Intangible Assets Support U.S. Manufacturing
U.S. Manufacturing is on the rise. Between new technologies and the ‘re-shoring’ of jobs, the U.S. is the only industrial nation to maintain positive manufacturing growth over the past three years. This positive growth has fueled capital expenditures on traditional tangible assets such as plant, property and equipment (PP&E). As Ocean Tomo Chief Executive Officer James Malackowski stated in their 2015 Intangible Asset Market Value Study, “Fueled by a three-fold wage increas
The Fuzzy, Incomplete, Valuations of Tech Startups
Accurate business valuations have always been difficult. This difficulty has only increased over the past decade with the rise of Intangible Assets. No industry has shown this more so than the fast-paced tech industry. The industry has been built on Intangible Assets such as patents and software, making traditional financial statements nearly useless when it comes to business valuations. This issue was outlined recently in an article from Bloomberg Business. The article,

Intangible Assets Increase to 84% of the S&P 500's Value in 2015 Report
Intangible Assets continue to be the greatest asset to today’s companies. Ocean Tomo, an Intellectual Property merchant bank, have released their 2015 Intangible Asset Market Value Study which values the S&P 500’s Intangible Assets at 84% of total value. This value represents 4% growth from 2005, 16% from 1995 and a staggering 52% growth from 1985. These figures highlight the importance of Intangible Assets. To compete in today’s global market, you must be actively develop
Sony and Microsoft Hack Hurts Brand Value
With a combined total of over 150 million users, Sony's PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live ecosystems of software and servers are large, critical, chunks of two of the world's most recognizable brands. While Sony started life as a consumer electronics hardware manufacturer and Microsoft has dabbled in the same space, they both rely on their internally developed software to turn profits. This is why the cyber hacking attacks on their most valuable intangible asset
Lending Against Intangible Assets Gaining Acceptance
Companies have obtained capital through asset based lending (ABL) for years, leveraging assets such as plant, property and equipment in the exchange for cash. Now a new form of ABL is being utilized, lending against intangible assets. Banks are now recognizing intangible assets, especially intellectual property, as valuable assets that can be liquidated if the company cannot pay their debt. This new form of ABL allows companies that do not have valuable tangible assets – s
Global Governments Recognize R&D as a Measurable GDP Asset
One year ago today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) rewrote 86 years of history by recognizing research and development (R&D) expenditures as an investment in gross domestic product (GDP). Until July 31, 2013, R&D spending was classified as an intermediate expense used during production of a good or service and not a final expenditure. The change immediately increased the United States GDP by 2.7%. As the economic community evolves into the 21st century acknowledging