Jupiter's de Blonay eyes 'bank-like' Google and Amazon

Jupiter's Guy de Blonay is eyeing the opportunities that lie in Google and Amazon's foray into financial markets.

Internet giants are waking up to new ways of exploiting their online dominance by taking tentative steps to establish themselves as providers of financial services, de Blonay (pictured) said, arguing that companies like Amazon and Google are increasingly behaving like banks.

'Google recently announced it would offer credit ranging from $200 to $100,000 a month to customers to help them pay for Adwords, the search engine’s online advertising programme.   Google said it did not rule out expanding its credit offering in the future,' de Blonay said, adding that regardless of the size of the company, these internet names operate within a sector offering huge potential for growth.

Google's move into financial services came just a week after web giant Amazon was tipped to start offering loans to online merchants, allowing them to buy up more stock to put up for sale online.

De Blonay explained: 'As Amazon takes a cut on every item sold on its site, its loan business could act as a revenue booster for the company.'

While this growth will no doubt come at a price, de Blonay believes names like Google and Amazon remain attractive because they are free of the problems associated with other sectors.

'[These] don’t carry the problems of government interference, are relatively immune from sovereign risk concerns and offer few worries when it comes to their balance sheet,' he said.

'In the current climate, these are characteristics with undeniable appeal.' 

De Blonay, who runs the Jupiter Financial Opportunities fund, has this year delivered 13.3% versus 16.8% by his typical banks and financials peer.