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There is potentially a positive development for Hyundai drivers after a surge in thefts has rocked many cities across the nation, and left drivers of certain vehicles with few options to ease their fears.

Automaker Hyundai announced late on Thursday it has partnered with independently operated AAA insurers to offer drivers an insurance option after several major insurers announced they would no longer cover certain theft-prone vehicles.

The trouble for Hyundai and Kia owners started last year when videos posted on social media exposed a security vulnerability and method to easily steal certain models, made from 2011 to 2021, that lacked a device inside that would prevent it from being stolen without a key present.

Immediately following the circulation of those videos, Hyundai and Kia thefts skyrocketed in certain pockets of the country, including here in Chicago.

NBC 5 Responds has been tracking the theft wave and found there was an 890% increase in the number of Hyundai and Kia vehicles stolen citywide, amounting to thousands of cars, according to data from the Chicago Police Department.

This new insurance option from Hyundai comes after earlier this year, two of the largest U.S. auto insurers State Farm and Progressive announced they would no longer be accepting new Hyundai or Kia customers, based on how risky the cars are to drive.

Both companies attributed the policy changes to the surge in thefts.

This is a serious problem impacting our customers and the entire auto insurance industry, a spokesperson for State Farm insurance said this past February. We take seriously our responsibility to manage risk and the impact of excess claim costs on all our customers.

Progressive said in addition to limiting new customers, existing Hyundai and KIA customers may also see rate increases.

During the past year weve seen theft rates for certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles more than triple and in some markets these vehicles are almost 20 times more likely to be stolen than other vehicles, a Progressive spokesperson told NBC 5 Responds. In response, in some geographic areas we have increased our rates and limited our sale of new insurance policies on some of these models.

While drivers may have been frustrated by the news, the Consumer Federation of America told NBC 5 in this case, the insurers were doing what theyre supposed to.

It's really important that insurance companies send signals to consumers about what is going to be safe on the road, said Doug Heller with Consumer Federation of America. It's just amazing to me that the car makers have let it get this far.

Last month, a coalition of 23 state attorneys general and consumer protection offices blasted Hyundai and Kia for each companys failure to address thefts of their vehicles nationwide; a problem that the states say was created by the automakers themselves.

Hyundai and Kia have announced a new software patch that they hope will curb the thefts, and fix that security vulnerability.

Hyundai said this week that it has expedited the roll out of the free anti-theft software upgrade for affected vehicles, and that all of the nearly four million vehicles involved will be eligible for the upgrade this week, two months ahead of the original schedule.

A potential solution is on its way for millions of Hyundai and Kia drivers whose vehicles are more vulnerable to theft, but safety advocates believe the free fix may have come too late and doesnt go far enough. Lexi Sutter has the story.

Kia acknowledged it has made progress with its software upgrade program, telling NBC 5, Before the end of April, Kia will have contacted close to 75% of their total affected population and is seeing strong response from owners for installation.

While the software option is available for Kia owners, they are not eligible for the insurance option announced by Hyundai.

A spokesperson for Kia told NBC 5, Kia America does not have information to share at this time on whether it will partner with AAA or another company to provide similar insurance to owners of affected Kia vehicles.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motors CEO Randy Parker said the automaker believes this partnership with AAA insurers will provide support for those who were having difficulty securing and sustaining auto insurance as a result of the increased criminal activity targeting Hyundai vehicles.

Hyundai drivers can learn more about the insurance option and get a quote by visiting AAA.com/insurance.

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Hyundai Offering Drivers Insurance Options For Theft-Prone Vehicles - NBC Chicago

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., left, arrives at federal court in San Jose, California, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

As part of Meta's latest round of job cuts announced in March, the company on Wednesday started laying off employees in technical roles.

Employees with technical backgrounds like user experience, software engineering, graphics programming and other roles announced on LinkedIn that they had been let go by the company on Wednesday morning. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to CNBC the cuts had started.

One employee impacted by the moves told CNBC that Wednesday's layoffs also hit product-facing teams and that Meta plans to cut business-facing roles, such as finance, legal and HR, beginning in May. The employee, who discussed the layoffs under condition of anonymity to speak freely, said Meta suggested tech teams who weren't impacted by Wednesday's cuts may also be included in layoffs next month.

LinkedIn posts indicated that multiple people who worked as gameplay programmers were also affected by the layoffs. Gameplay engineers work on virtual and augmented reality products, according to a Meta job listing.

"I woke up this morning to the unfortunate news that I was one of the many laid-off from Meta today," a Facebook business program manager wrote on Linkedin.

With ad revenue slumping last year and its stock price in free-fall, Facebook's parent announced its first round of layoffs in November, affecting some 11,000 workers. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg then declared 2023 the "year of efficiency," and proceeded with a plan of an additional 10,000 job cuts in March, resulting in restructuring costs of between $3 billion and $5 billion.

As Zuckerberg said at the time, the new round of April layoffs targets technical workers. He said cuts in the business groups would take place in late May.

Wall Street has applauded the downsizing. Meta shares have soared 81% this year after losing about two-thirds of their value last year. Revenue has declined for three straight quarters, and analysts are projecting another quarterly sales drop when Meta reports its first-quarter earnings next week. The company's previous guidance called for sales of between $26 billion and $28.5 billion, which means the streak of revenue declines could end if Meta reaches the top end of the range.

While its core business is mired in an online ad slump, Meta is spending billions of dollars a quarter developing technology for the metaverse, representing a huge and risky bet on a nascent market that's yet to crack the mainstream. Last quarter, Meta's Reality Labs unit, tasked with building the metaverse, recorded a $4.28 billion operating loss, bringing the unit's total losses for 2022 to $13.72 billion.

Watch: How TikTok ban will benefit other social media giants like Meta and Twitter

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Meta has started its latest round of layoffs, focusing on technical employees - CNBC

Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of devices and services at Google

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Google will launch its first foldable smartphone sometime in June, challenging Samsung's market-leading foldable phone business, according to internal communications viewed by CNBC. It plans to announce the device at its annual developer conference, Google I/O, on May 10.

The Pixel Fold, known internally by the codename "Felix," will have the "most durable hinge on a foldable" phone, according to the documents. It will cost upward of $1,700 and compete with Samsung's $1,799 Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Google plans to market the Pixel Fold as water-resistant and pocket-sized, with an outside screen that measures 5.8 inches across, according to the documents. Photos viewed by CNBC show that the phone will open like a book to reveal a small tablet-sized 7.6-inch screen, the same size as the display on Samsung's competitor. It weighs 10oz, slightly heavier than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, but it has a larger battery that Google says will last for 24 hours, or up to 72 hours in a low power mode.

The Pixel Fold is powered by Google's Tensor G2 chip, according to the documents. That's the same processor that launched in the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones last year.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment.

While hardware is a small fraction of Googles revenue, the Pixel Fold is the most expensive phone in the company's Google Pixel family.Google has been working on the software, including Android and its app store Google Play, for third-party devices made by companies like Samsung, the current folding phone market leader.

The Pixel Fold will give Google a chance to show what a fully Google-made foldable phone experience is like. Other Pixels, for example, have exclusive features that aren't available on all Android phones, like photo editing options that are powered by the Tensor processor.

The launch comes amid questions about Google and Samsung's relationship. Earlier this week, Alphabet shares fell more than 3.5% Monday after a Times report said Samsung is reportedly considering changing its default search engine from Google to Microsoft's Bing for its lineup of smartphones, which drives an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue to Google.

The Alphabet-owned company will offer incentives in a bid to convince people to switch to the Pixel Fold, according to documentation. For example, Google plans to offer a trade-in option to swap in a current Pixel, iPhone or an Android-powered phone for a discount on the Pixel Fold. It also plans to offer a free Pixel Watch, the company's latest smartwatch, to Pixel Fold buyers.

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Google to launch its first foldable phone, the 'Pixel Fold,' in June - CNBC

New Delhi (India), April 18:PE Front Office, established in Gurugram in 2013 by Anup Kumar Adlakha and Ankur Agarwal, is a B2B SaaS solution provider that caters to the Alternative Investment Management industry. With 100 plus customers in over 15 countries, PE Front Office offers state-of-the-art solutions to address the most dynamic challenges that Alternative Investment managers face across processes such as Deal Flow, Fundraising, Investment Management, Portfolio Monitoring, Investor Management, and Fund Administration.

We talked to the Co-FounderAnkur Agarwal, who shared his insights about the alternative investment management industry, how technology can speed up processes, and how does the future look like with the latest technology trends.

What inspired you to create a platform for the Alternative Investment Management Sector?

In 2013, when Anup and I were working in a private equity firm in the UK, we noticed a huge gap in the software space catering to the Alternative Investment Industry. We realized that technology was at best being utilized to manage the Back-office operations, while the Front and Middle-office operations were managed largely with a manual approach using traditional tools like Excel or in-house developed solutions. We realized that this was because there was no convenient and efficient technological solution that could provide a great customer experience without committing huge resources of time and money.

To address this issue, we decided to use our expertise in technology and industry experience to develop a SaaS solution for the Alternative Investment industry. The solution was envisaged in such a way that it could be implemented within a short span of time and with a pay-as-you-go model so that it becomes easy for Alternative Investment Management firms to implement. As a result, in February 2013, we launched PE Front Office with its headquarters in Gurugram.

How to do the front office and middle office functions in a Private Equity Firm? Can you elucidate in simple terms for the layman?

While the definition of Front and Middle Office operations may slightly differ from firm to firm, in general, the Front Office operations entail:

Deal Flow i.e., management of potential investment opportunities and deal due-diligence operations.

Fundraising i.e., management of potential Investors and Investor Onboarding & KYC operations.

The Middle Office operations, on the other hand, encompass:

Investment Management i.e., management of investment cashflows and valuations and tracking of investment performance.

Portfolio Monitoring i.e., tracking of Financials/KPIs and ESG data of portfolio companies.

Investor Management i.e., management of investor relationships, drawdown/distribution operations, and reporting to investors.

Since Private Equity, Venture Capital, and other Alternative Investment Management firms required a tailored solution to meet their unique requirements, they were not quick to incorporate technology into their operations beyond the back office. Hence, the cloud-based PE Front Office solution was created to meet these specific requirements.

How have you customized your offerings to align with the needs of your customers?

Customized solutions are necessary to manage the distinct requirements of each market segment within the Alternative Investment Management industry. We love talking to our customers and keep gathering insights and feedback on various things. Today we can proudly say that who so ever takes a demo of our software very distinctly says that 90-95% of their requirements are already baked in our base version. We have been able to reach this stage because PE Front Office is easy to customize and adapt as per the need of the customer.

We initially concentrated on the Private Equity and Venture Capital market segments. However, with time, we started examining the requirements of other segments, such as Private Credit/Debt, Fund of Funds, and Family Offices and started developing solutions for them. For example, we customized our solution to meet the requirements of the Fund of Funds segment wherein theres a need to track the whole Fund of Funds ecosystem that includes investments made across Investee Companies as well as Investee Funds. Further, we upgraded our solution to meet the complex requirements of Private Credit/Debt Funds wherein an important task is to track Amortization Schedules with multiple debt scenarios. We also tailored our solution to incorporate dynamic requirements such as Hedging and Revenue-based financing model. Additionally, when it comes to reporting, the size fits all approach doesnt work. Hence, we began offering customized reports to meet the specific reporting requirements of each customer.

How have you grown as a company over the last ten years?

PE Front Officehas evolved strongly over the past decade. While our base version was aimed at addressing the common pain points of Private Equity and Venture Capital firms only, our latest version addresses the most dynamic challenges of the Alternative Investment Management industry and boasts brand new UX, role-based User Interfaces, Plug-ins, and Mobile Apps.

PE Front Office has expanded its base across different market segments such as Private Equity, Venture Capital, Private Credit/Debt, Fund of Funds, Limited Partners, Family Offices, and Fund Admins.

In specific terms, today, we are present in 15 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and offer services to over 100 customers. Of course, this is just the beginning, and we have miles to go before we can say weve met our goals.

What differentiates PE Front Office from other solutions available in the market?

PE Front Office offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that encompass all facets of the Alternative Investment lifecycle, including Deal Flow, Fundraising, Investment Management, Portfolio Monitoring, Investor Management, Investor Portal, and Fund Administration. The software has integrated plugins for Gmail and Outlook, facilitating communication with investors.

The PE Front Office solution is designed to enable Alternative Investment funds to analyze large volumes of data on investee companies to make informed decisions. At every stage of the investment lifecycle, the solution ensures a smooth and secure workflow, resulting in improved operational efficiency and better data quality for sound decision-making.

Our USP is our agile approach which enables us to focus on milestone-based project delivery resulting in one of the shortest implementation cycles in the industry. At PE Front Office, we give utmost importance to correctly understanding customer requirements as well as feedback from product demos and ensure that the same is incorporated into the solution. Additionally, our flexible framework allows for quick and inexpensive customizations. We aim to continually enhance our offerings to provide intelligent, personalized solutions to our clients.

What is your vision for the future?

In a technology-driven world, it is crucial for the Alternative Investment Management industry to adapt quickly and leverage available solutions to gain a competitive edge. We have completed an amazing decade, and we are ready for more. We hope to conquer new territories and add to our growing base of satisfied customers. We expect to stay ahead of the curve, adapt and reinvent our solution depending on the needs of the dynamic business landscape we operate in, and offer cutting-edge software solutions for our clients.

If you have any objection to this press release content, kindly contact pr.error.rectification[at]gmail.com to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 24 hours.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor.

(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here.To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)

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PE Front Office A software solution that can power your Alternative Investment Fund ahead - Free Press Journal

One CRM best practice is to create smart automations. Tapping into the efficiencies possible through CRM automation helps you harness your CRMs full power. Knowing what to automate can save your team time, reduce sales costs and ensure that important tasks do not fall through the cracks.

Content delivery is a prime function where you might create some automations in your CRM. For example, when a new lead is entered into your CRM, you might direct that lead to an automatic email welcome sequence or product-specific nurture email series.

You can use CRM automations to refine project workflows, reach out to unengaged contacts and keep customers updated on project progress. Lead scoring, sales forecasting, proposal management and process workflows can all be automated.

Automations can also be used to alert you to CRM metrics that matter most to you, such as buying patterns, sales team performance, conversion rates and performance patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

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10 CRM Best Practices In 2023 Forbes Advisor - Forbes