After lagging the world in the amount invested in the financial technology sector, 2016 was a very big year for Australia, according to KPMG analysis. In recent times, investors have been very active in the fintech sector: calendar year 2015 saw a record-setting US$47 billion in total global investment, before it dipped by almost half in 2016, to $24 billion. This was still well ahead of pre-2015 investment levels. But in Australia, the total fintech investment of $626 million made across 25 deals in 2016 was a major increase over 2015 levels, which saw $185 million across 23 deals. Venture capital investment in fintech stayed at healthy levels, with $71 million invested across 15 deals in 2016.  The global drop was primarily due to reduced merger and acquisitions and private equity fintech deals, which dropped considerably in 2016, KPMG said.  "Similar to what we have seen globally in 2016, Australia's performance was driven by some large deals, and specifically M&A and private equity transactions," commented Ian Pollari, global co-Leader of fintech, KPMG International and head of banking, KPMG Australia.  "During 2016, there was a marked decline in fintech-related M&A activity around the world, from US$34 billion to US$11 billion. This decline is more attributable to 2014 and 2015 being incredibly strong years for fintech M&A activity rather than 2016 being an abnormally weak year.  "Venture capital activity, while down nominally on last year's figure, remains reasonably strong. While mega deals result in peaks and troughs in overall figures, the trend is clear and demonstrates increasing interest and investment activity in fintech," Pollari said. KPMG's outlook is for the rise of "insurtech" is predicted to continue the strong growth witnessed in 2016 as the insurance industry plays catch-up with the innovations seen in the banking industry.