Game Changers issue 27

Game Changers ISSUE #27

BOSS BARTLETT! Game Changers speaks with Centroid Solutions Richard Bartlett

GAME CHANGERS

DIRECTORY O1

Note from the editor

O2

Richard Bartlett

O3

Andrey Vedikhin

O4 O5

View from the top. 03

Centroid Solutions, DMCC 04-07

Your Bourse. 08-11

Daniel Moczulski Star Financial Systems. 12-15

Helen Astaniou TIO Markets. 16-18

O6

Asta Beleviciute

O7

Maria Meramveliotaki

O8 O9

RealDeposits. 19-20

Becoming Super -Intelligent. 21-22

David Varga Purple trading. 23-24

Ludovic Vuillier Baer’s Crest. 25

1O

Viktoria Soltesz PSP Angels. 26-27

11

Lovely Ekeke

12

B2B awards

13

Broadways Exclusive

14

Ship Inn

15

Sophie Moskou

Valatech. 28

Winners of the Global Forex Awards. 34-35

VIEW FROM THE TOP

Hello everyone, At the time of publishing, life in Cyprus is back to normal, or the new normal at least. The sun is out and we can now eat in restaurants, and enjoy a drink or two at the end of another long day..

The lock down was pretty weird for me, in that it showed how easily (myself included) we can get used to being institutionalised, with the daily SMS being sent to the government to move around. Did anyone reading this find it strange when we no longer have to send it, still going to the sms menu on your phone to send one?

With the extra time on our hands, Game Changers worked really hard in reaching out to new participants to appear, and to give us an insight in what motivates them and keeps their brands at the top.

The extra lock down effort has been reflected really well with the design and the production, so a big thanks to everyone involved.

We want to say a big thanks to all the new contributors who took the time to give GC some incredibly This months cover star is a long time friend of GC, high quality content, we are consistently looking Richard Bartlett from Centroid Solutions. Richard is to evolve the brand so feel free to nominate people an expert within the institutional technology sphere, who you believe are Game Changers in their field, so it was great to have such an established name regardless of how left field the suggestion may be. appear for an in depth interview, along with a couple of appearances on GCTV which are released Enjoy this edition, and have a great summer! in the coming weeks.

Paul ORFORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Game Changers

Centroid Solutions DMCC RICHARD BARTLETT Head of Business Development at Centroid Solutions DMCC

Q What attracted you to move to Centroid DMCC? After transitioning from the more B2C focus of the brokerage side of the business to the B2B aspect on the technology side 8 years ago, I found myself in much more familiar territory, as solution-based sales roles represent the majority of positions throughout my career to date. When promoting a product or service successfully to businesses it is very important for there to be clear added value and ideally demonstratable innovation to potential buyers. This is the reason I always choose the best technology providers of the time to represent. In my opinion, based on direct experience, Centroid Solutions currently has many unique and powerful tools that offer significant added value to both retail and institutional clients alike and are an intuitive company that constantly drives innovation through new features and tools that clearly make their product stand-out from the vast amount of competitors that are in the space. Having total belief in the product and service you offer in any business development role is also key to ensuring you don’t lose motivation and maintain conviction when presenting the company’s products and at Centroid I have this.

These are the main reasons I was so attracted to join the team and feel privileged to be a part of it.

Q Who are Centroid Solutions?

We are a technology provider that combines realtime analytics, sophisticated risk-management, and advanced connectivity with extensive industryknowledge to improve risk-adjusted performance and strengthen sustainability for brokers. We have incorporated the very latest quant-based risk management and client analytical tools into the markets most reliable and lowest-latency aggregation engine. We offer connectivity to all trading platforms, such as MT4/5, cTrader and any proprietary trading applications, as well as to an unlimited number of liquidity providers globally. To further enhance stability and overall performance of our client’s eco-system we have our own infrastructure in Equinix LD4, NY4 and TY3 whereby we host clients trading platforms in co-location to their dedicated Centroid Hub and cross-connected LPs. We also offer a fully automated regulatory reporting service for EMIR and MiFIR.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

Richard Bartlett Head of Business Development at Centroid Solutions DMCC

Q I imagine that you may face objections related to clients being hesitant to change technology providers, how do you overcome this?

This is a very good question. There is a perception that changing technology providers is almost impossible to do for an established broker and although it does present certain challenges, with the right approach and support this process can be achieved with absolute minimal impact to the existing operation. What we have found in general is, with the depth and quality of the unique technology we offer, the added value and benefits of the proposition outweighs most objections.

Naturally when it comes to demonstrating reliability

and execution performance these are aspects that we cannot demonstrate via a presentation, so in this case we take a ‘put your money where your mouth is’ approach and offer the chance for serious prospects to fully test our systems prior to making any commitment. As with anything in business its always a case of weighing up benefits against perceived risk, and in general we are very successful in demonstrating that the advantages of the service we offer outweighs any such negatives.

Q How hard is it to competitively price your product?

The fact is the technology space in the industry is extremely competitive so apart from offering unique functionality etc, naturally the price point is another key aspect to get right to maintain the overall attractiveness of our offering. As brokers are facing more and more costs than ever, from regulatory pressures, reporting, increased competition etc, any money that they can save on technology is always very welcome.

The days of charging unlimited volume fees and high minimum fees are becoming a thing of the past, so at Centroid we position ourselves as one of the most cost-efficient technology vendors out of all the main players in the market. Of course, no service should ever be considered purely on raw cost. The added value a service offers needs to be factored in, such as, functionalities that new technology can offer may off-set cost by saving your business in other areas by increasing efficiency for example, or by allowing you to increase overall profitability through the use of said

tools and functionalities. So, it is difficult to get right, but as long as you can demonstrate a competitive price and physical value-added features the client will see they will be better off with you and the alliance will commence.

Q It is advanced technology, is it possible to be too advanced for your average retail brokerage?

This is an interesting question. Our understanding of advanced technology is not just providing innovative and progressive capabilities, it is also making these tools logical to understand and use. So yes, our technology is very advanced and indeed much of what we offer is completely unique, but we have designed all of our products to be very user friendly. Thus far I have not had anyone see our systems and suggest they are too advanced, usually people are pleasantly surprised that this type of technology is actually available on the retail market and at such a competitive price.

Q If you had to name the key differences between Centroid Solutions and the other key technology providers, what would they be?

In short, what differentiates us from our competitors is that our technology is inspired by the brokers themselves. We identified the key challenges that brokers face today that are not being addressed sufficiently by the current technology vendors and developed specific solutions that address these key areas with a view to improve a broker’s overall performance.

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Certainly. Apart from increased financial pressures that I previously eluded to, more and more brokers are now operating multiple platforms.

The problem here is that the trading platforms are totally isolated from each other, so when it comes to risk management practices and reconciliation brokers are having to do this manually which is both time consuming and quite frankly exposes the broker to excess risk due to the fact this reconciliation cannot be done in real-time.

To address this specific challenge our risk engine has the ability to connect an unlimited number of individual trading platforms and applications centrally, so the dealing department has real-time visibility at a global level across the entire operation. From here all manner of risk factors can be instantly monitored such as, Value at Risk (VaR) across entire portfolio, running PnL and net exposure limits across a, b and c book per instrument, per asset class etc, specific client related profiling on realised and unrealised PnL down to per client per instrument level etc and many more stats that will enable dealers to take on-the-fly decisions and actions to protect against unwanted risks and maximise performance results.

Many of the tools we offer, from risk management, client analytics, business reporting, client profiling and flexible execution models, to mention a few, are completely unique to Centroid Solutions. We have built an execution engine from the ground up around an existing quant-based risk management system, whereas majority of our peers started with simple connectivity-based technology and built-on other modules. Therefore, our technology is so much more sophisticated and has the ability to automate much of the risk management and execution processes which allows our clients to realise much greater efficiency.

I would say another stand-out point comes down to support excellence. Coming from the industry I know that many technology providers suffer from poor support. At Centroid this is an area that we have been very careful to structure correctly, from having the most experienced and knowledgeable representatives on front line support that are immediately available to any client 24/5 (without the need to email first etc), to ensuring that all clients get access to the latest developments free of charge and are trained wherever needed to take full advantage of all the tools and features available.

Q You mentioned that you identified key challenges that brokers are facing, can you elaborate on that?

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

We also noticed that when it comes to a broker protecting themselves against potential market risks there were no tools on the current market that could really help with this. So, we developed a ‘stress testing engine’ whereby the broker is able to run various scenarios such as a market gap on any number of instruments and see how PnL will be affected, predict how many triggered orders will occur (S/L and T/P, pending orders, margin stop outs) and understand how total net exposure will be affected. This tool is especially welcomed by regulators as it is something a broker can use to satisfy them that they have access to a tool that can at least assist them in taking mitigation action against substantial market movements and projected volatility. There are several other areas that we have addressed that I won’t go into here but will be happy to discuss with anyone individually.

Q How can people get a demo from you?

We are happy and indeed encourage people to take a look at the unique technology we offer, to at least get an understanding of exactly how our tech may be an advantage over incumbent technology they are using. Feel free emailing me directly for a personalised demonstration – r.bartlett@centroidsol. com, or, visit our website and request a meeting there - www.centroidsol.com/contact-us

Your Bourse ANDREY VEDIKHIN Founder of Your Bourse

Q You were one of the pioneers in retail FX with Alpari. As a founder member, what were your motivations in starting it?

At the beginning of 1998, the world crisis started in Asia and began to spread around the globe. I was living in Kazan, Russia back then. The Russian economy was close to default and the situation was getting only worse. At that moment in time I was working for the Russian stock broker, dealing in Russian government bonds. I was trading with my own funds as well, mostly in Russian bonds and stocks. In February 1998, I realized that the recession is at the doorstep and I started looking for new opportunities exploring new markets. I’ve opened an FX account with one of the Russian banks and started trading purely for research purposes. By the time the default happened in August 1998, it was clear that all the Russian internal financial markets have stopped and won’t reopen in the near future, hence in September I’ve decided to start my own financial brokerage firm. We’ve joined forces with Gleb Petrov and in December we started on-boarding first clients. At the beginning of 1999 the Alpari brand was born. Hence, the motivation was more or less simple, to bring an alternative to the Russian financial markets. Later that year, Andrey Dashin the current owner of Alpari joined us as an investor and a partner.

Q What do you think made it such a success?

Alpari wasn’t a success straight away, as any business it took time for us to adopt our strategy and find a product-market fit, which has also changed through the years depending on the country and the situation in the world.

Overall, I would say that after 4 years since its launch we could really see that we’ve got something that is well accepted by the clients, so the company started growing. There were several factors that have contributed to our success.

Firstly, we were one of the first companies to start Forex brokerage in Russia (together with our friend Alexander Tsikhilov who started Admiral Markets

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

back in 2001). Secondly, we’ve made a lot of correct strategic and tactical decisions. We’ve purchased a MetaTrader license (called MetaQuotes at the time).

We were the second company ever to purchase the product, we’ve believed in Renat Fatkhullin’s product and success from the first presentation. We’ve also started our global expansion at the right moment, but we’ve only grown organically and never borrowed money. Choosing the UK market for our global expansion was also essential to our success, as we were the first FCA regulated company to introduce MetaTrader to the western FX market.

In 2015 due to financial market turmoil involving the SNB removing the 1,20 peg on EURCHF, which was the cornerstone of the Swiss financial policy at the time, the UK entity made a significant loss and went into administration. Alpari, as many other brokers hedged all of the clients EURCHF positions, as it was expected that at the level of 1,20 Swiss government would make a voluntary intervention. Many Tier 1 banks, LPs and brokerages were exposed to a massive hole, created by the uncollectable negative client balances, some companies took a hit, others did not survive. This is when Gleb Petrov and I decided to exit the business.

Q How hard is it to evolve a brand along with an evolving industry?

It is hard to evolve a business in any industry, as you always have to respond to the market environment and adapt your strategy. For example, in 2008 during the world financial crisis, when our customers did not trust any of the market participants our main message was about offering segregated client accounts, which was a regulatory requirement in the UK. This has both promoted the FCA license and Alpari.

We do exactly the same with Your Bourse – we are responding to the ever-changing financial industry and the need of the brokers to add numerous asset classes to respond to their customers’ demand. We offer the matching engine at the core of our platform with the ability to run a central order book which is essential for institutional brokerages. At the same time, we provide a cost-effective decentralized infrastructure, which helps brokers improve their

profitability. The data warehouse supplies all the reports needed for the data driven business decision making. Whilst, client analysis module we are currently working on provides all the necessary tools for client profiling and risk management. So far, our competitors were able to offer just one item at the time, whilst we supply a 360 degrees solution at the fraction of the cost of what our competitors offer. Yet with each component deserving to be a spotlight product of its own.

Q You are now the CEO of Your Bourse. It is quite a radical move from retail FX to institutional technology. Why would you do this?

The idea was born back in October 2012, that is when I resigned from the executive position at Alpari UK and started with developing a concept of a fintech company that can offer a 360 solution to the brokers.

I always believed that in the financial industry only technologically driven companies can become truly successful and this is partially what we have achieved at Alpari with our institutional offering.

Andrey Vedikhin Founder of Your Bourse

Through the years, the focus of Alpari shifted and I was one of the visionaries behind the company’s institutional division. Nonetheless, Alpari was mostly a retail broker and personally I realized that I will only be able to create a real state of art technology if I start from scratch, as at that time my vision did not align with the vision of other shareholders.

Unfortunately, in 2014 I had to put Your Bourse on hold and come back to Alpari full time. In 6 months, I was able to significantly increase the profitability of the company and then the Black Swan of 2015 happened. Hence, in 2016 with a clear mind I was able to start bringing my ideas to live again.

Q I am often contacted by people in my day job with a technology to sell. I often find that it is a solution looking for a problem to solve. What makes you so different?

At Your Bourse we have a hands-on knowledge of retail and institutional FX, as well as HFT and FinTech.

Our solution is not built for one specific broker inheriting its legacy issues and it’s not a Zoo of plug-ins.

We are probably the only technological company in the industry, truly founded by the ex-brokerage execs with very in-depth IT and financial knowledge. Our main advantage is our architecture – Your Bourse is a hub built with a future in mind. It’s flexible, scalable, decentralized and cost effective.

We know every single technical pain our clients experience or will experience (if they haven’t reached their true potential yet), and we are here to educate, nurture and help. In order to be where we are today, our competitors would first need to create a 1 bln valuation brokerage, make all the mistakes we’ve made and only then they would be able to create a real 360 approach technical company.

Q When I first saw it, I thought it was an aggregator, why was I completely wrong?

Aggregator is just one, small part of our solution. Our hub is built in blocks or units and since the industry is used to a very simple offering e.g. aggregator + bridge people often assume that any solution that provides LP connectivity is a bridge or an aggregator, often using the two interchangeably.

In fact, Your Bourse provides a platform that consists of several fundamental blocks: MT4 Bridge and MT5 Gateway, Matching Engine with liquidity aggregator, Data Warehouse with risk management and reporting units and currently-in-development machine learning Client Analysis unit. Now, the Matching Engine is an exchange-like technology that enables taker’s orders to penetrate the aggregated order book and thus generate absolutely unique liquidity and provide unparalleled execution experience. We also support all types of orders (market, limit, stop limit, stop loss orders with advanced expiration types (FOK, GTC, IOC, GTD, Valid For Milliseconds). So it is not a classic aggregator, as you may see.

The system is suitable for any type of brokerage business as it was designed to support multi-asset class trading. You can even start your own spot crypto or potato exchange - whichever you’d like.

We currently support FX, precious metals, CFDs and cryptocurrency trading, while DMA access to the equity market and other asset classes are in the pipeline for this year.

Q When we look to take on technology we need to know what value it adds to our service. How does your technology improve my business?

First and foremost, Your Bourse helps each client improve their company profitability. That’s our main goal and the real reason behind the brokers’ demand for technology.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

Your solution empowers brokers to analyse the key metrics and monitor real time performance in a user-friendly environment. We do that by providing GUI and API access to our proprietary database - the Data Warehouse that enables us to produce any kind of report required by the client, whereas from monthly management information reports and spreadsheets required by regulators to real-time monitoring tools used by the Dealing Desk on a daily basis.

And last but not least, Your Bourse provides 24/7 technical support and 99,999% SLA uptime. Most importantly, all technical queries are immediately escalated to Level 2 Technical Support engineers and then to Level 3 if needed. Thus our clients don’t have to waste their time on Level 1 support asking them to restart their browser. Instead, the query is handled by people who can actually look it up in the logs and offer a solution to the client immediately.

Q Offering something new to LP’s can be a challenge, as something new can be hard for dealers to comprehend how it can improve their service. What’s the upside for us spending our hard-earned cash with you?

Not spending, but in fact - saving. Your Bourse fees are usually 2-3 times lower than those of our competitors. But this is not dumping. We actually achieved such an optimised infrastructure setup that we can afford to pass these savings on to our clients. Our infrastructure is fully decentralised, meaning that we don’t maintain a central hub hence zero maintenance costs. We partner with the most reliable infrastructure provider - Beeks Financial Cloud and each client’s production environment is actually a completely independent instance of the platform. That gives us more flexibility in pricing various types of clients according to their needs by customising their hardware configuration. Besides cost optimisation this model also provides enhanced reliability and security for clients.

Answering your question, another benefit of working with Your Bourse is leveraging technology by business people. In other words, our clients don’t need to run an in-house IT department. In the digital world that we currently live in, business people often find themselves fully dependent on IT and R&D departments.

They become bottlenecks in many organisations when it comes to launching new projects or products. Your Bourse goal is to provide business people with tools within their professional domain to help them manage their departments and improve profitability without having to turn to IT specialists every other day. The platform is launched and set up via a user-friendly web-based GUI. All the complexity that goes on behind the web interface is our job, not theirs. The client only has to click 1 button and all changes are applied in real-time.

It’s like installing an app on your MacBook. With Windows, you would have to download an .exe file, put it in a proper folder, then go through the installation procedure having to choose the folders to install the app to. Whereas on Mac, you simply click on the button in the App Store and 10 seconds later you’re editing your vacation photos. That’s the kind of user experience Your Bourse provides.

takes about 3 minutes to complete. The rest is done via our GUI and applied platform-wide immediately.

Q Humans can be very lazy people, how hard is this to integrate with my eco system?

Q Can you give our readers a test without the stress of hundreds of pages of documents to complete?

The short answer is that it takes 3 minutes. Our goal is to create a fundamental platform for our client’s business. Hence, all components of our platform are API-friendly, so they can be easily integrated into any in-house system of a client’s, e.g. CRM or proprietary risk management system. We’re also open to integrations with various third-party vendors that our clients rely on.

Sure. We provide a demo and a 30-days free trial to all. We are a state of art system, and we are not afraid of the competition. Hence, there is no NDA, no down payments, no strings attached. Just send us an inquiry to info@yourbourse.com and we’ll do a demo and set you up on a test account in the matter of hours.

At the same time, Your Bourse platform is a selfsufficient product and the broker doesn’t need any IT staff to integrate with it. In fact, there’s no integration needed. The only technical procedure that needs to be done is to ask your MetaTrader admin to install the plugin on your server, that’s the part that

We have polished our technology to cater for the brokers’ business. The only big chunk left for us is the client analysis, including client profiling and classification driven by machine learning algorithms.

When onboarding a client, we pre-set up the platform for them according to their choice of configuration and then go on a quick 15-min setup session with the client to go through the settings and make sure they understand every single piece.

Q What’s coming up for Your Bourse?

Going forward, the interbank market is the next big target.

Star Financial Systems DANIEL MOCZULSKI CEO of Star Financial Systems

Q You have been in the industry for 20 years. For over a decade the retail industry has not moved forward from MT4. Is this an addiction that cannot be broken, even if they take on MT5?

Game Changers Magazine veteran Daniel Moczulski, the CEO of Star Financial joins us for his first of many visits to GC. Q As a double decade veteran of FX do you feel that the London brands are viewed differently compared to the rest of the world, despite a similar offering?

I’m not sure I like the phrase “double decade veteran”! And perhaps it wouldn’t be true to say that my time has been spent solely in FX. I started at IG, where FX was just an asset class amongst other asset classes, and I remember indices’ and equities getting far more attention from clients. Indeed that may be one of the ways London brands differ from brokers in the rest of the world. Maybe due to the multi asset legacy of spread betting but London based brokers tend to have a wider product offering, and tend to have their own proprietary platform. Perhaps given this London brokers focused on dealing and technology, while overseas brokers excelled in marketing and sales functions.

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Yes, indeed. That may be an illustration of my previous point. MT4 allowed start up brokers to set up globally with an excellent, and highly adaptable trading solution at a fraction of the cost of investing in your own platform, to the point that even firms’ with their own platform were keen to offer MT4. While retail clients continue to demand MT4 I doubt that will change especially for those wanting an FX specific solution. I do however feel it has impacted on the inter broker churn within the industry. The benefits of having a familiar platform mean it’s easier to on-board clients; the downside is that it’s easy to lose them. Clients can engage with a similar trading experience with thousands of other brokers within seconds, chasing the lowest spreads.

It’s difficult to brand your client experience as being uniquely different when it offers the same platform. I think as brokers get bigger and wish to differentiate they will offer more unique interfaces alongside MT4, especially for their non FX product.

Q How do you educate both brokerage owners and traders that there is more to life than the ‘industry standard’ platform?

Great question. Fundamentally, from a broker’s perspective, they need to see the decision to offer more platforms and products as being both revenue enhancing, and cost reducing. My LinkedIn posts are a broken record of analysis on IG, Saxo, and CMC’s success in offering 1000’s of products. From an end client’s perspective, they need to have a frictionless process to search out volatility, wherever asset it may be, and then to make money trading these new products.

Q When GC was researching the interview, I read a quote from you outlining” brokers need to own their own clients journey through unique platforms”. How does this help a brokerage?

Without wishing to use marketing babble, people associate brands with their emotional attachment to them. Whether it be Apple, Tesla or Walmart. They want to feel invested in the brand, and feel like their commitment to the brand has rewards. This becomes difficult when the principle way a client engages with you is through a platform they can get elsewhere.

Secondly owning the journey can make it unique to your target audience. Plus500’s major growth preflotation( and post for that matter) came with offering equities in territories that didn’t speak English.

Equities, because it’s the most familiar financial product to people, and non-English speaking, because they were under served by the big players, and SEO became much cheaper when it was not in English.

They could only do that with control over their own platform. And finally, if a brokerage has any type of exit strategy, whether through a trade sale or flotation – having a unique offering that they control is paramount to the valuation placed on the business.

Q This industry is full of buzzwords. Is multi asset the next big thing?

I think it’s passed that now, in that so many brokers do have 1000 of products to offer their client base. I do think this is going to grow however; physical equities, Crypto baskets, Fractionised shares. Firms such eToro are starting to move into services typically offered by banks such as debit cards. This is all due to the strong association with the brand.

Q Since the virus has gripped the world’s stock markets, what are your thoughts of the FAANG and other tech stocks?

They seem to have taken on the attributes of a crypto coin, where the movement of the price bears little relationship to the changes in fundamentals. Tesla, specifically seems to have benefited from the FOMO feeling usually associated with crypto. I think that the industry has boomed through this COVID-19 period because more and more crypto traders see the volatility they loved now in the traditional stock space.

The belief that fortunes are being made overnight in cannabis, and artificial meat stocks and that you have “to be in it, to win it” powers this interest and

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engagement. The subreddit community, wall street bets exemplifies this new market.

Q How should a brokerage take advantage of these when offering them as a derivative?

Well first they have to offer the product, but secondly, in this specific case, they have to throw out what they have previously learnt about marketing to financial traders. Coinbase, Plus500, eToro, Kraken, Robinhood amongst other have all boomed through doing something different.

Q Without interpreting this as financial advice, is it because of their very nature that they are almost bullet proof in a prolonged downturn?

You wouldn’t want my financial advice regardless!

I think these stock buyers in particular are doing something different. The website robintrack.net shows

that robinhood customers buy stock irrelevant of its price movements. These buyers are focused on the brand, not the fundamentals. The crypto concept of HODL seems to be applying. “I bought TESLA because I associate with its product or founder” not because they aren’t building as many cars as they told Wall Street they would.

Q What was your motivation in making a new platform at Star Financial?

Well – none! We don’t make platforms for us; we make them for our clients! Sometimes we don’t even make them, we allow our clients to concentrate on the UX and design, build a GUI and put it on our API’s. The partner works on the sexy things that enhance client value, and we concentrate on the boring things like margin and price engines and financial reporting. In that regard the current record is 4 days. A client created a unique GUI on our API’s and went live to ten thousand clients. One of the bad things about Star is also the best. You will never know you are trading on a Star powered platform as we make sure it is unique to each of our brokers.

Q How do you pitch it to brokerage clients to take it on?

Three ways essentially: 1) The need to differentiate yourself from competition.

2) More platforms and more products mean more trades, 3) Controlling everything your client associates your brokerage with.

Q There is an old saying of ‘a camel is a horse designed by committee’. Is it the same as making a trading platform, with everyone wanting their feature added?

I think it’s true to say that every stakeholder has different opinions as to what needs to be in a platform. Your on boarding team will want things to be intuitive; your high net worth desk will want complexity. That’s why I say - have multiple platforms, or platforms that grow with the client.

Plug all of them into one middle and back office.

Q Star Financial was recently taken over by AXI Corp, I am intrigued to know the mechanics of a takeover. How is first contact made, and how is the negotiation process undertaken?

I can’t remember whether I have thanked him yet, but a sales person at a leading bridge provider mentioned to me that Axi wanted to offer CFDs on equities. That was my invitation, and whilst initially

Daniel Moczulski CEO of Star Financial Systems

it was to get them as a client, it became apparent that they were looking at acquisition. Then, with the ups and downs of regulatory interventions against the wider CFD and FX market the whole deal took about 18 months. There was never any real stumbling block with both parties wanting the transaction to happen.

Q Is it hard to keep things confidential?

Not really. Not for me at least. I view all client relationships as confidential, and I know, though thousands of sales processes that until the contract is signed, nothing is actually confirmed. We had been subject to quite a few acquisition enquiries in the past where things couldn’t quite get over the line. Whilst you engage with the acquisition process, you also have to make sure you don’t drop your Business As Usual responsibilities in case it doesn’t happen.

Q When the deal is signed it must be an amazing feeling. Is there a type of come down, where you think what’s next?

No come down at all! In fact I view the acquisition as the start of work rather than the end. Star and Axi continue to have a relationship where we provide them with various pieces of technology like we do with multiple other global brokerages. However now, as a combined group I feel we can offer services that no other broker or tech provider can boast. Want to build your own GUI? We can help you with that.

What technology and liquidity, we can help with that too. You want technology but your own choice of LP? Yes that’s good as well. I can’t think of any other global group that can, or wants to offer that degree of flexibility.

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TIO Markets HELEN ASTANIOU Chief Marketing Officer at TIO Markets

CEOs - are you properly utilising your marketing team?

I was given the honour of contributing an article to Game Changers magazine. I picked up my metaphorical pen, was poised ready to write on my metaphorical notepad and started brainstorming a rainbow of clickbait titles that would get the Game Changers audience hooked. And in the spirit of full disclosure, this final draft was submitted somewhat late as the initial versions were binned.

My favourite topics of discussion these days usually revolve around poking fun at 5G conspiracy theorists, or the efforts of Huawei to police our habits and monitor our activities. Not at all appropriate for this article. Perhaps you’re interested in my philosophies on BoJo’s total and utter incompetence as a poor leader who should be cuffed and carried to international tribunal for crimes against humanity by sheer virtue of being a nincompoop? No, too emotive and ultimately not appropriate either.

So, today, instead of inventing a topic that I think might be of interest to you, dear reader, I’m presenting, like it or not, a true, unfettered and unfiltered commentary addressed to CEOs (not mine!) in the FX industry.

I offer you a frank analysis of how you might be: a) Underusing your marketing efforts b) Underestimating your marketing efforts c) Undervaluing your marketing efforts GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

And I’ll close with a brief guide that will help you to empower your marketing team - not necessarily financially - in order to push your acquisition and retention efforts.

By way of brief introduction, ‘marketing’ has evolved over the years in FX to become a veritable misnomer. Where some years ago, the FX industry was virgin, and potential retail FX clients were relatively untapped, FX firms were able to focus marketing efforts on branding in key venues in order to acquire clientele. An attractive and wellplaced banner in an online forum, or even an offline advertisement in a high visibility spot is likely to have worked pretty well. As the industry grew, and more brokerages entered the space and started fighting for the same spots, it became harder to attract the same clients. Clients understandably experienced a kind of fatigue or even confusion at the range of brokers all vying for their attention on popular FX sites, and key branding positions online became expensive. This kind of marketing which once resulted in almost instantaneous acquisition, started to lose its shine and now works quite differently. It still has value, certainly. But the value is harder to measure and is longer-term.

It is within this context of a saturated and expensive FX-marketing environment, that marketing teams have been challenged to do one, or both, of two possibilities: 1. Get creative with how they acquire clients 2. Find other ways to add value to the company

Which category does your marketing team belong in?

At this stage, I don’t need to explain each point as you are already either comfortably or uncomfortably aware. I would, however, want to reassure you that there is not one correct answer. If your marketing team is flying and they are bringing in more high-value clientele than your company can cope with, then that’s great. Realistically however, this is likely to be the result of a very high budget, a large team, or possibly years of branding success behind your brand. For those who are familiar with my musings, you’ll know that I remain firm in my conviction that it absolutely is possible to market to potential/existing retail clients, without breaking the bank. The key here is entirely in the positioning and in the messaging. Is your message addressing a pain-point and are you speaking in layman language? Are you clever in where you are placing your ads, and are you following through in your message from ad through to landing page through to website, through to closing the deal. One strategically placed ad, with powerful messaging, and an authentic web presence will provide the confidence and trust to compensate for one hundred poorly placed and weakly-worded ads.

Helen Astaniou Chief Marketing Officer at TIO Markets

type roles. In this capacity, they undertake time-consuming tasks and projects that have minimal impact on client acquisition, but are important for maintenance and building of brand or market positioning. I refer specifically to maintenance of social channels or website, SEO efforts, content, blogs, market notifications ane more. It is often underestimated how much manpower goes into maintaining an online presence. And Perhaps your business model doesn’t rely while these efforts don’t necessarily directly translate in the short term on marketing and your business acquisi- into money in the bank - to speak more crudely, but on-point - they tion efforts are happening through other work to help convert and keep the money within your ecosystem. You means? Sales / business development / cannot necessarily measure this value. You cannot necessarily track this luck. I’m here to argue that whilst you’re value. But they undeniably add value. happy with your efforts, you could be experiencing three-fold success by prop- Think of these kinds of marketing-operational activities as represented erly utilising your marketing team. by a man with a pick-axe, hammering blow-by-blow onto a rock. One blow at a time he will chip away at that rock, and he’ll be unable to put As is so often the case in FX, marketing the pieces back together. His efforts are permanent, they are teams can easily default into operationsirreversible.

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With this, we segway onto a primary pain-point for marketing teams, for CEOs and purse-string holders across all industries; data analysis & tracking of said data.

website… Leave….. Come back some-time later after some prompt or another... Leave again….. and possibly 7 touches later eventually you will sign up, deposit and trade.

Analysing marketing data could potentially be a full-time job for ten people. I believe we are all in agreement that data is the single, most important way to measure effectiveness, so I won’t argue its merits here. But in short, having access to detailed data on a marketing campaign for instance, not only allows you to understand what works and what doesn’t work, but also, gives insight into how to optimise in order to ensure that your spend results in maximum value. As we all know, not all marketing activities can be measured.

The rule of 7 is not only a basic marketing principle but is a logical process, in that any investor would logically take their time to perform some due diligence on a broker prior to parting with their hardearned cash. What this means for marketers is that it can become notoriously difficult to gather the specific details of the client journey - what they saw, what they read, and what it was specifically that convinced them to convert.

I’ve moved on from the operational efforts described in the previous paragraphs - I’m now talking about paid campaigns on fully trackable ad platforms. It is highly unlikely to be able to read the full journey of your web visitors, no matter how cutting-edge your technologies are or how well set up your campaign managers are, through your CRM. There is every possibility that your CPL and CPAs are highly underrepresented by actual marketing efforts (assuming you have a well-planned marketing strategy) owing to multiple factors.

1. The cross-device problem being one of them. In this problem, a user will see and click on one of your ads on their mobile phone (for instance), but they will seal the deal on another device - on their desktop, for instance - another time. In this case, any tracking links from the original ad are likely to have been lost when the user changed devices.

2. Another issue relates to the rule of 7. This comes hand-in-hand with the human habit of wanting to trust-build prior to investing. Absolutely reasonable - you wouldn’t part with your money that easily either. And as part of the journey of building that trust, you may want to visit the company

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

To counter these issues, it becomes so important to utilise 360 degree marketing techniques. It’s related to the simple principle of not putting all of your eggs - or budget - in one basket. It is absolutely critical in my view that marketing teams spend time on every minutiae of the client journey and that every frontend touch-point (website, email, social etc) is highquality, as well as your back-end efforts (SEO, UX, UI, automation etc.). When they all tie together, this is when you see your business powering forward and whilst optimisation always occurs, you are more likely to see marketing efforts crystalise, faster.

So, unless your budget is astronomical, your marketing efforts are unlikely to reap results instantly. However, once your marketing machine is built and fully functioning, you may well see it becoming one of - if not *the* most - important functions in your firm. I’m of course in a position of great privilege to work for a senior management team who appreciate the value of a well-oiled marketing machine. They understand and support marketing efforts, and in turn, the marketing efforts thrive. In fact so much so, that at TIOmarkets we invest in our marketing strategies as a pillar of the company’s success. And in turn, the marketing machine repays its gratitude month-after-month as it continues to contribute towards the company’s bottom line.

RealDeposits ASTA BELEVICIUTE Head of Operations at RealDeposits

Q So how did you go from studying in Parma, to being at RealDeposits?

Sunshine. That’s pretty much the summary.

Long story short, the main reason for relocation to Cyprus 10 years ago was amazing Mediterranean weather and sunshine almost all year round. Parma had other advantages, but weather wasn’t one of them.

I joined the Fintech industry back in 2010 to work closely with Italian Market, which kept me close to Italy and its culture. One thing led to another and a decade later I am heading Operations at RealDeposits.

Q As someone who has a basic knowledge, what is the outline service that you offer?

We are a PSP - Gateway technology provider, that helps merchants accept payments. Whether they be credit cards, mobile payments, real-time bank transfers, or other types of payments, we make the experience of a money transfer straightforward for the customer and stress-free for the merchant.

All of the relationships to the various payment schemes, acquiring banks, financial institutions are managed by us, freeing up the hands of the merchants to focus their energy on their relationship with their customer.

We can also help you reduce integration time and processing costs, along with accepting multiple payment methods and currencies, moreover we can safely and securely facilitate your payments.

If you’re looking to expand your business, you will need to start accepting a wider variety of payments from your customers, by allowing them to pay through whichever method they prefer. If this sounds like the direction you want to head in, then like others you should consider working with RealDeposits.

Q Can you explain what is so different between RealDeposits to other providers?

Be global but act local. This is what will help your business thrive. RealDeposits offers a single API

Asta Beleviciute Head of Operations at RealDeposits

that gives access to the top performing payment options around the world. We work with a diverse range of acquirers around the world set up to process the most secure payments to your specific vertical.

We listen and communicate. It is no surprise that the human touch has been coined as a “luxury” in customer service. While technology is storming customer sup-

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port services, the value of human communication in problem-solving, relationship development, and overall customer satisfaction cannot be overlooked and that’s what we guarantee to our clients –a real person behind every communication.

Q One thing that a receiver of Payment Services kind of gets annoyed by, is a provider that promises the earth and delivers little. Is there a checklist we can use to save time, money, and tears?

There is no such a thing as a perfect Payment Service Provider, but choosing the right one can be a challenge. This that each new business should look at are: - Easy and transparent integration process - Regulations, security, compliance - Supported payment methods - Hassle- free onboarding - Customer support availability - Risk appetite - Fees transparency Q Most of the FX business is off shore now, it makes a hard compromise as they can get increased leverage, but are finding it hard to get a stable payment system. How can this be remedied?

Choosing the right partners is a Key factor in any business. Working with industry experts and managing the risk by diversifying their portfolio.

For those looking for a way to improve client confidence, integrate a payment system that will inspire trust, support multiple payment methods and be protected from fraudulent actions.

Q Moving away from FX, are you seeing an increase in other business sectors for your services?

Yes. With the current Global situation, we are among the lucky ones. The power dynamics within the payments industry are changing rapidly, as businesses owners and consumers are looking to switch from cash and cheques, to digital payment methods. If you are looking to survive, you will need a stale solution to offer this.

Q What tips would you give to startups on how to get a solid payment system?

Research. Make sure you complete your due diligence before choosing a particular provider. Do your research on the industry, and find out what your options are.

Moreover, consult specialists as you mentioned earlier, there is nothing more frustrating than wasting time and energy on payment providers that do not deliver or stay by their word.

Moreover, have a business plan ready. It will give you a lot more credibility in success of your project and will help negotiate competitive rates. Finally, always look for a company that is transparent about their security measures, this is key in making a relationship last.

Q AI is one of the current buzzwords payments technology. Is it creeping into your industry?

YES! The payments industry is no exception when it comes to AI. As many consumers are now used to online and mobile shopping, AI increases the convenience of payment by introducing personalized banking. Chatbots are now deployed in apps and sites to accommodate queries and provide round-the-clock services.

Biometric secured payments are also the norm, being integrated with most smartphones.

Moreover, with voice-activated payments - smart assistants accessing your accounts for the transaction.

Machine learning AI’s advanced pattern recognition analyses, monitors payment behaviors which help financial institutions fight fraud. Based on previous transactions, AI can detect unexpected bills or tips that are higher than usual—preventing credit card fraud.

As frictionless payment leads the way in the digital transformation of financial services, it won’t be long before these replace most of the methods still used today.

Q Whats the best way for a free consultation from you?

Our head office is in Limassol, so best is always in person. Feel free to drop me a line via email (asta@realdeposits.com) - ideally with the subject line ‘ Game Changers’ , in order to schedule a face to face meeting or a phone call to discuss your business needs.

Becoming super-intelligent MARIA MERAMVELIOTAKI Psychologist, Writer & Content Marketer

Smart drugs, wearables and brain-computer interfaces How far are we from creating human or even super-human level artificial intelligence?

And if we can create smarter computers, can we also produce smarter humans? The field of cognitive augmentation is enormous, and it seems that nowadays, we not only have the base knowledge to do it but also the means and resources.

What is cognitive/brain augmentation?

It’s the use of technology to enhance the cognitive capacity of an average person or repair the brain of people with neurological conditions.

There are three ways to do this; a) deciphering brain data via a computer and using the information for a particular purpose, b) pharmacological or electrical stimulation, c) brain-computer interfaces.

Smart drugs In the movie “Limitless”, the hero takes a powerful nootropic drug that enhances his cognitive function and makes him able to perform previously unattainable tasks. Nootropic drugs, otherwise known as “smart drugs”, mainly fall under the category of stimulants. Their primary aim is to enhance mental arousal and improve performance at a given task.

The main problems with those drugs are that a) an average person has to complete tasks requiring different levels of arousal and not all tasks are best performed in a state of hyperarousal, b) the absorption rate and onset of action vary for each drug and c) various side effects come together with the benefits.

Maria Meramveliotaki Psychologist, Writer & Content Marketer

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Wearables Cognitive enhancement wearables are mainly headsets that target stimulation of specific areas in the brain to increase neuroplasticity and achieve improvement in cognitive functions such as working memory, processing speed and sustained attention.

Besides cognitive enhancement, wearable technology can help people with neurological disorders or other medical conditions.

In the case of cognitive-enhancing for performance boosting, should we intervene in our natural capacity to absorb and retain information? Is it ethical to create artificial super-intelligence for everyday life tasks?

Is that a vain endeavour that feeds the human ego or a potential to make the world a better place?

I’d like to share with you some neurotechnology companies that I follow on Linkedin. If you enjoy the topic, you may want to stay tuned!

Brain-computer interfaces

Neuralink

Besides wearables and personal digital assistants, there’s been considerable development in internal hardware enhancements with brain-computer interfaces having the most notable potential. Experiments have shown that paralyzed patients can control a computer cursor with a single electrode that has been implanted in their brain. Imagine for a moment the potential of this for treating patients with neurological disorders but also for cognitive enhancement of healthy individuals.

www.linkedin.com/company/neuralink Elon Musk’s Neuralink is developing ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers.

Is it ethical to supersede nature to our advantage?

That’s a big question in bioethics, and there are indeed multiple ethical implications in developing such a technology. Safety considerations should be the centre point of this debate, not only for brain implants and the medical risk that these procedures entail but also for external devices due to data protection and privacy breach risks.

Apart from safety considerations, there are many psychological and sociological implications. For example, all the above-mentioned methods (drugs, wearables, implants) may become objects of addiction and evoke withdrawal symptoms to the users.

Affectiva www.linkedin.com/company/affectiva_2/ Affectiva, an MIT Media Lab spin-off, is the pioneer in Emotion AI, the next frontier of artificial intelligence.

Affectiva’s mission is to bring emotional intelligence to the digital world with our emotion recognition technology that senses and analyzes facial expressions and emotion.

Neurable www.linkedin.com/company/neurable They build full-stack neurotechnology tools that interpret human intent, measure emotion, and provide telekinetic control of the digital world.

Bitbrain A pioneer in approaching brain-computer interface applications outside laboratory investigation settings. www.linkedin.com/company/bitbrain-technologies

Purple Trading DAVID VARGA Executive Director of Purple Trading

Q What was the key for your brand to hold a strong position in central Europe?

We initially started as a regional broker for Money Managers/Strategy Providers and IBs, providing them with the local presence, personal approach and reliable services (thanks to the fin-tech company we have in Czech Republic). We saw a lot of potential in this niche target group and with this approach we actually managed to overgrow some of the local competitors. And then it was only reasonable to utilize all the technology and infrastructure we had put together and to start focusing also on retail traders in other markets.

Q You moved to Cyprus from central Europe, how was the transition?

I used to come to Cyprus for business even before I became the director of the company, so there weren’t really any issues for me to move in. I must also admit that I am constantly traveling back and forth, I spend a lot of time in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, where most of our business partners are, and then also in other countries, for both business and leisure. I actually use to get bored if I am at the same place for a long time, so I like to change environments every now and then, I like to work on the go, and so far, it has worked out great for me. Of course, the current corona situation and lockdowns in many countries affected this work/ life-style of mine, but I totally respect it. Also, I cannot really say me and my colleagues would be particularly bored during the last couple of months.

On the contrary, the unprecedented situations and volatility on the markets resulted in quite interesting growth of clients’ activity and also in much increased amount of workload on all of our departments, including myself. But I assume this was the case for pretty much all the other investment firms too.

Q Although you started your business development activities within the FX industry almost 10 years ago, you opened up in Cyprus under the brand Purple Trading only 4 years ago. What challenges did you face in opening this new brand here?

Yes, indeed. Before Purple Trading we cooperated with another investment firm in Cyprus, where we sort of “shared” this firm with several other brands and projects. And this “sharing” didn’t really work out well, as you can imagine, especially if you want to build a strong and long-term project with your own vision. Fortunately, we now have the investment firm that is fully dedicated on one project only, and that is Purple Trading. Back in 2016 - 2018, we basically had to re-build the whole company, its operations, procedures and even qualified personnel from scratch, so that it meets all the regulatory requirements, which were only getting stricter and stricter in Cyprus and within EU during the last couple of years. So this held us back a bit in terms of business development to be honest. On the other hand, thanks to this we were able to put together very good basics and a strong team for further growth.

Then the ESMA restrictions came, but that is another chapter…

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Q With so many brokerages here, what makes you so different?

If you mean in terms of traders and our business partners I would probably repeat what I already mentioned above. So, the solution we developed for the Strategy Providers and their Investors, which falls under our Portfolio Management activities would be at the first place. A true personal and flexible approach at the second place. And the technology and reliable trading infrastructure at the third place.

I would also mention the fact we are a pure STP broker, which is not very common anymore. (You might be surprised if you check the RTS28 reports of some brokers who claim to be STP ). Unfortunately, the retail traders usually don’t pay much attention to this nowadays, and they often care only about the spreads and fees. For business partners or Strategy Providers and Investors however, this can still be very important.

Secondly, from the employees’ point of view, I would say it is definitely the company culture and “purple team” approach. It’s hard to describe it without sounding too much like a cliché, but we really strive to “work as you would like to live” approach when treating our employees, wherever it is possible of course. (Well, we are still a regulated entity.) But I am glad this “Purple” approach is slowly being more

David Varga Executive Director of Purple trading

and more recognized in Cyprus and more and more people have actually been sending us their CVs and requests to „work for Purple“ recently.

Q What’s new for Purple Trading in the next year?

As the matter of fact, we launched several new products and major improvements during the past 12 months already (cTrader platform, micro-lots trading on indices, passive investment ETF portfolios, IB portal, …). What is next in the pipeline is the custommade MetaTrader 4/5 client terminal that should enhance the capabilities of this rather old-fashioned platform. We designed it completely based on our clients’ feedback and even though the development took longer than I expected I am really looking forward for this to be introduced soon.

But beside that, we prefer to focus on our expansion projects in Poland and Italy now. So, it’s more about the business development than a product development this year.

For 2021, we are currently discussing the multi-asset transition, and what would be the best direction to take in this regard. Not because it is trendy and you can hear “trade stocks commission free” from pretty much every corner nowadays, but because this is something we wanted to move to for some time already and it is only a logical next step within our long-term vision to help traders get better results in financial markets.

Baer’s Crest LUDOVIC VUILIER CEO of Baer’s Crest

Usually when discussing problems companies have with payment providers, the subjects are: low approval rates, high fees, distant payment timelines, frozen accounts, blocked funds, etc.

Today I’m going to bring up another, entirely different problem. Payments going through. How is that a problem? That is the goal of a business, to bring in money. Yes, yes it is. But what happens when those payments are fraudulent? What happens when the fraud is not just a few payments here and there but large amounts and ongoing, such as happens during “card testing”.

First, here’s a quick explanation of what is card testing. Card testing is when scammers test cards by running them automatically. They can easily run tens of thousands of cards every day. And fraud detection, even very good ones, can’t always detect and block. This brings the following two immediate problems to a company along with the long term problems through no fault on the company’s behalf.

1) Chargebacks which damage a company’s reputation with payment processors 2) Chargeback fees

Chargeback fees For each chargeback, it’s not only the amount charged that goes back (that’s normal). It’s also a chargeback fee that comes out of your account. This means that for each chargeback you’re actually at a loss. When it’s a few here and there, you take it like a champ and focus on earning more. But what happens if your company has been the victim of card testing?

Through no fault of your own and in potentially very large amounts, you can easily lose all of your month’s profits and maybe even be at a loss.

We have a client who had a regular dispute rate of less than 0.1% who all of a sudden jumped to almost 10% because they became a victim of card testing and despite paying extra for advanced fraud detection - the merchant processor took none of the responsibility.

This client’s margin was small and this attack on their site lost them more than a month’s worth of profits.

And they had no way of stopping it.

Let’s delve into these one by one.

How Baer’s Crest can help Damage to a company’s reputation Your current processor and future processors will see you as a problematic company and your fees and payment terms will become more and more unfavorable. This will dramatically lower your profits and impair your future earning abilities.

It will become harder and harder to work with reputable payment processors as they won’t want to take the risk of taking you on as a client.

This makes any charge dispute more likely to end in the client’s favor since you will have a bad reputation. Even if the dispute is not legitimate.

But even worse, your name is linked to the company.

Even if you set up a completely different company and in a different industry, your name will be ruined with the payment processors thereby not allowing you to start fresh easily and with good terms. No matter what the new industry and business model may be. Your personal name is tarnished.

We’ve developed a process that eliminates this risk, along with all of the other benefits. How do we do this? We’ve taken the idea of 2 factor authorization and applied it to payments, easily and seamlessly for both the end user and our clients.

By using our solution, you receive the following benefits: • Seamless and friction-less payment integration • Lower fees • Eliminates chargebacks • Prevents fraud • Eliminates reputational risk • Good payment terms • Eliminates the headache of dealing with victimized clients • And a lot more…

Contact us to find out how we can help you.

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PSP Angels VIKTORIA SOLTESZ Founder of PSP Angels

How to start a payment empire from your bedroom

Online businesses are unstoppable. Under the pressure of this new virus, you also realized that if you are not online, you might as well just close down the business. The future is only bright if your business is searchable, reachable, and available through the internet.

But e-commerce is a whole new world on its own.

The traditional high street banks’ compliance usually has no appetite for any risk. The online businesses are hard to understand, tough to check and myriad of things can go wrong which can cost a license for the bank. Certainly, they could be more hassle than the brick and mortar shops. But they are the ones growing and booming.

These are the “high risk guys”. The startups, the online content providers, the online consultants, the subscription model, the crypto, the forex. Anything

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

which is slightly disruptive or new. You know you are one of them if you cannot open a merchant or bank account with your local high street banks and all your applications are declined. Mainly now when the high street banks are closed for the virus.

So where can these businesses go when they need a business account? Online, of course.

In the last few years, several companies realized the business opportunity of serving these increasing number of online businesses, and taking advantage of their serious confusion of what’s happening at the market. They came, they won, and they took over lower risk companies too. Nowadays there are so many different “bank account” and IBAN providers out there, you won’t be able to count them: neo-banks, EMIs, PIs, RAISPs …

These new generation of fintech companies fulfill all the expectations of the market: they are quick, app based, available 24/7 and easy to use. Your and your client’s funds are safe as these providers are all regulated. And it looks like they need new customers – they have offers, they advertise on Facebook, on the networking events, they hit you with a spam email. Looks like finally someone values your business!

It’s a win-win situation. The businesses are accepted and served quickly and effectively. You can open a business accounts in a day, with only a selfie. You can have SEPA, SWIFT, online banking and even cards with your account.

The providers have a great business model too: they are usually licensed in a cheaper and more agile jurisdiction and allowed to charge any fees for their services. Fast and flexible, based on the latest technology, operating with a small team.

While these companies are strictly regulated by the Central Banks, they have the freedom to build their own applications, serve their customers in their own terms, and change their fees any time. They are more customer friendly and less rigid that the high street banks.

This new way of banking allowed several new players to step on the market. Even you can take advantage of the amazing white label deals from your bedroom and appear as a “bank” in the eyes of the untrained. All you need is a website and interested businesses to onboard. For as low as 10,000 -15,000 Eur, several providers offer a white label option, where you get the compliance, the customer service, the technology and the existing license usage of the provider. You provide the front end while there are the licensed entity doing all the work at the back.

The virus taught us a valuable lesson: the only thing certain in life is uncertainty. And the banking system is definitely going through a large one. Adapt or die, they say, and it could not be more relevant in 2020. The financial market might seem like it got it all figured out, but the future definitely has a lot of surprises for everyone.

Viktoris Soltesz Founder of PSP Angels

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Valatech LOVELY EKEKE Commercial Manager at Valatech

Q Can you tell the readers about your background?

I am originally from Nigeria. I grew up in Nigeria and later moved to the UK, before relocating to Cyprus.

My studies led me to become a Chartered Accountant, however I did not find this particularly stimulating. I found myself drawn into retail sales, as I really enjoyed the challenge. This led to me taking on sales leadership roles, where I served as Head of Brokerage at Alvexo and was amongst the Management Team at EverFX. Q We worked together a while back, why did you make the switch to Valatech?

My switch was simple because as a Tech Company, Valatech offers more than just Trading Platforms; from Technology Consulting Services, Data Protection Services, Software Licensing, to Intellectual Property Services, which are all turnkey solutions for our clients.

Talking about Trading Platforms, I have set up several White Labels for clients over the years and it can be a bit of a headache to manage all the moving parts, such as the CRM, the Bridge Connections and the Platform provider itself. Valatech is essentially a one stop shop and offers everything in one place, which makes it easy for the client to become operational very quickly, also offering their clients a great platform to trade on.

Q A common objection for any FX platform provider, is that you are not the industry goliath MetaQuotes.

Why should I consider you?

Q Is it easy for the end user to use?

There are two things here, we have made the functionality easier on the platform, as we found that some other platforms can have added functions for the sake of it. This can confuse and create needless support issues.

Moreover, to simplify a product, does not mean that it is of lower quality, or that it’s aimed at a specific strata of the market. We are looking to make the experience and decision making more streamlined with all the information that the client needs, in order for the end user to be able to make more accurate decisions.

Q Is there a specific market you are aiming at?

With regards to geography, as we are a Crypto only platform this is not too much of an issue as compared to others.

We are looking to go into areas that are friendly to Crypto products and have the challenges of Fiat transactions.

When you operate in Crypto, this challenge is taken away and more secure through the blockchain technology and many people are familiar with using Crypto now. It has become a very mature market, so it works well with the Valatech platform offering.

Q How quick is it to start?

We appreciate we will never be MetaQuotes, who have done an amazing job in essentially opening a market for us all to thrive in. Without any doubt, I do not think that the retail market would be as successful as it is without their platform.

As a relatively new brand, we have to fight to get clients and it is imperative that we offer great support.

This is what today’s platform providers are lacking, this personal experience and it’s something that we pride ourselves in. We don’t connect platforms, we connect people.

Based upon what I have seen, the platform industry and the services provided, have become a bit copy and paste, with platform providers offering an ‘off-thepeg- solution’ rather than bespoke. We are happy that our solution is very customisable, and from what we can see, this is a big difference from our competitors.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

The entire setup of Valatech platform can be ready in a few days, provided that all the criterias/requirements are met. The time spent creating the whole business setup is a loss in raising revenues for your startup, however as a Valatech client, you can radically decrease the launch time of your brand.

We have tried to make it as simple as possible, with the client just having to provide the basics. We can also help with every aspect of the clients website creation, design a logo and are operational 7 days a week, so getting you to market is our priority!

Q What’s the best way to reach you?

Like most people, I am quite active on Linkedin, so feel free to private message me there, email me at ekeke. lovely@valatech.com, or alternatively call me at +44 2031 500 523

Winners of the Global Forex Awards 2020 - B2B Contact: Michael Boydell Email: michael.boydell@holiston.com

London, UK ( June 5 2020) – Holiston Media are pleased to announce the winners in the Global Forex Awards 2020 - B2B. The Global Forex Awards 2020 - B2B are a celebration of Forex and related businesses from around the world pushing the boundaries of innovation in B2B forex trading solutions. The awards champion the best performing providers of liquidity, CRM, customer experience, execution, partnerships, platforms and performance, as well as other crucial elements of the B2B forex trading eco-system.

The independent nomination and public voting processes mean that all Global Forex Awards 2020 - B2B winners have one thing in common.... they were chosen by real forex trading businesses and customers from around the World.

The public voting process for the awards took place throughout the month of April 2020 with over 6,000 votes cast by over 3,200 unique voters. After calculating the votes, the category winners are:

Best All-Round Liquidity Provider (Prime of Prime) - Advanced Markets Best Bridge Provider - oneZero Financial Best Client Experience Broker - Future FX Best CRM Provider - B2Broker Best Fintech & Solutions - Tradesocio Best Hosting & Connectivity Provider - Tools for Brokers Best Mobile Trading App - RoboForex Best Multi-Asset Trading Platform - cTrader Best Payment Solutions Provider - Cardpay Best Public Relations Company - Monk Communications Best RegTech Reporting Solution - Muinmos Best Stocks Broker - RoboMarkets Best Technology Provider - Devexperts Best Trade Execution (Prime of Prime) - IS Prime Best White Label Provider - CMC Institutional

Sponsors of the Global Forex Awards 2020 - B2B are: Advanced Markets, Future FX, RoboForex and RoboMarkets.

To find out more about the awards, the winners and the voting process go to www.globalforexawards.com

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Game Changers Magazine

Lifestyle

Broadways Exclusive Article To Game Changer Magazine

Q What’s the history of your tailor?

The brand Broadways Exclusive Tailors was established in Bangkok Thailand back in 1990 and this year marks the 30th anniversary for Broadways Exclusive Tailors. Prior to starting our own tailored clothing line our family has been dealing in textiles for multiple generations.

Q How long does it take to become a tailor?

To become a skillful tailor one must have vast in experience in various fields such as measurements skills, sewing, knowledge about different types of fabrics and way to create a final product that meets the vision of each clients when they come to us to co-create their tailor made clothing. All this and much more with rigorous training it would take a person around 5 years of time to become an experienced Tailor.

Q I could feel the difference between tailor made, and off the peg designs. Do you think it us worth more spending a little extra on a bespoke design?

For some people spending extra amount for a bespoke design may seems unnecessary. On the contrary it is a must for a certain group of people, for them to have their clothing tailored to their personal preferences in terms of both fit and style. This group of people it is very well worth investing for the experience of co-creating the final garment as one have the ability to select every detail of their suit as their prefer. Starting from the weight of the fabric which is like a body of the suit and can be personalized down to every tiny detail on the suit. If you are someone who would want to look your best or have the most stunning representation of yourself for every occasion then spending a little extra for a bespoke design is a well worth investment.

Q How can you tell if it is a well-made suit?

There are various aspects that must be looked into in order to tell whether a suit is well made or not One must first take note of the fabric quality. Fabric is pretty much the main flesh of a suit. It is important to use fabrics which are 100% wool, if you are shopping for a wool suit not the ones which are blended

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with other materials like polyester. As that would hinders the overall quality of the suit.

After the fabric the suit must also have an inside lining to hold the suit together and add in bespoke design. This helps add more style to the suit. A welltailored suit would at least have half canvas stitching and the perfect one will be fully canvas stitched. A canvased suit will make you look better and last you longer. This makes a canvased suit a worthy investment despite being more expensive than a suit with fused jackets.

Next is the ability of putting the suit together in one piece which is the stitching process. The suit should be well stitched with perfect craftsmanship so they are made to fit exactly as the measurements recorded. Not too loose of too slim fit. The final piece once put together should look elegant with no fabric openings and ensuring that a suit is more durable. .

The tiny details on suit should be taken into considerations as well. Such as buttonhole, button colors, number of buttons around the sleeves pocket design

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length the list goes on and on. The focus here is that these minor details should be put together with great care and matching the preferences of the client as much as possible. This helps create a final product nearest to the image that clients have thought of when co-creating their suit. These details should look wellconstructed with great attention to detail.

Q What should you look for if you have to buy off the peg?

When having to buy off the peg look for a suit that fits one well around the shoulder and not too tight from the chest down for the blazer. Now for the trouser the length should fall quite well to the ankle not too short or too long. If the waist is a little too lose one can still use a belt to solve that issue that’s why the trouser length is more important.

Not forgetting to look into the fabric of the suit whether it is the right fabric for the season or not. Choosing the wrong type of fabric could either make you feel uncomfortable in the summer or too chilled in the

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winter. During the summer look for light weight wool, cotton or linen suit off the peg. For winter times, worsted wool, tweed and flannels are the best recommendations to help keep you warm. The overall fit of the suit should make you feel comfortable once worn and the style should match the occasion of you are planning to wear the suit for.

Q You travel around the world. Do you find styles change in countries?

Geographically, there’s a lot of change in styles this is driven by 2 main factors 1. The Climate - Every country have different extremes of hot and cold weathers and this creates different in styles. For areas in the Northern part of the world customers would prefer to have overcoats made from wool based fabrics and tailor-made suits with a lighter version of wool. Now if we compare that with warmer regions like Thailand or Australia where cotton or perhaps linen would be a better option for clients to have their suits exclusively tailor made.

2. Fashion Trends/ Cultures / Influencers – Every country or even cities have their own fashion trends.

In comparison people in Thailand are very fond of the sneakers trend hence you can see a combination of Suit & Sneakers even at wedding functions.

Where a man would get their suits tailor made to match the colorway of their favorite pair of sneakers. Compare that to this to places like England or Italy it is the home of the one of the most fabric mills in the world the style would be a little for sophisticated and classy. In England people would prefer the classic styles which highly represent their rich history with suits.

Styles also varies person to person when you are making a product with bespoke design you will get request of all kinds to create a final product that satisfies our clients. Everyone has their own minor detail preferences.

Q Summer is coming in Europe. What type of suits should we be wearing?

Summers in Europe can get really hot depending on where you are located in Europe. If you are looking for a suit during the summer Linens and cotton materials will be the best recommendations. The characteristics of the materials allows for more airflow and would make you feel more comfortable commuting around doing your daily tasks more than wool fabrics. Linens provides exceptional coolness in hot and humid climate, hence they are the best option for you during the summer. In terms of linens, we also provide Irish Linens which is regarded as top class quality for linen with all its amazing

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characteristics to help you feel comfortable during the summer.

Despite the fact that garments made with cotton and linen provides exceptional value for comfort and cooling during the summer they are still not every individual go to fabric for suiting during the summer because cotton and linen does not look as classy compared to wool materials. Wool are still the preferred option for some individual during the summer due to their rich history with Tailor Made Suits dating back to 16th century or even prior to that.

That’s why we are here for you, At Broadways Exclusive Tailors we provide every customer with various fabric options of wool, cotton and linen all year round.

We ensure you that we have the perfect fabric for everyone all year round to satisfy each individual’s specific needs.

Q Is it possible to do a measurement online?

With the current technology it is not possible to do a measurement online. However, with advancements in AR (Augmented Reality) technologies and VR (Virtual Reality) we believe that there might be a slight chance that online measurements will be achievable in the next decade.

Q What’s the best way for our readers to reach you?

The best for readers to reach us is through this QR code link which provide readers with links to contact us via our websites and various social media platforms. Readers can also reach us directly via E-mail : broadwaysexclusive@gmail.com . We are based at the heart of Bangkok so once travelling is back on be sure to visit our boutique store whenever you travel to Bangkok, Thailand! If you are abroad and would like us to visit your city please contact us via the Email mentioned above for further information as we do organize such trips depending on client demand. We have vast experience in travelling to meet our clients worldwide.

ALL ABOARD FOR GOOD TIMES! SHIP INN. LIMASSOL. 28 Oktovirou 351, Limassol 3106.

By the time this edition is live Cyprus should be out of its lock down, thirsty patrons will be looking to come back to their second home - the pub. After months of confinement, and reduced contact with others of the human species, no doubt we will be spending more time outside, absorbing the sunlight and drinking up the sea views.

Now Game Changers is going to let you the reader into one of the best kept sales secrets, the Ship Inn is where a huge amount of deals get done in Limassol. Although certain expo’s may claim to give you the ability to meet a million decision makers, myself and countless others have made deals here on warm evenings, cold drinks and good times.

For sales people, these are the deals that help smooth a decision and make it less ‘complex’, or perhaps speed up the often cumbersome bureaucratic process of day-to-day B2B sales cycles. The type of deals that are conducted in the Mos Eisley bar in Star Wars, are the ones that are carried out

here (minus the lightsaber based violence) Not underhanded, just enhancing diplomatic relations and making things go a little more streamlined and get the wheels turning.

For the first time patron, it is a huge mistake to assume that this is just another expat sports bar serving a limited menu with over priced drinks. A truly international bar where the waiting staff speak more languages than the United Nations, with a huge selection of drinks from all parts of the world.

Owners Mike and Mario are always wonderful hosts who are always happy to see you, Serving drinks behind the bar listening to the drunken logic of various Game Changers contributors is Maera the Queen of Sparta.Pouring drinks to the 300 thirsty patrons. The understanding and patients of Anna, who at the end of the night brings the bill over, and is very forgiving if you press a few wrong buttons on the card machine from enjoying their hospitality too much!

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On a Friday things start getting busy around 3.30pm, when the city’s business development workforce have arranged ‘meetings’ which all seem to be at the Ship Inn. Whether by accident or design, make it into a genuinely good place to network if you are that way inclined after a long week. Alternatively, it is great to meet up with friends where you can exchange war stories of the week.

From around 8 PM onwards are where the legends are made from the 3.30pm ‘networking’ event attendees, with calls to significant others being made that the meeting is dragging on. With that, more drinks are ordered and the slurred speech begins that the 6.30pm attendees struggle to disseminate. And with that the noise goes up a level, and drinks really start to flow until late...

GAME CHANGERS Issue #27

Sparta.Pouring drinks to the 300 thirsty patrons.

The understanding and patients of Anna, who at the end of the night brings the bill over, and is very forgiving if you press a few wrong buttons on the card machine from enjoying their hospitality too much!

Limassol’s untold FX wealth, Game Changers would suggest meeting your local mark here for initial drinks, and then go somewhere else later on. You will get biblical amounts of kudos from the local person you are looking to extract the keys to El Dorado from.

On a Friday things start getting busy around 3.30pm, when the city’s business development workforce have arranged ‘meetings’ which all seem to be at the Ship Inn. Whether by accident or design, make it into a genuinely good place to network if you are that way inclined after a long week. Alternatively, it is great to meet up with friends where you can exchange war stories of the week.

For sports events on TV. Game Changers has sat there after a long week watching some random stuff whilst the world passes you by. For any big football event it is essential that you book a table or be disappointed.

Finally, if you have kids (very strong menu for kids), it is great to bring them here, although it is better to sit indoors as it gets a bit smokey outside.

From around 8 PM onwards are where the legends are made from the 3.30pm ‘networking’ event attendees, with calls to significant others being made that the meeting is dragging on. With that, more drinks are ordered and the slurred speech begins that the 6.30pm attendees struggle to disseminate.

And with that the noise goes up a level, and drinks really start to flow until late...

A tip to any marketing department reading this, your money is better spent putting money behind the bar here, rather than another copy and paste Limassol marina networking event. Regular feedback I often find is that we often feel contractually obliged to attend, and are indifferent either way. Moreover, if you are an outsider looking to extract some of

One huge positive we have seen from perching at the bar for around a decade, there seems to be a NO KARAOKE policy. You would not believe how much joy this brings to GC, as other bars who could score as highly as the Ship Inn, often lose marks for trying to be all things to all people. GC has always had a golden rule of never ordering a pizza from a burger place. The same can be said for the absolute auditory disaster of having both karaoke and football on at the same time.

This usually involves listening to someone addressing ongoing psychiatric health issues via a microphone and singing Gloria Gaynor, whilst also trying to get the football crowd. This is like mixing oil with water.

If you are looking for the finest oysters and over

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priced champagne this is not your place.The menu is solid which is great. A decent amount of choices which caters to everyone, and is presented well, and offering a contender for the Game Changers gold medal for the gourmet burger award in Limassol.

The only negative i can say, is that it seems that the Manchester United supporters club of Limassol appear to meet here and watch their games. Although not the mass Red Army of the past, you should not be put off in any way, since their lack of success over the past few years the numbers have now shrunk to about 3 people watching the game in the corner. (easy shot i know) If you are visiting the city, get out of the safety of the hotel bar and restaurant and visit the Ship Inn. Easy to find with it being next to the ‘Twin Towers’ of Limassol (Olympic Residence) the Ship Inn is one of the easiest places to find by cab, as it has become a landmark to the locals of the city.

00357 25 582 180 to book a table, or sit at the bar. *AT the time of writing this, social distancing rules may still be in place, so it is critical you book ahead!

Sophiemouskou.com SOPHIE MOSKOU Founder of Sophiemouskou.com

Game Changers were lucky to get 5 minutes with Sophie Mouskou, the internationally renowned stylist. We were intrigued to find out more about the service, and the positive psychological role that a stylist can bring.

Q Why are clothes important, and what motivated you to help people with fashion consultancy?

Styling is such a personal thing. It’s a very personal deep rooted, aesthetic and intimate thing to do when you dress another person, you have the accountability to make them feel good with their outfits.

Whether you like or not your clothes say a lot about you. It tells people who you are.moreover with each one of my personal styling clients, what I am thinking about is their body and their style.

Their style is both their taste and my version combined. I just kind of know how I want them to look.

Furthermore, it also has to suit them, they have to feel comfortable in it.

It’s not something I push on them as I think it is important to have some sort of a voice, some sort of identity. I love Image

and Fashion consulting because it incorporates almost everything that I find excited about.

I was always drawn to fashion clothes and everything related to and helping a person look and feel good in their daily life. It is about styling real life.

Developing your style and impact is all about creating and portraying an image that is right for you! Real style is never right or wrong. It’s a matter of being right for you, being yourself on purpose.

Hiring a personal stylist will save you time and money, and is much more affordable than you might think. A personal stylist is trained in dressing the varying female and male body shapes . After an image consulting session you will never have to look at your wardrobe again and think “i have nothing to wear” instead you will have a curated wardrobe full of clothes that were hand-picked for you and fit you.

Q When you take a new client, how does it work.

Are you looking to make radical changes?

I don’t talk about the client’s “current style” I consult on the improved personal style. Note my work is not and I do not wish to change anyone’s personality, my aim is to help renew and refresh a client’s personal image.

My work with individuals focuses on developing a personal look that is flattering and equally practical for their lifestyles. The whole image consultant process is a very enjoyable and lovely experience.

Styling is fun!

It is all about understanding the core of our individualism and bringing that to life via wardrobe, style and image branding. I am dedicated to empowering everyone to create their incredible personal style!

Q When a client comes to you, is it that they acknowledge that they have no fashion sense?

It’s not about having a fashion sense, when you request the professional consultant. As individuals we are all public figures and highly visible personalities who can benefit from this level of consulting.

Sophie Moskou Founder of Sophiemouskou.com

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A stylist will incorporate a budget into your fashion needs, and help you look your best with clothes tailored to your taste, the trends, and your coloring.

That empowers you to be nothing but yourself Q Do you feel you feel you are better suited to offer your services to a male or female, or is styling someone a universal skill?

I am suited for both ladies and gentlemen. It’s a different process when I carry out a consultation for a male and female. They arise different questions.

Men either for their work appearance, they are interested in what they are going to wear when going on a date, also it depends on the place and time.For example if it’s early drinks and dinner, or going somewhere more casually.

I really wish men in Cyprus were more colour creative with their casual outfits Or even better, I wish that they would ask for my help for their casual looks as well. One free piece of advice for male GC readers, please pay attention to your shoes!

Q Why do people need your service?

Whether you are an individual looking to find your unique personal style, or a business in search of elevating its brand, I am here to help you. When they wish to create a signature style that complements their personality and lifestyle it makes you look and feel fantastic.

To learn what looks good we have to see what

garment cuts and styles compliment you. Also how to create outfits with ease. The services we offer are image consulting, personal shopping or dressing for that special occasion.

I also offer a number of services such as social media content and visual merchandising to ensure that you are portraying your business in a stylish, sought-after and professional manner. Dress for your real life.

Shopping and dressing for your real life is so important.

Getting rid of all those clothes that don’t suit your real life or genuinely make you feel good is so liberating. It is like giving yourself permission to be yourself. Think about how you actually spend your days, what makes you happy and what kind of clothes you need for this.

Q Can it give people an advantage in the workplace to look effortlessly chic?

People in the workplace need to achieve a professional look in order to be effective in their job. Personal image is a vitally important communication skill. The secret of successful dressing well, is wearing clothes that reflect your personality, body shape and your coloring.

Also successful wardrobe planning means buying clothes to suit your lifestyle and budget and is appropriate for your working environment and organizational culture. Like it or not, your appearance is the first thing that people see.

The way you dress and carry yourself is the first thing

that other people see before we say hello to each other and shake hands. Image is not the sole determinant to success, but it does play a significant and meaningful part. Don’t ignore it, but make it an ally. Mostly it is significant because our image has an overall effect on how we feel about ourselves. When we feel we are presenting ourselves well then we gain a huge amount of confidence and self-esteem.

Moreover, you never really know who you will meet that will make an impact on business dealings. “you have 7 seconds.

Make them count! “People make very quick decisions about us.

Should they trust us? Follow us? Work with us? Buy from us?

People’s impressions are naturally based on visuals, so how you choose to dress makes for a positive or negative memory of you, which in turn creates that connotation with your company.

Research has shown that how we say and do things has just a big impact on how people perceive us as what we say.

Q Is style something that you can learn or is it something that is natural?

Style is very personal. It comes from within and uses clothing to express who you are and how you feel. Style is about the right clothes for you and your personality.

It’s all about what makes you feel and look good. It is also true that some people are naturally very stylish, not only relating to how you dress but in other subjects as well.

I know that some basic level of style can be learned. Also we dress and style ourselves (practice) every single day, so naturally we get better at it. Some of us have also never received proper “training” or influence on how to dress ourselves.

If you did not have a good role model while growing up, and never learned about the importance of balance, structure and flow in an outfit, or never read a fashion magazine that advises on style. Then it’s hard to get really good at dressing yourself.

With proper guidance a client can start to understand their style, personality and their bodies and more importantly what works for them. Ok it’s not the same been styled by a professional or someone that comes naturally to them.

Q Why do people need a consultant?

We love to look and feel great. But sometimes it’s difficult to find the perfect fit for our personal sense of style. The simple act of getting dressed is one of the most important tasks we do each day!

How we look and how you feel about ourselves influences our day ahead. All those questions, “Do I look well? Is it appropriate for work? Is the right fit for me ?”

There is a saying: Looking Good = Feeling Great = Viewing the world in a more positive and confident way. Most of us might spend a great deal of time, energy and money on our appearance, and there those of us who have often given up on what seems like an impossible task.

We all need to wear clothes and should enjoy this aspect of our lives! For many people who know the value of looking their very best the question is whether they should opt for an image consultant and stylist.

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An image consultant is about packaging and presenting you professionally and publically, often with a specific goal in mind of enhancing your appearance with the personal style of the individual.

We are all public figures and highly visible personalities who can benefit from this level of consulting. A stylist will incorporate a budget into your fashion needs and help you look your best, tailored to your taste, the trends, and your coloring.

An image consultant empowers you to be nothing but yourself.” if you don’t like wearing a suit going to work, then maybe you are working in the business industry you shouldn’t.

Dressing to impress or meeting the right people won’t get you anywhere if you’re not in a career and a role that lines up with your true character and abilities. And not just for some sort of fairy tale self-help kind of reason. Constantly policing yourself is exhausting, which eats into the energy you have for your actual work.

Q Do you also work with companies to make an image coherent with their brand?

I work with companies to develop their professional dress code policies to reflect and communicate their professionalism, the company camaraderie and, finally, their brand message.

On a consulting level and with workshops. The aim of corporate styling workshops is to educate employees on the importance of professional dressing for both the company and the employees, to clearly communicate the company dress guidelines, and give expert advice on how employees can develop their unique style that aligns with the company’s brand message.

These workshops provide greater employee self-confidence,

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teamwork, and productivity, through professional and personal appearance training and business etiquette coaching.

Moreover, it helps companies to level up their brand, and motivate their employees to project their company’s image and objectives, thus, maximizing your return on investment.

The seminars and workshops are always tailored to meet the specific needs of each company, and are designed to have an immediate impact.

Employees are representatives of their workplace.

The standards for professional attire vary from industry to industry, so it is up to each place to choose its own rules. Barring that are some guidelines for proper professional dress code for each industry. Even if someone who works in an office with very little front-facing interaction, the general rule is everyone should dress as if their clients could come through the door at any moment.

Q So there is some science behind looking good?

Yes there are direct correlations as outlined by Professor Albert Mehrabian proving the importance of image initially over substance. He found that we assess people by the following, 7% spoken word, 38% sound of our voices and 55% our appearance and behaviour.

Furthermore, a series of experiments by Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov reveal that it takes less than a second to form an impression of a stranger from their face, and that longer exposures does not significantly alter those impressions. It takes a blink of an eye, and like it or not, you are going to be judged.

Your initial imprint on your customers is an important start to building a relationship with them. It will set the tone for the entire customer experience, and influence their decision-making process. The good thing is that this impression is something you can control with my consulting.

Q What’s the best way for readers to contact you?

The best way to reach me is via the website www.sophiemouskou.com, it is always a pleasure to help.

ISSUE #27

THE JOURNAL FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

www.gchangersmag.com info@gchangersmag.com