The Investment Idea Marketplace: Q&A With Harvest CEO Peter Hans

 

Harvest LogoInvestors are looking for ideas. That’s how one earns investment returns. But only the best-quality ideas matter — the others are just noise.

The world of marketplaces, where sellers and buyers meet without middlemen, ought to be a good place for those with money to invest to find others who have thoughts on where to invest. Two-year-old Harvest Exchange Corp. was set up to connect investors to ideas.

Max spoke with the marketplace’s founder and CEO, Peter Hans, about why investors need a place to share ideas, how the asset-management industry is consolidating, and what cool new things he’s seen recently.

 

Max: Tell us Harvest’s story.

Peter Hans: Harvest was founded in 2012 and we launched the platform in the fourth quarter of 2013.  We’re headquartered in Houston, Tex. and have an office in New York City.  Harvest’s user base is predominantly sophisticated, high net worth, accredited, and professional investors who use Harvest to both ‘discover’ and ‘be discovered.’  There are north of 5,000 investment firms, made up of tens of thousands of investors, managing over $5 trillion in assets, who have combined to share over 75,000 pieces of unique investment content.  This content is accessed by over 125,000 unique investors within Harvest, and far more externally.  Harvest users and firms are in over 150 countries, roughly 70% of which are in North America.

 

 

  • What problems is Harvest solving?

Harvest is dedicated to reducing inefficiencies and costs inherent across the investment industry business model. Harvest is taking a very unique approach to an old problem by leveraging technology and the power of quality, branded, crowd-sourced thought leadership to build an in-market network of investor “buyers” and “sellers.”  The top quality, curated content improves investor information access and product discovery, which promotes an organic environment of scalable, targeted, and regulatory compliant brand enhancement and reverse inquiry marketing.

While Harvest has features and functionality consistent with other ‘social networks,’ Harvest’s philosophy is different.  Social networks help people to interact and engage with their existing networks, however Harvest helps investors leverage the collective expertise to grow their networks and knowledge base.  Harvest aims to be the marketplace for investors, not the social network, and I feel that’s an important distinction.

 

 

  • What are some trends you are seeing in the markets? What do you expect will become important trends in the second half of the year?

The asset management industry is ever evolving, though I think the most interesting trend centers around consolidation and growth.  The large firms, whether on the sell or buy-side, continue to get larger while the boutiques will either be acquired or accept the official transition to a boutique/regional player.  I am seeing this clearly play out in firm’s marketing budgets and strategies as the larger, global firms, are increasingly investing time and resources in achieving a more scalable and data-driven growth plan.  It will be very interesting to see where the line in the sand is drawn and how smaller firms evolve their approach to client education, acquisition, communication and retention.

Marketplaces have helped to revolutionize other industries, both for the benefit of the buyer and seller, and we are in the very early innings of how this can be applied to the investment industry.  We are still a ways off from a full cultural adoption but it’s very clear to me, and to Harvest users, that there is substantial benefit in the approach.

 

 

  • What’s the coolest new thing you’ve seen recently?

Interesting question.  I’ve recently become familiar with Clearserve, which offers private banking clients and ultra-high-net-worth investors access to robust data aggregation for the purposes of enhanced reporting, risk exposure, and analytics.  Like harvest, Clearserve is also focused on solving an age-old industry pain point, and I think they are doing it very effectively.

I also think vertically integrated marketplace platforms like Fundrise are interesting, and potentially very powerful.  Fundrise has tackled a difficult-to-obtain asset class — commercial real estate– and made it available to accredited investors through the creation of tracking securities.  Platforms like this are very difficult to build as it’s reliant on access to deal flow, and the subsequent growth of buyers.  That said, Fundrise has done an amazing job of growing and improving both the platform and offerings in the face of these inherent challenges.

 

 

  • Looking ahead to the rest of 2015, what do your members think will happen in the markets?

Harvest users are very diverse in asset class and strategy, as well as in macro viewpoints.  The best thing to do would be to discover those investors that you are interested in tracking, based on their expertise and knowledge, and receive notifications when their viewpoints are shared.

From Family Business to Powerhouse Company

The University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, in Vancouver, where the Business Families Centre is based.

The University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, in Vancouver, where the Business Families Centre is based.

The term “family business” conjures up a mom-and-pop store, perhaps a small factory or farm, where teens spend their summers working and all the executives are related. But beyond their ownership structures, successful family businesses are learning to move past their roots while keeping their values. Max spoke with experts at the Business Families Centre at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business in Vancouver about how families jumpstart innovation within enterprises.

 

Max:  What are the top 3 issues facing successful family businesses today?

Chira Perla, Program Director: Every family enterprise is unique, so this is actually a challenging question to answer.  I think the two overarching issues facing successful family enterprises remain transitions (and by this, I mean everything from succession or sale to the changing roles of family members within the management and ownership of the business) and governance (formal or informal, in the business, among the owners, and in the family).  These issues seem to be common and constant, regardless of the size of the organization, stage of ownership, or level of complexity.

 

What differences are you seeing in terms of second-generation family executives today compared to a generation ago?

Wendy Sage-Hayward, adjunct professor and family-business consultant: Automation.  Next-generation leaders are very comfortable with technology and therefore are using it in various ways to bring their family businesses into the 21st century (accounting systems, outsourcing warehousing and shipping, sales, customer relationship management software). They are also using social media for marketing and sales.

There are different areas of innovation that family businesses are taking advantage of.

Products/services: Families are funding peripheral start-up businesses for next generational family members. This is promoting entrepreneurialism as well as growing the family’s social and financial capital.

Family governance: Some families I work with are using Skype, Google Hangout or the like to hold family meetings when geographical distances keep them apart.

Technology: one family business I know is using 3D printers to create model products for their clients to view prior to manufacturing.

 

What are some new trends you’re seeing in family businesses, in terms of how they’re managing their enterprises or handling succession?

Perla: Initially, most of the families that accessed the BFC’s programming and resources were simply trying to develop a common vocabulary and understand the unique dynamics at play.  Many of these families were starting to consider the transition of the business, and realized that they needed tools and strategies to effectively deal with the intersecting roles of the family, the business, and ownership.

Now, as more business families are educating themselves and becoming quite savvy on family enterprise basics, we’re finding that they are seeking our help and support on more complex topics, such as advanced issues in governance, improving business acumen to better engage with professional advisors, intrapreneurship, and legacy building through family philanthropy.   On the whole, there is considerable buzz in the space on the topic of next (or rising) generation leadership, with much more attention being paid towards that generation’s identification, role, and training.  Finally, I’d say that today’s family firms generally recognize that succession is a process rather than an event, and are planning accordingly,

The Gardening-Leave Guide to Organizing Your Finances

Hit the road, Jack: Gardening leave is an ideal time to reevaluate your finances.

Hit the road, Jack: Gardening leave is an ideal time to reevaluate your finances.

Congratulations! You’re leaving your firm and embarking on a short paid vacation before starting a new role. During this gardening-leave period, you’re not permitted to work for your new company, and technically anything you produce still belongs to the firm you’re leaving. That means this is a perfect time to travel, read, and tackle the personal projects that you never have time to handle. Take this opportunity to make sure your finances are in order. Ideally your new job will mean you won’t have time to do this again for a while.

Here are some ways to get the most out of your gardening leave when it comes to financial organization.

 

– Documentation

Check that your will and the beneficiary designations on all your accounts are up-to-date, especially if you’ve had them for some time. Make sure you have a centralized list of all your accounts and benefits along with contact information. If someone had to call those institutions on your behalf, would they know how to reach the right person? It’s useful to keep a hard-copy “doomsday file” in a safe place for emergencies.

 

– Fee Review

What are your financial institutions charging you to manage your money?  Now is the time to look at the fees that you are paying for mutual funds, hedge funds, asset management, and credit cards, and banking. Don’t think you’re paying a fee? Consider what amount of money you have to keep with an institution to get “fee-free” services. Could that money be better invested elsewhere?

A new service called FeeX scans your retirement accounts, shows you exactly what you’re paying, and suggests similar products that cost less. Over time, money not spent on fees can compound into an important component of your portfolio.

 

-Legacy

Take a look at your charitable giving as a percentage of your income and consider whether it’s at the level you want. Also think about how you’re structuring your donations. Depending on your pace of giving, you may want to evaluate setting up a family foundation or a donor-advised fund, like Fidelity Charitable. This may allow you to maximize the tax benefits of your gifts.

Now is also a good time to think about your charitable involvement. Ask yourself whether you want to join a nonprofit board, or continue with one you’re already on. If you’re anticipating a lack of time with your new job, this may be the time to step back from volunteering or find a less time-intensive way to help.

 

-Asset Allocation

Review how you are allocating your assets among stocks, bonds, cash, real estate, and other investments. Look also at retirement and educational savings. Talk to your financial advisor about areas where you should rebalance.

Few investors think hard about their cash. This is money on the sidelines that could be working harder for you. Take a look at the yield your cash is earning in the bank. If you prefer to keep this portion of your portfolio liquid, consider online savings accounts, which pay as much as 10 times the national average in interest.

A MaxMyInterest membership can help you earn dramatically more: our members now earn about 90 basis points – 0.90% – more on their cash than the average of 0.09%. For a member with $1 million in the Max system, that comes to an additional $9000 or so each year in extra interest. Gardening leave is the perfect time to make sure you’re not leaving money on the table before you start your new job.

 

Ideas to Watch: A Q&A With Octavian Report Founder Richard Hurowitz

The latest issue of Octavian Report.

The latest issue of Octavian Report.

What’s Max reading these days? A newsletter called The Octavian Report, which comes out with its second issue today. It’s a thinking person’s compendium of interviews and articles on the top ideas of the moment.

The magazine’s founder is Richard Hurowitz, an investor and entrepreneur who previously founded and ran Octavian Advisors, a $1.4 billion global hedge fund firm that invested in fifty countries on six continents. Published six times per year, the print-and-online publication is subscription-only ($1,050 annually).

Basis Points spoke with Hurowitz about the new magazine and the geopolitical and market trends he’s seeing.

What’s the concept behind Octavian? Why did you start the magazine? Who are your readers? 

The idea behind The Octavian Report is to provide the kind of insight and access that the world’s leading investment firms create for themselves, including concrete investment ideas and risk analysis.  It is to create a platform and community of leading experts on topics that are currently in the forefront or which we think readers should be thinking about.  It is a mix of interviews, analysis and opportunities presented in a concise format that is easily digested.    We also will offer calls, events and other forms of access to our contributors.

The magazine is not focused on breaking news, but on thoughtful analysis.  Our readers are investors, decision-makers, thought leaders and anyone interested in real ideas.  We will also cover culture, including film, books, art and history.  Our first issue included interviews with Vice President Cheney, former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, famed economist Nouriel Roubini, and Clinton Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, and articles by Steven Cook of the CFR, film critic Jeffrey Lyons, and best-selling historian David Nasaw, among others.

As you look at 2015, what are the biggest geopolitical stories you see playing out?

I am concerned that extremist political parties will continue to gain power and influence in Europe and potentially endanger the Eurozone by changing the current bailout framework in an unsustainable way.

I think Vladimir Putin and the continuing crisis in the Ukraine is going to be a major story.  It’s unclear how it will play out and there is a possibility of miscalculation on both sides.  The more pressure he’s under, whether from the oil price or politics, the more concerning it is and Ukraine is far more critical to Russia than to us.

The fallout from any nuclear deal with Iran is going to be a big deal as well.  The Middle East has become more and more complicated and doesn’t feel like its getting better.

Name 3 people we’re going to hear more about this year: under-appreciated world leaders, emerging power players, philanthropists, up-and-comers…

  • Matteo Renzi, prime minister of Italy, is 40 years old and Italy has become a linch-pin of the Eurozone
  • Scott Walker seems to me like he may become a serious contender for the GOP nomination or vice presidency.
  • Dr. Jim Allison, the founder of immunotherapy, will get the Nobel Prize soon.
  • I think there will also continue to be a focus on what Modi is able to accomplish in India

What are some trends you see for the world financial markets this year? 

  • Equity markets feel overheated to me in the short-term
  • I am concerned about a return to a euro crisis stemming from a sudden political changes on the Continent
  • I think more people may become interested in gold
  • The bond market feels like an accident waiting to happen, but central banks seem determined to keep rates down

In 2014 we heard frequently about economic inequality. Is there an idea that will come to the fore this year?

I don’t think concerns about income or wealth inequality are going to go away.  Ironically, most economists would say that excessive quantitative easing and increased growth in government, the policies pushed by the left, generally leads to an increase in income inequality.  Social unrest in Europe is a serious potential problem but the reform necessary does not seem to be in the making or politically tenable.

Intellectual Horsepower

01-2012-tesla-model-s-fd-1347336745Brains are replacing brawn throughout the economy.

So it’s not a surprise that the last bastion of American muscle, the automobile, is ripe for disruption. This week’s revelation – that Apple is developing an electric car that it hopes to bring to market by 2020 – is a logical, albeit ambitious, progression as Apple seeks to create the ultimate mobile device.

For the past 100 years, cars have been marketed on performance: horsepower, torque, engine displacement, acceleration. But what if user experience is more important? Fundamentally, all cars go from point A to point B. But how enjoyable and productive can that journey be? Perhaps rather than thinking about travel time, we need to think about productive travel time – the car, after all, is just another work space. By the time cars drive themselves (which, according to Google and Tesla, is not far off), a car can be a mobile office. Surely the new Apple car – by the time it is released in 2020 – ought to be self-driving.

The new horsepower, I would argue, is interface. Performance is taken for granted. For years, the leading Android phones have had more horsepower under the hood than the iPhone, with better technical specs across the board. But who cares? Apple has better software and a better-integrated user experience. And it’s Apple’s phones that command premium pricing, not because of the hardware, but because of the seamless melding of hardware and software (and some pretty great marketing too.)

hero-01-LHDTelsa – with its stunning Model S – has captured the heart of Silicon Valley. It encapsulates all the Valley’s values, and has become the car among VCs for all the right reasons: it’s modern, elegant, technologically superior, and changed the rules, disrupting a massive old-line industry in the way that only dreamers can. The vehicle is sleek and its performance metrics impressive, but what impresses people most is the stunning 17” touchscreen console. Picture a giant iPad running Google maps for navigation on top with your Twitter feed on the bottom. It’s an instant sale.

So what does this mean for Ford and GM and the rest of the major auto OEMs? Watch out.

Traditional auto companies have long operated under an assembly-and-test model. Most parts are outsourced. The only major component they build themselves is the engine, and that’s where all the margin is. It’s why the industry has resisted drivetrain innovation for so long. Take away the engine, and you take away the profit. Back in 2000, at least one of the Big 3 automakers had a fuel cell that was the size of a briefcase, ran on hydrogen, and emitted only pure water. Using this fuel cell, the company could have manufactured a zero-emission vehicle. But the project was scrapped, largely because swapping out the engine would mean saying goodbye to 100 years of production efficiency gains – and some $3,000 of profit per vehicle.

Beyond manufacturing, the major automakers are marketing companies. Each brand tells a story, and people tend to buy the brands that most closely reflect their values: luxury, performance, muscle, rebellion, family. But Apple knows a thing or two about marketing. With all the data collected from your iPhone, an expert system may already know precisely which model of car will suit you best, which could lead to dramatic efficiencies in producing just the right product mix for the market at any point in time.

How hard could it be for Apple to go from 0 to 60 in a whole new sector? Can they meet the ambitious goal of producing a world class automobile in 5 years, vs. the industry norm of 7? I wouldn’t bet against it. BMW recently did a study of how a switch to all-electric cars would impact their engineering staff. The result? 90% of engineers wouldn’t be needed. An electric vehicle is so much simpler to engineer, as there are far fewer moving parts, and fewer systems to coordinate. Eliminate spark plugs, pistons, oil, cooling systems, transmission, exhaust, and all the interplay between them and what’s left is a much simpler machine.

Apple exudes engineering prowess and style. And by controlling the car’s operating system, they can create a fully integrated experience. Imagine a self-driving car that reads your iPhone calendar and automatically drives you to your next meeting. And since your iWatch knows how well you slept the night before, the car can evaluate traffic patterns and see if there’s time to stop at Starbucks along the way.

What does all this mean for investors? Carl Icahn’s prediction that Apple will reach one trillion dollars in market capitalization may not be that far off. But the other end of that trade might be just as important: will the incumbent automakers be able to compete?

5 Tips for Making the Most of Tax Time

IRS-hqYou’ve been smart all year long about how you organize your finances. Now that tax season is here, make sure you’re doing everything necessary to take advantage of your efforts during the past year. Here are our best tips for preparing for April 15th:

– Keep It Together

Prepare a file, and into it put all tax-related documents – W-2s, 1099s, and other forms – as they arrive in the mail. When you’ve collected all the forms you receive from employers, banks, and funds, sit down and scan them to your computer as PDFs (or take a photo of each on your smartphone) so that you can easily send them to your accountant. You can use something like FilecenterDMS.com to make this process easier as you can sort the documents as you scan with this platform, meaning you’ll know where everything is and where everything should be. You’ll then be able to store them on your own computer or on a cloud storage service like Dropbox so that if you get audited any time in the next 7 years, you’ll have the necessary documentation close at hand.

– Know Your Interest

Gather 1099-INT statements, which detail the interest you’ve earned, for all your bank and brokerage accounts . If you’re a member of MaxMyInterest.com, you can use the new Consolidiated Tax Reporting feature to automatically gather all your 1099’s for you and put them into one password-protected PDF that you can print or forward to your accountant. Couldn’t be simpler.

– Watch Your Calendar

If you are required to file taxes for different states or municipalities, such as New York City, you may have to keep notes on which days you are physically present in each place. To document these moves, be sure to keep taxi receipts, airplane boarding passes, and other papers that can prove where you were on a specific date. Scan them in case your accountant needs them in an audit. For a more streamlined 21st century solution, try MileIQ, an innovative iPhone/Android app that leverages the GPS in your phone to automatically track your location and deductible mileage in an IRS-compliant manner.

– Track Your Deductions

If you’re entitled to take deductions for items such as mortgage interest or money you’ve contributed to a 529 college-savings account, be certain your accountant has the right documents to provide proof. Check your returns prior to filing to ensure these deductions have been properly incorporated into your returns.

– Make Charity Count

Keeping a spreadsheet of your charitable donations during the year helps at tax time. You can maintain a running tally to ensure you’re donating your target percentage of income. Your accountant will also need printouts or digital copies of receipts for your donations. Don’t forget to include anything you’ve donated in kind, from school auction items to charity thrift shops.

Tax time is also a good time to review your investment strategy. Were you careful about tax loss harvesting to match capital gains and losses? Are your dividends and interest producing regular cash flow that you might want to divert into other investments? If you’re not earning at least 1.00% on the cash portion of your portfolio, you might consider a service like MaxMyInterest.com to help generate incremental yield while keeping your cash FDIC-insured.

American Express Raises its Online Savings Rate to 0.90%

What would you do with an extra 0.89% of interest each year?

What would you do with an extra 0.89% of interest each year?

Continuing the trend of rising interest rates, this morning American Express increased the rate it offers on its Personal Savings accounts to 0.90%. This represents American Express’ second rate increase in two months.

Online savings rates have been rising rapidly since December, with several banks now offering more than 1.00% in interest on FDIC-insured bank deposits. For investors, this represents a compelling opportunity to finally earn more on the cash portion of their portfolios after five years of near-zero interest rates.

This stands in contrast to the Bankrate.com national savings average, which remains stuck at a paltry 0.09%. Brick and mortar banks have much higher overhead costs than their online peers, which contributes to their lower rates. It’s the same dynamic that makes online shopping compelling: just as a toy might cost less at Amazon.com versus buying that same item at Toys-R-Us, online banks are able to pass on the efficiency of transacting online to their depositors by paying higher rates. Since online bank deposits are FDIC-insured in the same manner as brick-and-mortar bank deposits, depositors can rest easy knowing that their deposits at leading online banks such as GE Capital Bank, Barclays, Ally Bank and American Express are just as safe as deposits at their brick-and-mortar peers, so long as total deposits are held below the FDIC-insurance limits, currently $250,000 per bank, per depositor, per account type (individual and joint accounts count as separate account types.)

With Max, we’ve created a system that helps depositors mange their cash more intelligently. Our members link their existing brick-and-mortar savings accounts to a number of higher-yielding online bank accounts. Max then monitors changes in interest rates, and periodically tells your banks to transfer funds between your own accounts so as to maximize yield, even as interest rates change. By default, Max also helps keep your cash below the FDIC insurance limit at each bank, so that you know that your cash is safe. And with Max, there’s no change to the manner in which you interact with your existing bank – direct deposit, bill pay, and access to tellers and notaries remain unchanged.

With American Express’ latest rate increase, Max members are now earning a weighted average 0.98% on cash – that’s 0.89% more than the national savings average, and 0.97% than the yield on most money market funds. Today, many members are earning as much as 1.05% on their first $250,000 being optimized by Max.  And as rates continue to rise, Max members benefit automatically.

What could you do with an extra 0.89% of ‘found money’ each year? Save it, of course, and let it compound. Or donate it to your favorite charitable organization. Or take your family on a nice vacation. You can try out the Max calculator to see what this might mean for you.

The Race to the Top is On

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 9.25.47 AM

Max members are currently earning dramatically more than the national savings average.

Barclays became the fourth bank in the past week to raise the interest rate it pays on online savings, raising its rate from 0.90% to 1.00%.  With this rate hike, savvy investors are able to earn 100x as much as they could in uninsured money market funds, or 10x more than they could in most brick-and-mortar bank accounts.  With individual investors holding $900 billion in U.S. money market funds today, were all these investors to use Max instead, they could earn a collective $8.9 billion more each year in interest income.

But what does that mean for an individual investor?  An extra 0.90% of yield amounts to an extra $900 per year per $100,000 of cash on deposit.  This is effectively found money, and it can be put to good use — reinvested to compound over time, contributed towards tuition or a family vacation, or donated to a charitable cause that’s meaningful to you.  You can use the Max calculator to see how much more you could earn.

Certainly, there are other ways to earn higher yield, but most involve locking up money for longer periods of time, or taking on risk.  With Max, cash is spread across your own FDIC-insured bank accounts at leading financial institutions such as Barclays, GE Capital and American Express, ready for you to access it when you need it.  Max tracks changes in rates for you, helping your cash move to where it can earn the highest yields, automatically.

You can learn more at www.MaxMyInterest.com.

Online Savings Rates Continue to Rise

Max members are continuing to benefit from a rise in rates offered by online banks.

This morning, American Express increased the interest rate paid on its Personal Savings online accounts to 0.85%.  This comes on the heels of GE Capital Bank‘s rate increase on Monday.

For Americans with substantial cash balances, the ability to spread deposits across multiple online banks helps keep larger amounts of cash safe via increased FDIC insurance, while dramatically increasing yield vs. other alternatives, such as brick-and-mortar savings accounts or money market funds.  Max makes it easy to manage a basket of these accounts, monitoring changes in interest rates and automatically reallocating cash among your accounts to seek the best combination of yield and FDIC insurance protection.  Max charges a small fee of 0.02% each quarter for this service.

For months we’ve been predicting a rise in rates, and in turn a widening of the spread between the yield available from the network of online banks supported by Max vs. the national savings average.  Max members are now earning a weighted average 0.93%, as compared to the Bankrate.com national savings average of 0.09% or most money market funds that yield only 0.01%.

More information about Max can be found at MaxMyInterest.com.

GE Capital Bank Raises its Online Savings Rate to 1.05%

Max members continue to earn dramatically more than the national savings average.

Max members continue to earn dramatically more than the national savings average.

This morning, Max members began earning even more on their cash, without lifting a finger.

GE Capital Bank again raised the interest rate it pays on its online savings accounts, from 0.95% to 1.05%. Max members who have GE Capital Bank accounts will benefit immediately.  With Max, there is no need to monitor interest rates, login to accounts to check balances or order funds transfers. Max takes care of all of this automatically, in the background, with no user intervention required.

GE Capital Bank’s increase in rates is another data point suggesting that the rise in bank interest rates that we’ve long been expecting is taking hold. Since the financial crisis, traditional brick-and-mortar banks have continuously cut rates to match the decline in bond yields and manage their balance sheets. Investors have suffered. Yet the online banks – most with different business models than traditional brick-and-mortar banks – can put incremental deposits to good use. As rates start to rise, we expect more entropy in rates, along with a widening of the spread between the interest rates offered by online banks vs. their brick-and-mortar peers. This means that it will become all the more important to focus on whether your cash is optimally invested.

Today, our Max members as a whole are earning a weighted average 0.92% on their cash that’s being optimized, automatically. That’s 0.83% more than the Bankrate.com national savings average of 0.09%, and 0.91% more than most money market funds. With GE Capital Bank’s latest rate increase, Max members are earning as much as 1.05%, FDIC-insured.  You can learn more about Max and how to join at MaxMyInterest.com