stains like dirt and grime on either hardwood or carpeted floors. Plus, the Deebot features two specialized cleaning modes — edge and spot mode — which allow you (by proxy, that is) to tackle hard to reach and often-missed areas of the room.

With 110 minutes of battery life, it's likely that you'll tire of cleaning long before the robot does. And when the Deebot does run out of juice, it sends itself home to recharge, which means that it's always ready for more (should you need it).

The Deebot 711 comes with a one-year warranty, a charging dock, four side brushes, two high-efficiency air filters, a remote control with battery, and Ecovacs' famous customer support. So if your New Year's Resolution is to spend more time on the more important things in life, then you may just want to let the Deebot 711 take care of your vacuuming.

Buy the Ecovacs DEEBOT 711 Robot Vacuum Cleaner for $349.99 from Amazon

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of The Digital Media Forecast Book from Business Insider Intelligence. Current subscribers can read the report here.

Media consumption has changed rapidly over the past decade, with digital increasingly claiming a larger share of the daily time spent with media. Increased mobile usage is driving much of the growth in digital time spent, as smartphones become more powerful and capable of handling tasks otherwise completed on desktop.

Meanwhile, cord-cutting and cord-shaving will continue as consumers seek more affordable alternatives to traditional pay-TV. Marketers need to understand the underlying consumer trends that are driving billions of dollars in global advertising, and how those behaviors are likely to play out in the near term.

In this three-part forecast book, Business Insider Intelligence forecasts how much time users spend consuming each format as we approach peak media, and how those changes reflect how advertising dollars are spent globally and in the US.

Join the conversation about this story »

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That’s the strategy e-tailers will have to adopt if they want to compete with Amazon. To fight back against the e-commerce giant’s expanding dominance, other online retailers must understand exactly why and how customers are buying on Amazon — and which aspects of the Amazon shopping experience they can incorporate into their own strategic frameworks to win back customers.

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has obtained exclusive survey data to give e-tailers the tools to figure out how to do just that with its latest Enterprise Edge Report: The Amazon Commerce Competitive Edge Report.

Enterprise Edge Reports are the very best research Business Insider Intelligence has to offer in terms of actionable recommendations and proprietary data, and they are only available to Enterprise clients.

Business Insider Intelligence fielded the Amazon study to members of its proprietary panel in March 2018, reaching over 1,000 US consumers – primarily hand-picked digital professionals and early-adopters – to gather their insights on Amazon’s role in the online shopping experience.

In full, the study:

• Uses exclusive survey data to analyze the factors behind Amazon’s success with consumers.
• Segments three types of Amazon customers that e-tailers should be targeting.
• Shares strategies on how e-tailers can attract shoppers at key moments.

First, why is Amazon so popular?

Amazon is ubiquitous. In fact, a whopping 94% of those surveyed said they’d made a purchase on the site in the last twelve months. And of those who did, the vast majority believed Amazon’s customer experience was simply better than its leading competitors’ — specifically eBay, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target.

The biggest contributor to Amazon’s superior experience? Free shipping, of course. According to Amazon’s 2017 annual report, the company actually spent $21.7 billion last year covering customers’ shipping costs, a number that’s been compounding over the past few years.

Not only is free shipping included for all Prime members as part of their subscriptions but, of all e-tailers listed in the survey, Amazon also offers the lowest minimum order value for non-subscription members to qualify for the perk (just $25). The pervasiveness of free (and fast) shipping is steadily heightening customer expectations for the online shopping experience — and forcing competitors to offer similar programs and benefits.

Who exactly is shopping on Amazon?

The survey results showed that across generations for a large minority of respondents, Amazon is a standard part of their typical shopping process. Nearly a third (32%) of respondents said they begin their online shopping process on Amazon. Of those who do start their journeys elsewhere, 100% ended up purchasing something from Amazon at some point over the last 12 months.

Based on the trends in responses, Business Insider Intelligence segmented out three different types of Amazon shoppers, each with unique implications for how competitors could evolve their strategies:

• Amazon loyalists: This group of consumers is most committed to shopping on Amazon. E-tailers must understand what has made Amazon their default experience — and how they could be pried away.
• Comparison shoppers: This consumer segment looks at other sites before ultimately completing a purchase with Amazon, which could allow e-tailers to find success at the bottom of the purchase funnel. E-tailers should focus on what they can do more of to steal sales away at the end of the purchasing process.
• Open-search shoppers: These consumers start their online product search away from Amazon, often with specific reasons including what they’re looking for and why they’re not looking on Amazon. Other e-tailers have the opportunity to attract these shoppers from the beginning of the purchase funnel — keeping them from ever venturing to Amazon.

Want to learn more?

Business Insider Intelligence has compiled the complete survey findings into the four-part Amazon Commerce Competitive Edge Report, which dives deeper into each of these consumer segments to give e-tailers an intricate understanding of Amazon’s role in their purchasing processes.

The report presents actionable strategies for retail strategists and executives to zero in on three individual consumer segments at critical shopping moments, and empower them to win sales in an Amazon-dominated world.

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

Of the many technologies reshaping the world economy, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are among the most hyped. DLTs are most often associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but such coverage sidelines the broader use cases of DLTs, even though they stand to make a far bigger impact on the broader the financial services (FS) industry.

DLT's value lies in its ability to centralize record-keeping, while cutting out the need for authorization by an overseeing party, instead allowing a record to be confirmed by multiple parties with access to the database. This means DLTs have the potential to streamline financial institutions' (FIs) operations, boost data security, improve customer relationships, and drastically cut costs. But many FIs have struggled to implement DLTs and reap the rewards, because of organizational obstacles, but also because of issues rooted in the technology itself. There are a few players working to make the technology more usable for FIs, and progress is now being made.

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence takes a look at what DLTs are and why they hold so much promise for FS, the sectors in which DLTs are gaining the most traction and why, and the efforts underway to remove the obstacles preventing wider DLT adoption in finance. It also examines the few FIs close to unleashing their DLT projects, and how DLTs might transform the nature of FS if adoption truly takes off. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• DLTs are proving attractive to FIs because of their ability to act as a single source of truth, distribute information securely, cut out middlemen, improve transaction times, and cut redundancy and costs.
• DLTs like blockchain and smart contracts stand to save the FS industry up to $50 billion a year through improved operational efficiencies, reduced human error, and better regulatory compliance. 
• The technology is being explored actively across FS, with trade finance, insurance, and capital markets proving especially active. Overall adoption is still low because of organizational and technical hurdles, but these are now being eliminated, promising to boost implementation.
• A few FIs have pulled ahead of the curve and are very close to taking their DLT projects live, if they haven't already. These players can serve as useful case studies for other institutions in getting their DLT solutions live.

In full, the report:

• Looks at what DLTs are, and why the FS industry is working hard to make use of them. 
• Gives an overview of the financial segments which are seeing the most DLT activity, and what they stand to gain.
• Outlines efforts being made to make DLT more approachable and usable for the FS industry.
• Examines use cases in which FIs have managed to take their pilots live, and what they can teach their peers. 

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
	Access to all future reports and daily newsletters
	Forecasts of new and emerging technologies in your industry
	And more!

Learn More

Purchase & download the full report from our research store

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. Current subscribers can read the report here.

Outside of the US Postal Service (USPS), FedEx and UPS have dominated the domestic logistics industry — and in particular, the last-mile of the delivery — for decades. On a quarterly earnings call in 2016, FedEx estimated that itself, UPS, and USPS executed a whopping 95% of all e-commerce orders.

But rapidly rising volumes have put the pair of legacy shippers in a bind. E-commerce sales have risen over 50% and are projected to continue their ascent into the next decade. High volumes are already straining shippers' networks — UPS struggled to bring consumers their parcels on time due to higher-than-anticipated package volume, which upset some big-name retail partners, including Macy's, Walmart, and Amazon. As online sales surge further, package volumes will outstrip legacy shippers' capacities, creating space for new entrants. 

Amazon is uniquely well-positioned to dethrone UPS and FedEx's duopoly. It's built up a strong logistics infrastructure, counting hundreds of warehouses and thousands of delivery trucks.

Further, as the leading online retailer in the US, it has a wealth of data on consumers that it can use to craft a personalized delivery experience that's superior to UPS and FedEx's offerings. Amazon must act soon, however, as UPS and FedEx are hard at work fortifying their own networks to handle the expected surge in parcel volume.

The longer the Seattle-based e-tailer delays the launch of a delivery service, the more it runs the risk that these legacy players will be able to defend their territory. 

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, explains how the age of e-commerce is opening up cracks in UPS and FedEx's duopoly. We then outline how Amazon's logistics ambitions began as an effort to more quickly get parcels out the door and fulfill its famous 2-day shipping process and how it'll be a key building block for the company if it builds out a last-mile service. Lastly, we offer concrete steps that the firm must take to maximize the dent it makes in UPS and FedEx's duopoly.

The companies mentioned in this report are: Alibaba, Amazon, FedEx, and UPS.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• While UPS and FedEx have dominated the US last-mile delivery market for the last few decades, the surge in e-commerce is creating more volume than shipping companies can handle.
• Amazon is uniquely well-positioned to put a dent in UPS and FedEx's duopoly due to its strategic position as the leading online retailer in the US.
• Amazon can carry its trust amongst the public, a wealth of consumer data, and its ability to craft a more personalized delivery experience to the last-mile delivery space to ultimately dethrone UPS and FedEx.
• The top priority for Amazon in taking on UPS and FedEx needs to be offering substantially lower shipping rates — one-third of US retailers say they'll switch to an Amazon shipping service if it's at least 20% cheaper than UPS and FedEx. 

In full, the report:

• Outlines Amazon's current shipping and logistics footprint and strengths that it would bring to the last-mile delivery space in the US.
• Lays out concrete steps that Amazon must take if it wants to launch a standalone last-mile delivery service, including how it can offer a more memorable, higher-quality delivery experience than UPS and FedEx.
• Illustrates how Amazon can minimize operating costs for a delivery service to ultimately undercut UPS and FedEx's shipping rates in the last-mile space.

SEE ALSO: Amazon and Walmart are building out delivery capabilities

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a preview of The Reverse Logistics Report from Business Insider Intelligence. Current subscribers can read the report here.

With e-commerce becoming a lucrative shopping channel, retailers and their logistics partners have been primarily focused on how to quickly move goods through the supply chain and into the hands of consumers — a process commonly referred to as forward logistics. However, the opportunities presented by the growing popularity of e-commerce also come with a challenging, multibillion-dollar downside: returns.

Return rates for e-commerce purchases are between 25% and 30%, compared with just 9% for in-store purchases. Turning reverse logistics — the process of returning goods from end users back to their origins to either recapture value or properly dispose of material — into a costly and high-stakes matter for retailers.

Not only are retailers experiencing more returns as a result of e-commerce growth, but consumer expectations also demand that retailers provide a seamless process. In fact, 92% of consumers agree that they are more likely to shop at a store again if it offers a hassle-free return policy (e.g. free return shipping labels). Some consumers even place large orders with the intention of returning certain items. 

And e-commerce sales are only going up from here, exacerbating the issue and making retailers' need for help more dire. However, for logistics firms that can offer cost-effective reverse logistics solutions, this has opened up a significant opportunity to capture a share of rapidly growing e-commerce logistics costs in the US, which hit $117 billion last year, according to Armstrong & Associates, Inc. estimates. 

InThe Reverse Logistics Report, Business Insider Intelligence examines what makes reverse logistics so much more challenging than forward logistics, explores the trends that have driven retailers to finally improve the way in which returns move through their supply chains, and highlights how logistics firms can act to win over retailers' return dollars.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• E-commerce is now a core shopping channel for retailers, and it's still growing. US e-commerce sales are set to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% between 2018 and 2023, surpassing $1 trillion in sales, according to Business Insider Intelligence estimates.
• Booming e-commerce sales have driven product returns through the roof. Business Insider Intelligence estimates that US e-commerce returns will increase at a CAGR of 19% between 2018 and 2023, surpassing $300 million dollars. 
• Consumers have high expectations about how returns are handled, and retailers are struggling to find cost-effective ways to meet their demands. Sixty-four percent of shoppers stated they would be hesitant to shop at a retailer ever again if they found issues with the returns process. And retailers don't have the expertise to effectively keep up with how demanding consumers are about returns — 44% of retailers said their margins were negatively impacted by handling and packaging returns, for example.
• Logistics firms are well positioned to solve — and profit from — returns. These companies can take advantage of their scale and expertise to solve pain points retailers commonly experience as goods move through the reverse supply chain. 
• Reverse logistics solutions themselves present a lucrative opportunity — but they're also appealing in the potential inroads they offer to supply chain management. The global third-party logistics market is estimated to be valued at $865 billion in 2018, according to Bekryl. 

Join the conversation about this story »

• In an op-ed for The Washington Post, the former Republican presidential candidate and incoming US senator, Mitt Romney says US President Donald Trump has failed to live up to the office of the presidency.
• Some Trump policies are acceptable, but its is the president's character - or lack of it - that has hurt the United States, Romney wrote.
• "To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow 'our better angels.'"
• But this is where Trump is at his worst, Romney says.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, the former Republican presidential candidate and incoming US senator, Mitt Romney says Trump has failed to live up to the office he was elected for.

Some Trump policies could work, but it is the president's character - or lack of it - that has hurt the United States, Romney, wrote on Wednesday.

"To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better angels.”"

But this is where Trump, and therefore America, is falling down, Romney claims.

"As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable," Romney said.

"And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring."

Romney pointed out the weight of global respect for a US under Trump has been falling quickly and with it a cost in allies and authority that accompanies  reliable leadership.

"To reassume our leadership in world politics, we must repair failings in our politics at home. That project begins, of course, with the highest office once again acting to inspire and unite us," Romney said.

According to Romney, the Trump presidency fell to new lows in December, hit as it was by losses of experience in Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly.

But it was the sealing appointment "of senior persons of lesser experience," and the jettison of willing allies that hurt the nation more, he said.

"The president’s thoughtless claim that America has long been a “sucker” in world affairs all defined his presidency down," Romney said.

"It is well known that Donald Trump was not my choice for the Republican presidential nomination. After he became the nominee, I hoped his campaign would refrain from resentment and name-calling."

"It did not," he lamented. 

In a nutshell, Trump's behavior over the past two years, and particularly his actions in December are proof "that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office," Romney asserted.

Romney, a Republican from Utah and the party’s 2012 nominee for president, will be sworn into the Senate on Thursday and emphasized his willingness to work with both the White House and fellow senators to achieve policy change.

SEE ALSO: Mitt Romney just turned 71 — here's how the Senate hopeful went from the world of investing to saving the Olympics and losing the presidency twice

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

• China's state-owned defense conglomerates are looking to take their latest laser weapons onto the international arms market, and state media is giving them a leg up.
• China's military arsenal has been complimented by a host of new laser weapons, all of which have a "bright future' on the international arms market, according to foreign language reports in The People's Daily and other major state-owned media.
• Chinese military analysts believe the weapons could "effectively contain tactical reconnaissance and prevent terror attacks and can be easily deployed on level ground," like for example, Tibet and islands of the South China Sea.

China commitment to new-tech military hardware are proof that it's latest laser weapons have a "bright future" on the international arms market, state media has claimed in multiple write-ups aimed at international arms dealers and nation-state buyers.

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, has developed a road-mobile laser defense system called the LW-30, which uses a high-energy laser beam to destroy targets.

CASIC, China's largest maker of missiles, has also brought the CM-401 supersonic anti-ship ballistic missile to market, describing it to the China Daily as capable of making rapid, precision strikes against medium-sized or large vessels, or against land targets. 

For a closer look at the CM-401, visit Jane's  Defense weekly here.

CASIC claims the weapon uses a "near-space trajectory", which means it flies up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the ground, maneuvering at hypersonic speeds towards its target.

Meanwhile, China South Industries Group Corporation (CSIGC) a major manufacturer of military ground weapons, wants to secure buyers for its mine-clearing laser gun.

Carried by a light-duty armored vehicle and together with the laser weapon system, CSICG unveiled the laser weapon during the recent Zhuhai China 2018 air show, creatively called the "light-vehicle laser demining and detonation system." 

The system can destroy explosive devices such as mines through high-power laser irradiation at a long distance, avoiding casualties caused by manual bomb disposal, designers told state-owned media.

Flying off the shelves

According to Global Security, CSIGC is an especially large and internationally operating state-owned corporate established under the State Council, which falls under the purview of Premier Li Keqiang.

With splashes across all the major state-owned foreign language media, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) has begun a strange sales strategy for its newly developed road-mobile laser defense system.

China has pumped money and perhaps a little hyperbole into its laser weaponry research, but according to state media, the LW-30 is going to fly off the shelves.

The LW-30 uses a high-energy laser beam to destroy targets ranging from drones and guided bombs to mortar shells. It features high efficiency, rapid response, a good hit rate and flexibility, according to CASIC.

An LW-30 combat unit includes one radar-equipped vehicle for battlefield communications and control and at least one laser gun-carrying vehicle and one logistical support vehicle.

The laser gun can be deployed with close-in weapons systems and air-defense missiles to form a defensive network free of blind spots, CASIC claims.

According to The People's Daily, in a typical scenario, the LW-30's radar will scan, detect and track an incoming target before transmitting the information to the laser gun.

The gun will reportedly then analyze the most vulnerable part of the target and lay a laser beam onto it.

"Destruction takes place in a matter of seconds," according to People's.

As part of the sales pitch, People's cited a Beijing-based "observer of advanced weaponry," who seemed to suggest that the new laser weapons were a more effective and less expensive way to intercept guided weaponry.

Wu Peixin,  the said "observer of advanced weaponry" told China Daily the new weapons would sell well on arms markets.

"Therefore, a laser gun is the most suitable weapon to defend against these threats," he said. "Every military power in the world has been striving to develop laser weapons. They have bright prospects in the international arms market."

In addition to CASIC, other state-owned defense conglomerates are ready to take their laser weapon systems to market, although science has it's doubters.

China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation is the world's largest shipbuilder, and its technology is undoubtedly dual-use. That is to say, one of the reasons China's navy has been built up so quickly is because of the initial investments made way back by Deng Xiao Ping to revive China's shipbuilding capacity - all but ignored under Mao Zedong - have resulted in CSIC and other shipbuilders producing both leisure and military naval technology.

CSIC meanwhile, claims has made another vehicle-mounted laser weapon that integrates detection and control devices and the laser gun in one six-wheeled vehicle.

"Observers said the system should be fielded to deal with low-flying targets such as small unmanned aircraft,"state media said.

Showcasing a defense industrial base amid rising global tensions

Before market reforms reinvigorated the People's liberation Army and the defense industry in China, five corporations and one ministry represented China's defense industrial base, now each of the five corporations have been divided into two competing corporations in the shipbuilding, aviation, nuclear, ordnance and missile/aerospace arenas.

The current organization of China's defense industrial base is pretty simple - two competing corporations face one a  other in the five key divisions through shipbuilding, aviation, nuclear, ordnance and missile/aerospace.

These include China North Industries Group Corporation (CNIGC) and China South Industries Group Corporation (CSIGC). Each with friendlier subordinate import/export set ups  - China North Industries Corporation and China Great Wall Industries Corporation - which facilitate import and sales of commercial and military goods for profit.  

Strategic competition with the US is pushing China to speed up the development of new weaponry, from rail gun technology, laser weaponry and hypersonic vehicles and is probably fast tracking and promoting its military inroads amid rising geopolitical tensions.

SEE ALSO: China just tested a new hypersonic weapon – and observers think it's a clear warning to the US

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Bernie Madoff was arrested 10 years ago today — here's what his life is like in prison

The media landscape is almost shifting more quickly than consumers can keep up.

But certain trends have emerged that will carry the media industry into the future.

For the past eight years, IGNITION, Business Insider’s flagship conference, has collected the best minds in media and technology to share what they see as the future. Through unscripted interviews, cutting-edge demos, and insights from industry pioneers, attendees learn what key trends to be aware of and what they need to do to stay ahead.

Henry Blodget opened the latest sold-out IGNITION conference with a presentation entitled 14 Things You’ll Want to Know About The Future of Media. And he should know...Blodget is co-founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of Business Insider, one of the most-read business and tech news sites in the world with more than 80 million visitors a month worldwide.

The presentation was put together with the help of the team at BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• We're nearing "peak media" in the U.S.
• This phenomenon will spread to the rest of the world as four billion more people come online
• Digital ad spending is still growing
• Video is not the be-all, end-all of media
• And much more

To get your copy of this FREE slide deck, simply click here.

Join the conversation about this story »

Hype around artificial intelligence has never been higher — and one industry where it has a chance to make a major impact on profits is retail.

Business Insider Intelligence projects that AI will boost profitability in retail and wholesale by nearly 60% by 2035, setting off a wave of excitement and investment among companies.

The areas where AI will have its biggest impact are personalization, search and chatbots.

But as hype and misunderstanding continue to build, it’s become harder than ever to keep sight of the true disruptive potential of AI.

Find out how AI is being implemented in these three areas and how each one can impact revenue in this new FREE slide deck from Business Insider Intelligence.

In this third and final installment of the three-part Future of Retail 2018 series, Business Insider Intelligence takes a hard look at the retail use cases where AI can make an impact, explores noteworthy examples of retailers implementing the technology, and weighs the benefits of investing in AI today.

As an added bonus, you will gain immediate access to our exclusive Business Insider Intelligence Daily newsletter.

To get your copy of the third part of this FREE slide deck, simply click here.

Join the conversation about this story »

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday.

1. A leaked internal survey from Uber shows that employees feel positive about the way the culture is changing, but also that they feel underpaid compared to peers. Just 40% felt they had fair compensation compared to other firms.
2. Netflix removed an episode from its comedy show, "The Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj", from Saudi Arabia after the kingdom complained. The episode had been critical of Saudi Arabia.
3. Convincing, artificially generated "deepfakes" are increasingly used to humiliate women by superimposing their faces into pornographic settings. Victims and abuse experts have warned such computer-generated videos are disproportionately weaponised against women.
4. Netflix has poached its new CFO from Activision Blizzard according to Reuters. Spencer Neumann is expected to start his new role at Netflix in early 2019.
5. Bill Gates is the latest high-profile executive affected by president Trump's trade battle with China. Policy changes mean that his nuclear energy project, TerraPower, is scrambling for a new partner and a place to run a pilot.
6. Experts have criticised Facebook's opaque way of flagging potential suicide risks, saying they may cause further harm. The company calls the police to flag suicide threats, but experts said it isn't always clear that its methods are accurate or safe.
7. Dell has returned to the stock market after five years as a public company. Wall Street valued shares at $34 billion.
8. Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi-Chuxing is expanding into financial services to diversify beyond its core business. The company will offer crowdfunding and lending nationwide across China.
9. Chinese apps dominate the Indian internet, accounting for 44 of the top 100 apps. Familiar names like TikTok rank alongside newer players such as social content platforms Helo and SHAREit.
10. Volkswagen is reportedly preparing to write off its $300 million investment in Gett. Gett, initially marketed as a rival to Uber, has failed to gain much ground against the competition.

Have an Amazon Alexa device? Now you can hear 10 Things in Tech each morning. Just search for "Business Insider" in your Alexa's flash briefing settings.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I'm a diehard iPhone user who switched to Android for a week — here's what I loved and hated about the Google Pixel 3 XL

• US index futures are tumbling, following global stocks lower after manufacturing data out of China signalled a slowdown.
• The S&P 500 was down 6.2% in 2018, booking its worst year since the financial crisis and worst December since the Great Depression. 
• Read more at Markets Insider.

US stocks look set to tumble after soft data from China cast a somber mood on global markets on the first trading day of the New Year.  

In China, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December came in at 49.7, "signalling contraction for the first time in over a year and a half," says Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com.

The last time the survey dropped under 50 — the mark of a contracting sector — was May 2017.

"This is not a good indicator as we eye tariffs biting even harder in 2019 than they did last year," Wilson said. 

Read more: Stop blaming the machines. Algorithms aren't causing the wild stock market swings.

It's a brutal start to the New Year after 2018 ended on a sour note for markets. The S&P 500 was down 6.2% in 2018, booking its worst year since the financial crisis and worst December since the Great Depression. 

In addition to the weaker Chinese data, factory output was seen falling across Asia last month.

"An increasing amount of data is pointing to the Chinese economy losing steam and with new orders falling for the first time in 2 1/2 years, the outlook doesn’t look great either," Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group said.

Here's the roundup:

• US stock index futures for the S&P 500 fell 2%, while those for the Nasdaq fell 2.4%. 
• In Asia, the Hang Seng plummeted 3%, while the Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 1.2%.
• Europe's benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 lost 1.7%, France's CAC fell 2.6% and Germany's DAX Index dropped 1.6% 
• Brent crude oil fell about2%, while European mining stocks tanked, dropping more than 3%

SEE ALSO: Chinese stocks were the worst on Earth in 2018, losing 27% — here's why

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

• The UK government has awarded a multimillion pound no-deal Brexit ferry contract to a firm with no ferries.
• Local Conservative politicians have questioned whether the firm will be ready in time with the opposition Labour party saying the deal "reeks."
• The Transport Secretary Chris Grayling defends the decision as an attempt to support a "startup" business.
• He said the government is "confident" a no-deal Brexit will not cause disruption at British ports.

LONDON — The UK government awarded a £14 million Brexit contract to a shipping company with no ships because they wanted to "support a new British business" the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has claimed.

The contract was awarded to the company Seaborne in order to provide additional freight services between the ports of Ramsgate in England and Ostend in Belgium, in the event of Britain leaving the EU without a deal.

However, it subsequently emerged that Seaborne has no ferries, or experience of running them, and will not have any until shortly before Brexit day on March 29.

Local Conservative councillors have questioned whether the firm will be ready even by that point, with the opposition Labour party saying the arrangement "reeks".

"Nothing could sum Brexit up better than the utter stench of this latest (transport department) mess," Labour MP Neil Coyle said earlier this week.

However, Grayling dismissed the criticism, saying the government had merely been trying to support a new small British business.

"I make no apologies for supporting a new British business," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Wednesday.

"Government supporting a new startup business - there's nothing wrong with that."

Grayling, who campaigned for Brexit before the EU referendum, also insisted that Britain would be able to cope with a no-deal Brexit, saying he was "confident" that it would not cause problems at British ports.

"I am expecting the channel ports to operate normally in all Brexit circumstances" Grayling told the programme, adding that "I am confident that will happen."

The row comes two weeks ahead of a planned vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal in the UK parliament.

The prime minister was forced to postpone the vote last month in order to prevent a huge parliamentary defeat.

Failure to pass the deal, agreed with EU leaders in November, would mean Britain has just months to avert a no-deal Brexit which the vast majority of economic forecasts suggest would be hugely damaging to the British economy.

Politicians on all sides are calling on May to change course, with pro-Brexit MPs calling on the prime minister to seek a renegotiation or prepare to leave without a deal, while pro-EU MPs want her to call a second EU referendum.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

• The best "off-map" restaurants in the world have been announced by the World Restaurant Awards.
• The list highlights under-the-radar and off-the-beaten-track culinary gems across the globe.
• From a shipping container fish shack in the UK to a dining experience in the Peruvian mountains, the restaurants may not be easy to find, but they're all worth a visit. 

There are certain restaurants that seemingly everyone goes to. Sure, sometimes that's because they're brilliant, but other times, it's just because they've got a highly instagrammable flower wall.

Social media and the internet mean it's hard to find a hidden gem nowadays, but there are under-the-radar restaurants to be found if you know where to look.

To give you a helping hand, the World Restaurant Awards has unveiled its list of little-known restaurants across the globe that are worth visiting, from haute-cuisine to affordable.

"The Off-Map award is for restaurants in a remote location that are off-the-beaten-track and worth the journey," a spokesperson for the awards told Business Insider.

"They are not required to be a minimum or maximum number of miles away from a city, but the journey should be an uplifting and notable experience."

Read more: The 50 best restaurants in the world in 2018

The list is created by a gender-balanced judging panel of over 100 experts representing 36 different countries, including chefs, journalists, and industry influencers. Famous chefs such as Clare Smyth, David Chang, Yotam Ottolenghi, René Redzepi, Hélène Darroze, and Massimo Bottura were all part of the panel.

The winners of all categories will be announced at the World Restaurant Awards ceremony in Paris on February 18 2019.

Scroll down to see the top 28 "off-map" restaurants.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best bars in the world in 2018

1. Slippurinn, Westman Islands, Iceland

This cosy, family-run restaurant serves local, sustainable, seasonal food on a site that was formerly a machine workshop serving the old shipyard. 

2. Boca Valdivia, Ecuador

Instagram Embed:
//instagram.com/p/BrgiDkml-LR/embed
Width: 540px

Situated right on the Ecuadorean coast, the restaurant focuses on sustainability and traditional culture.

3. Wolfgat, South Africa

Instagram Embed:
//instagram.com/p/BqmeHiSH3bb/embed
Width: 540px

Another coastal spot, Wolfgat is a 20-seat fine-dining restaurant named after a nearby cave, which has huge archaeological and geological significance. It serves up foraged dune spinach and indigenous plants such as soutslaai.

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. Current subscribers can read the report here.

Fintech hubs — cities where startups, talent, and funding congregate — are proliferating globally in tandem with ongoing disruption in financial services. 

These hubs are all vying to become established fintech centers in their own right, and want to contribute to the broader financial services ecosystem of the future. Their success depends on a variety of factors, including access to funding and talent, as well as the approach of relevant regulators.

This report compiles various fintech snapshots, which together highlight the global spread of fintech, and show where governments and regulatory bodies are shaping the development of national fintech industries. Each provides an overview of the fintech industry in a particular country or state in Asia or Europe, and details what is contributing to, or hindering its further development. We also include notable fintechs in each geography, and discuss what the opportunities or challenges are for that particular domestic industry.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Most countries in Europe have made some formal attempt to foster the development of domestic fintech industries, with Germany and Ireland seeing the best results so far. France, meanwhile, got off to a slow start, but that's starting to change. 
• The Asian fintech scene took off later than in the US or Europe, but it's seen rapid growth lately, particularly in India, China, and Singapore.
• The increasing importance of technology-enabled products and services within the financial services ecosystem means the global fintech industry isn't going anywhere. 
• Fintech hubs will continue to proliferate, with leaders emerging in each region.
• The future fintech landscape will be molded by regulatory bodies — national and international — as they seek to mitigate the risks, and leverage the opportunities, presented by fintech. 

 In full, the report:

• Explores the fintech industry in six countries or states, and identifies individual fintech hubs.
• Highlights successful fintechs in each region.
• Outlines the challenges and opportunities each country or state faces. 
• Gives insight into the future of the global fintech industry. 

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
	Access to all future reports and daily newsletters
	Forecasts of new and emerging technologies in your industry
	And more!

Learn More

Purchase & download the full report from our research store

Join the conversation about this story »

• Google is developing "Minority Report"-style gesture controls for computers.
• The company first announced Project Soli, which lets you operate devices by making gestures in the air, back in 2015.
• This week, the FCC granted the Alphabet-owned company a crucial waiver to allow it to continue developing the tech.

Google's wild plans to build computers you can control with hand gestures just took a significant step forward.

Late on Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US regulator, said it would grant Google a waiver to operate sensors for "Project Soli" at higher power levels than currently allowed.

It's a sign that the Alphabet-owned company continues to push forward with developing the "Minority Report"-style tech, years after it was first flashily announced in 2015.

The FCC said the decision "will serve the public interest by providing for innovative device control features using touchless hand gesture technology."

A Google spokeswoman did not immediately comment on Tuesday, citing the New Year's day holiday.

The tech — in theory — lets users control computers by making hand gestures in the air around them. You might press an individual button with your thumb and index finger, or turn a virtual dial by rubbing your thumb and index finger together.

The company says that "even though these controls are virtual, the interactions feel physical and responsive" as feedback is generated by the haptic sensation of fingers touching.

Google says the virtual tools can approximate the precision of natural human hand motion and the sensor can be embedded in wearables, phones, computers, and vehicles.

The FCC said the Soli sensor captures motion in a three-dimensional space using a radar beam to enable touchless control of functions or features that can benefit users with mobility or speech impairments.

In March, Google asked the FCC to allow its short-range interactive motion-sensing Soli radar to operate in the 57- to 64-GHz frequency band at power levels consistent with European Telecommunications Standards Institute standards.

Facebook, however, had raised concerns with the FCC that the Soli sensors operating in the spectrum band at higher power levels might have issues coexisting with other technologies.

After discussions, Google and Facebook jointly told the FCC in September that they agreed the sensors could operate at higher than currently allowed power levels without interference but at lower levels than previously proposed by Google.

Facebook told the FCC in September that it expected a "variety of use cases to develop with respect to new radar devices, including Soli."

In its order, the FCC also said that the Soli devices can be operated aboard aircraft — but must still comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules governing portable electronic devices.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via Signal or WhatsApp at +1 (650) 636-6268 using a non-work phone, email at rprice@businessinsider.com, Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at @robaeprice. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

• Read more:
• Google CEO Sundar Pichai's testimony to Congress exposed the abject failings and futility of Washington's version of tech policy
• Facebook endured a staggering number of scandals and controversies in 2018 — here they all are
• Facebook quietly killed its Building 8 skunkworks unit as it reshuffles its cutting-edge experiments and hardware
• Facebook veterans are changing the world of blockchain and crypto startups: Here are 15 ex-Facebook employees who went crypto

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The legendary economist who predicted the housing crisis says the US will win the trade war

• Evidence is mounting that market liquidity is drying up, a report from Deutsche Bank released in the final days of 2018 says.
• Slumping liquidity, or fewer investors buying and selling, raises concerns for 2019, a team of analysts from the bank wrote.
• Such a decline, they said, has echoes of what happened prior to the financial crisis.
• "We recall that the unwinding of quant funds in August 2007 and macro funds in October 2015 were harbingers of subsequent market turbulence."

Declining liquidity and a surge in the number of hedge fund redemptions have eerie similarities to events prior to the financial crisis and could be "harbingers" of further market turmoil to come in 2019.

Writing on December 28, a Deutsche Bank team led by analyst Masao Muraki said that liquidity has started to dry up in certain areas of the market, and that this is a concern for the already battered global stocks. Lower liquidity generally means bigger swings in market prices because fewer trades generate a bigger impact on the market. 

As liquidity declines, Deutsche Bank's analysts write, so the number of hedge fund redemptions increases, something that could be not only a "harbinger" for further market volatility, but that also has echoes of the months before the financial crisis.

"News of hedge fund redemptions has emerged since October 2018," Muraki and his team wrote. "The sustained high level of volatility has worsened the profitability of consensus trades based on market momentum, and the fall-off in market liquidity has generally hurt their performance as well." 

If the markets continue their negative trajectory, and early signs in 2019 are that they are likely to do so, then falling liquidity could help make downward moves even larger.

Read more: A star economist says these 30 risks will define markets in 2019

"We recall that the unwinding of quant funds in August 2007 and macro funds in October 2015 were harbingers of subsequent market turbulence," they continue.

Evaporating liquidity in parts of the market in late 2007 is seen by many as one of the first concrete signs that the financial crisis was beginning to crystallize.

In August 2007, France's largest bank, BNP Paribas, froze withdrawals from three investment funds, citing "the complete evaporation of liquidity in certain market segments, which it said "made it impossible to value certain assets fairly regardless of their quality or credit rating."

The event was cited by Alistair Darling, the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, as the moment he knew that a major crisis was on its way.

Deutsche Bank is not the first institution to warn about falling liquidity. Back in July 2018, Rick Rieder, the chief investment officer of global fixed income at asset management giant BlackRock said that tightening policy from global central banks is straining bond market liquidity and is starting to send shockwaves through markets

Muraki and his team's report ends on a somewhat reassuring note: things are not yet at pre-crisis levels.

"We believe the level of maturity and liquidity transformation in advanced economies is lower than before the global financial crisis," they conclude.

SEE ALSO: If you thought 2018 was bad for markets, a cocktail of fears is set to make 2019 even worse

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape