Game Changers issue 33

Game Changers ISSUE #33

EXCELLENT EGE! GC speaks exclusively with FXCubic guru Ege Kozan

GAME CHANGERS

DIRECTORY O1

Note from the editor

O2

Ege Kozan

O3 O4 O5 O6 O7 O8 O9 1O 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

View from the top. 03

FX Cubic. 04-07

Shay Benhamou AIRSOFT Technology. 08-11

Cristian Vlasceanu Centroid Solutions. 12-14

GC:OPINION Is your life on big KPI. 15-16

Speakers Corner Why I hate Woman’s Day. 18-19

Constantinos Aristophanous Alexander Professional Studies. 20-21

Kent Riboe MT Proxy. 22-24

Zoran Radovanovic Breinrock. 25-27

Ildiko Gyimesi GTH TRANSLATION. 28-29

Philip Adler ETX Capital. 30-31

GC:ASIA The Windows of Asia. 33-35

GC: LUXURY The perfect way to explore the Island! 36-39

GC: FEMME 40-45

GC:HOMME 46-48

GC:EAT Rafaels Food Truck. 49-51

GC:FITNESS How To Prevent Tinder Fingers. 52-54

VIEW FROM THE TOP

Hello everyone, With Easter just finished on the rock, and my arm freshly vaccinated, it is great to be getting back to some type of normality after what can be deemed as a weird year and a half. After my injection I took some time to think about all the changes that had happened to me professionally in the lock down world.

Without sounding like the king of doom, I quite enjoyed the lockdown, as extra time I had to work on my own projects which has in theory put me a couple of years ahead of where I thought I would be. That’s not to say that I will not work again for an employer, I kind of miss working in an office and all the laughs and friendships that are formed. Moreover, nothing beats that Friday afternoon feeling knowing the weekend is on the horizon.

It would be interesting in a future edition to maybe talk about some of the positives of being locked in for 18 months. Have you created anything, or taken positive steps to improvise yourself. Banana bread enthusiasts need not apply!

Thanks to everyone who was involved in GC033, it was great fun to put together and we had a great cover star Ege Kozan from FX Cubic, along with some wonderful contributors who continue to not

only add value to each edition, we also hope that you as the reader gets something out of reading each edition.

All the best everyone!

Paul ORFORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Game Changers

FX Cubic EGE KOZAN Co-Founder and CEO of FX Cubic

Q How did you begin in the financial markets?

I was introduced to financial markets at a very early age, as this is what my family has been doing for a long time. I was slowly and naturally trained in both financial markets and how related technology works throughout my early school days, which shaped my future from very early on. Having this opportunity early on inspired a very keen interest in the subject for me. To such an extent that I used to code trading algorithms, albeit relatively simple ones, and back-test these strategies as a hobby in high school, which was both a fun and highly effective way to learn hands-on about financial markets and their characteristics.

Q What tips can you give an entrepreneur in beginning a tech business?

I believe that the most important thing to get right from the outset is having the right people on board.

Having a great team around you will inevitably result in most other aspects of the business taking care of themselves to a certain degree. The synergy between team members and departments is also vital. You could be doing something that is not necessarily a unique business whereby competition is cut-throat.

Still, if you simply provide that same service with more concise communication and superior support to your clients, it will make a difference and can still make your offering stand out. Of course, having a solid and reliable product is imperative too. Still, to a certain degree, that also can come from having good people all around, from core developers to the sales team and to support members. I would recommend dedicating time to form this core team before starting anything else and not rushing into anything without it. Once this is done, a lot of other things will come organically.

Q Would you advise up and coming entrepreneurs to look for outside financing for an idea?

I would say definitely. It is very hard to get any business off the ground effectively without financing these days. Even if you are not going to spend a lot on marketing, there are invariably many hidden costs

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

that you cannot plan for initially. Outside financing also has benefits other than the financing itself. It can help with connections, both in terms of finding clients and also finding quality team members. So overall, I think it is a very positive thing as long as expectations are aligned, and each party is able to bring added value to the venture. Convincing investors is a job on its own, though. It is essential to understand your business and the market opportunity clearly so you can make a solid and realistic pitch to any potential investors. It is worth spending a good amount of time studying the correct ways to do this and finding the right kind of investors that are most suitable for the proposed business. It can take a lot of effort to do this, so one needs to be careful not to waste time and learn the correct ways first wherever possible.

Q When was the FXCubic idea conceived and, by who?

FXCubic idea was conceived about ten years ago, initially by my father. He has been involved in fintech together with his partner for a very long time. An FX bridging/aggregation tech opportunity presented itself initially from a client that was in need of such a service. Back then, there were many bridging products out there that were inherently unstable and had very limited functionality, especially with regards to risk management and advanced order routing capabilities. Having so much experience with financial technology, the team decided they could build a new product that would be much more comprehensive and add much greater value to said client, as opposed to using one of the existing tech vendors’ products.

After delivering this proprietary technology suite in its first format to the client in question, the feedback we received was excellent, so we decided to offer this to some other close clients, which was also very well received. From here on, it was clear that we had something of real value and decided to invest more money, time, and focus on this in earnest. Thus, FXCubic was born!

Q Do you see the future for FX brokerages, where they own their own technology?

In my opinion, it is very tricky for an FX brokerage

to have their own bridging/aggregation technology.

It is both a costly and complex undertaking to build even a basic bridging and aggregation tool, not to mention the large amount of manpower required to further develop and support such a product. Many facets must be understood prior to building such technology successfully that simply cannot be picked up prior to coding it. There is a huge amount of trial and error involved that, quite frankly, will end up in spiralling costs, resources, and lost time, and even then, the end product will be unlikely to be as good as even an average offering from a 3rd party. In addition, it is not just a case of building the technology and letting it run; it must also be constantly maintained, upgraded, and supported correctly to ensure it works seamlessly and has the latest functionality to work efficiently under ever-changing market conditions.

The inherent complexity of this kind of technology is the main reason why a lot of the tools that exist on the market are unstable and un-sophisticated in terms of their functionality. Building such a tool requires an enormous investment in a knowledgeable and experienced development team, as well as a very advanced testing environment and regime coupled with a highly efficient and reactive support team, such as we have at FXCubic. So overall, it simply is not worth the investment for a broker to build something internally.

It is fair to say that the most significant brokers do have the money and resources to potentially build their own bridging/aggregation technology. However, even then, it does not make sense for them to take focus away from their core business and create all that additional work and headache by building out their in-house tech. When partnering with a trusted

Ege Kozan Co-Founder and CEO of FX Cubic

provider such as FXCubic that breathes, eats and, sleeps FX technology, it will almost certainly deliver a much more robust and advanced technology that will meet current and future needs without significant ongoing investment and added operational complexity for the broker. Finding the correct tech partner will always be a better approach.

Q Why did you decide to make bridge technology in what appears to be a very crowded market?

Indeed, it is a crowded market. However, as alluded to above, it was clear to us from the outset that current technology that exists on the market is simply not addressing how brokers need to operate in today’s market. Some of the largest tech vendors’ offerings lack sophistication and rich functionality to optimise a broker’s true potential. In addition to pure functionality inefficiencies, we also saw a significant issue regarding how the current products were supported from a customer service point of view. This is and has been, a common complaint with every vendor for many years, so we saw another opportunity here to address this by delivering superior levels of personal support to all our clients that makes us stand out.

Another key point we wanted to solve, was the complexity of how the existing front ends are designed. In our opinion, advanced technology should be intuitive to operate, so designing next-generation technology and functionality was not enough. We have focused hugely on the user interface, so anyone from a junior dealer to the head of brokerage can quickly understand and configure all the settings easily and optimize operational efficiency and performance.

In conclusion, we saw many areas that were lacking and could be seriously improved upon. We knew that by considering these issues and utilizing our extensive experience into the financial markets and technology, and intimate knowledge of how a broker operates, we could build the most relevant and up to date tools and features.

Resulting in improved risk-adjusted performance and operational efficiency for any brokerage, no matter who their incumbent tech provider is.

This belief has been born into reality now as we have delivered everything we intended to and are enjoying rapid growth and becoming the default technology vendor of choice across the market.

We certainly will not stand still, though, and are about to announce in the coming weeks another ‘game-changing’ addition to our technology, so watch out for this.

Q Why did you decide to have London as your centre of operations?

London can be considered the centre of the modern world, and it is home to one of the earliest financial markets. Having London as your centre of operations brings trust and reliability to your brand, and you also attract good talent to your team. So, it was a perfectly natural choice to base our operations here.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

CUSTOMIZABLE BRIDGING & AGGREGATION SOLUTIONS FOR BROKERS • PROFIT OPTIMISATION TOOLS

• RISK MANAGEMENT AUTOMATION

• LOW-LATENCY PRICING & LIQUIDITY AGGREGATION • FLEXIBILITY IN PRICING & EXECUTION

• SYNTHETIC INSTRUMENTS CREATION • TIMELINE CONFIGURATION • STABILITY

• CENTRALISATION

www.fxcubic.com

+44 203 727 2580

info@fxcubic.com

1st Floor, 3 More London Riverside London, SE1 2RE, United Kingdom

AIRSOFT Technology SHAY BENHAMOU CEO of AIRSOFT Technology

Q You’ve been in FX for over 20 years, how did you get started?

I started in capital markets over 25 years ago as a trader in Montreal, Canada. In fact, it was my first job out of university.

In 1999 I moved to Israel where I was offered a job managing the international trading department at a local stock exchange. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was ‘love at first sight’, I did feel it was a sort of home coming. I loved the buzz of the markets, the daily challenges, the ups and even the downs. It definitely got under my skin.

Q What are the biggest changes you have seen over the past 20 years? And what took you by surprise during last year’s extraordinary events?

We didn’t have fast internet 20 years ago and trading was mostly done over the phone. I think the biggest change has been technology. And that’s something I embraced fully. I love what we can now offer our clients compared to even a decade ago.

Last year’s pandemic came out of nowhere and technology has been our greatest tool in fighting it. Different governments have taken different approaches to dealing with this crisis – from the techno-driven to the more human-driven responses.

I think a human-technology relationship is the perfect match.

And that’s what we do at AIRSOFT, offer best-in-class technology along with a personalized, human approach.

Q Having run a trading desk for several years, what were the keys to succeeding in this role?

The customer always comes first. Understanding what they need to succeed and creating great products and providing exceptional service to see they get it. That means staying abreast of new information, changing trends and researching new technologies and improving existing products.

Q What attracted you to joining AIRSOFT Technology?

I joined in 2015 after 20 years as a broker in the capital markets. I was looking for my next challenge when the opportunity came up to join the AIRSOFT team. What interested me was that it was a small startup at the time, but with very interesting technology and huge potential. What I also saw was the human element. So going back on what I said before, it was that unique combination of tech and human that really sparked my

Shay Benhamou CEO of AIRSOFT Technology

19-20 MAY 21 MEET US

AT BOOTH NO.

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CONTACT US +44 20 3769 6579 contactus@airsoftltd.com

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Integrated Payment and Cashier Solutions

interest. Being able to do what I love with a great team of people? It was a no brainer really.

Q Providing brokerage solutions and liquidity is a highly competitive space. What makes AIRSOFT different?

We own the entire AIRSOFT technology (as in the code) and we are not reliant on any 3rd party software companies. This gives us the flexibility to make constant improvements and tweaks according to our own research and our clients experiences.

We’re always looking to add new and interesting features that give our clients even more advantages in this crowded marketplace. We come from a place where the customer is always right and this, plus an excellent customer front line experience, is our formula for success.

Q Is there a specific type of client that comes to AIRSOFT? We have over 200 clients across 4 continents. We specialize in helping established brokers expand with new products and more efficient technology.

For startups, we offer personal guidance, as well as the technology and marketing support to help them get to market faster.

Q The Chrono Trade feature seems fairly unique.

Can you tell us a bit about it?

We’re always trying to improve the end customer experience and offer more opportunities to engage

with the excitement of the markets. Traders, these days, with instant access to media and social networks need additional stimulus to attract them. The time limitation in the Chrono Trade feature has been key to this with our clients reporting increased trading volume and time spent on their platforms.

Q As well as desktop you have a trading app solution. What are the highlights of your app?

The AIRSOFT app has all any trader would want in mobile trading. Instant market access on their OS or Android device, the ability to quickly open, modify and close trades, and access to hundreds of tradable assets.

The app offers them a seamless trading experience. With a single login they can smoothly move between their web and app interface. From advanced reporting to real time market data, traders have everything they need in one place. And Brokers can brand the app to their own unique identity.

Q How easy is it for a client to onboard your solution?

Do they need an in-house tech team?

At AIRSOFT we basically become our customers outsourcing tech department. Brokers need minimal inhouse technical background to implement and run our solutions.

Q What do you see as being the biggest hurdles for startups? And what are your top tips to getting started?

As for any online business, marketing is the biggest hurdle.

One tip I’d give to new brokers is to have short and long term plans and budgets dedicated to marketing.

Q You offer a high level of expert service to your clients – what do you look for in your employees and how do you support them to deliver this level of service?

We have very high standards for customer and tech support personnel. We look for professionals and give them the tools, time and support they need to ensure they are always available to their dedicated clients. Service and technology are the two lynchpins to our success.

Q You’re a sponsor at iFX EXPO Dubai this year, what are you hoping to get out of the event? And how can someone arrange a meeting with your team?

We’re a long-time participant and have attended every iFX EXPO over the years. We’ve had very good experiences and enjoyed the quality of these events. I particularly like that it has created a community for the industry and have meet some great people along the way.

At this expo, we hoping to increase our exposure in the GCC countries and reach new potential partners.

For anyone wanting to connect, they can meet us at booths 43 & 44, or come and grab a coffee from us at the expo’s coffee bar. To set up a personal meeting ahead of time, they can email us at contactus@airsoftltd.com or reach out to us directly www.airsoft.technology/meet-airsoft-at-ifx-dubai

Centroid Solutions CRISTIAN VLASCEANU CEO of Centroid Solutions

Q Can you further elaborate how is Centroid Solutions offering different than other providers?

Centroid Solutions is a technology company specializing in risk management, quantitative analytics, connectivity, complex execution strategies and P&L optimization for financial brokers. The team is very experienced and possess unique talents and skills, being comprised of professionals with many years of hands-on experience in dealing desks, risk management, quantitative risk analytics, software development, trading solutions and infrastructure.

Our product offering is also very custom: our competition is either focusing on producing risk management information only, often not in real-time, and most importantly, completely disconnected from the actual trade execution process (meaning that the information cannot be used to construct execution rules, which would automatically detect and mitigate risks in real-time at the point of trade execution); or either focusing entirely on trade execution only, but again, such solutions are completely disconnected from the actual risk management process of the broker (meaning that, such systems also cannot be used to construct intelligent execution rules). This creates a handicap situation for brokers on multiple levels: Q Hello Cristian, congratulations on your new role at Centroid Solutions. What attracted you to take the reins at Centroid Solutions?

•

prevents brokers to maximize their risk-adjusted P&L results, because risks cannot be automatically detected and mitigated in real-time;

Thank you, Paul, for the wishes and invitation. As you know, I have spent my entire professional career in this space, and I understand what are the requirements and needs from brokers - and I have solved numerous challenges for them in the previous roles I held. With Centroid Solutions, I was impressed to see the scope and depth of the offering, with products that not just cover some major technology gaps in the market but introduce new powerful concepts by merging risk management together with smart execution capabilities, which significantly helps brokers improve their bottom line. The products are suitable for brokers of different sizes, adapting to various business strategies and execution models, while providing the required technical assistance to scale up their businesses.

•

causes business inefficiencies and higher overall operating costs;

•

and prevents brokers from providing a consistent pricing and execution for their customers.

Additionally, I am pleased to say that the founders of Centroid Solutions and I share the same vision and plans, committed to a focus on continuously improving our technology, innovating and providing excellent customer services to our clients.

Therefore, what makes Centroid’s offering unique is the fact that we offer a technology suite which helps brokers to effectively overcome the above issues, by merging together real-time risk management and quantitative analytics, with the ability to construct sophisticated execution rules, to automatically detect and mitigate risks, on-the-fly, at execution level.

Q How do you see the brokerage space changing in the future and what developments are you making to adjust the product offering?

As we have seen over the last years, the brokerage space is constantly changing, at an increasingly faster pace, and becoming more and more challenging. Naturally, the brokers requirements on their technology stack are

always changing as well. Tough regulatory frameworks and high competition makes it increasingly difficult for brokers to sustain high profitability results, maintain loyal client base and increase clients’ engagement. All these business challenges demand more efficiency in operations, better risks visibility, and more advanced execution capabilities to help them achieve better consistency in pricing and execution quality for clients, and also higher risk-adjusted P&L results. Thus, brokers will have to rely more and more on technology, data and automation.

Our technology has been built from the beginning to tackle such issues, in a flexible way, allowing for any degree of customization. However, we are putting even more focus on the use of big-data analysis, to help brokers in understanding how their business works, by identifying issues that can lead to potential losses, while helping them define their desired risk profiles, business strategies and models that can help to forecast and eliminate potential risks.

Additionally, starting with last year, due to the increased volatility which brought more opportunities, the financial markets have seen an influx of traders and interest, leading to higher volumes of transactions and greater demand in terms of product offerings. Thus brokers have to respond quickly and meet the new requirements, expanding their offerings of financial and trading products, apart from just CFDs. We have foreseen this transition since before and are already strategically expanding our technology to cater for such needs, effectively evolving to a complete multi-asset fintech solution. We will be announcing some exciting new developments in this regard, towards the end of the year.

Q So, is it really possible for brokers to future proof their technology needs to some extent or will they continuously need to update at least some parts of their trading infrastructures and systems?

It is not really possible to future proof the technology needs of a broker, long-term. The brokerage business and related B2B FinTech industry are evolving rapidly compared to many other industries, and it is important for brokers to keep an open mind and stay informed about latest developments, to stay ahead and maintain an edge. Not very often, but from time to time, a new technology comes along that shakes the “status quo” introducing new functionalities or business capabilities, which significantly changes the way brokers operate their business for the better, either from costs, revenue, business opportunities perspective, or all of the above. At that point, brokers may discover that the current technologies they use are simply not allowing to take advantage of new capabilities that are out there. In this situation, and in most cases, it would be far easier and cheaper for a broker to switch to

the new technology, rather than trying to patch up with quick updates to the current technology, which may not be even designed or architected to be fitted with such new technological capabilities.

Q What are your plans for this year and how are these proceeding so far?

In short, we have an aggressive expansion plan on all fronts, to cope with the growing demand. We have already scaled up the teams and are planning several new key hires, some of which will be announced shortly.

On the product side, Centroid’s products are already market leaders, but we are not stopping here. As mentioned before, we are always further developing our products and have very exciting functionality coming out this year: •

On the Risk Management System (RMS) side, we are working on the next big iteration, a complete overhaul of the system, effectively taking the system to another level, further focusing on big-data technology, with predictive analytics, and much more.

•

On the Centroid Gateways Aggregator side, we have already rolled out several new features and in the near future, we are going to release many new improvements, including a deeper integration with our RMS, smart settings scheduler, synthetic products, complete support for multiasset trading, REST interfaces for web-based trading platforms, more and more integrations… to name a few.

Our team is also working on delivering a newly designed website that will showcase our unique solutions, illustrating key new concepts. Also, we will continue our contributions in the media and attend several expos and events this year, to present our products and to share our new developments and vision.

Q What is the usual sales process for your products and how can brokers contact you to find out more about your offering?

All our solutions are delivered bespoke and tailored to individual needs of each of our clients, so in terms of the process we first start by understanding the requirements of the customer, followed by an indepth walkthrough of our relevant solutions. Finally, our development and on-boarding teams will take over to build and deploy the products meeting the customer’s needs and provide assistance and training throughout the on-boarding process and ongoing afterwards. We can be reached via the usual channels, such as our website www.centroidsol.com or via email to sales@centroidsol.com.

P - 13

GC:OPINION Is your life on big KPI Listening to the self help gurus to keep myself on the up and up in the lockdown, only felt like having a more negative effect on me by adding it to my list of things to do each day. They said I should exercise and set a time for daily contemplation. These things just seemed to add to my daily list or KPI that this life had become.

To assist me with the daily exercise KPI, I purchased a generic branded step and sleep counter to monitor my progress. I would have brought a Fit Bit but I am just too cheap. I want my data to be harvested at a very competitive price. If a piece of technology is going to harass me to move every hour, then let’s keep it to under thirty Euros.

I don’t know about you, but the last six months I have kind of felt like my existence on this planet has become one big KPI. With my daily life adjusting to the new world of pandemic life, it feels like one continuous to do list with little demarcation between work and as self help gurus call ‘me time’.

The best way to describe myself is the world’s most productive lazy person. I am addicted to making daily lists of things and objectives to complete, where I offer myself some arbitrary celebratory metaphorical carrot at the completion of said list.

I then treat myself by writing out tomorrow’s list..

The best way to describe me is similar to Sisyphus, where my rock is a continuous list!

As I am one of those weird people who get addicted to gamified solutions, so instead of getting my child to go to the kitchen to fetch me some food (dont judge me, it is no different to the young bringing back foraged food to the village elders), i was more than happy to get them extra 30 steps in.

However, by further digitising my life with my sleep even now becoming a KPI I would try and set new personal bests for quality of sleep, waking up the next day wondering how to improve it.

Where many criticise and objectify social media influencers for just being very good looking empty shells, are we also falling prey to this from self help gurus who do not follow their own advice. Who realistically has the time to read one book a week, as we are advised by some excitable mental maven.

I have always been a sucker for writing lists to get stuff done, I think I get it from my mother, where one of the childhood memories I have is her writing down a list the size of an an ancient scroll, which she would then recite back to me. I knew even then that it was going to be a long day with small sore feet.

When we were all forced to work from home we were told a great way to keep things regimented was to have lists and some type of order to your day.

This in theory should prevent you falling through the cracks mentally, in what seemed to be an unsure time for us all.

I will be honest with you, this did secretly make me happy, as now people could see the joy that making a list can bring to your life. There may have been a global pandemic, but we all had our to do lists and lists can save the world!

P - 15

Moreover, we are told to enjoy the two words I detest the most in the modern lexicon ‘grind’ and ‘hustle’.

When did the words hard work and focus become so old fashioned. Further to this, the new phrase which also annoys me is its bed fellow ‘trust the process’. I think a lot of the happy clappy self help gurus should also teach people when they should cut their losses on things which are a drain in your time, rather than thanklessly hanging in there.

Before anyone confuse this with quitting too early, I would say one of the best life skills you can learn is when to acknowledge when your time is needlessly being spent and can be used more productively, By trusting the process, you are acting passively in thinking that the universe will fix the badly planned project you are working on.

Knowing that I had to change things and cure my addiction to my list based lunacy, I spoke with Dr Nicholas Steeringwheel, who argues that by making these three small amendments can make huge differences.

•

Don’t overload your list with unachievable assignments. Think about how and when you would achieve a task on your list before you commit to it.Break huge difficult jobs into smaller achievable goals.

•

Don’t use your list as a memory aid. It’s tempting to put every passing thought on to-do lists.Having scores of impossible wishes on your list will only camouflage those tasks that you actually need to do.

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Arrange list by deadline. Work out what is urgent and time sensitive, and those that are less so.This will focus your time and help you cut through the list.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

Dr Nicholas did actually offer a longer list of things to do, however taking this discussion into account, it was probably not good to have a list to check on your other list.

Game Changers favorite master of the mind Maria Meramveliotaki, who gave us a couple of ideas on how to streamline your list system. “There are two ways to attack this. Firstly, a common practice is to get the quick wins at the top of your list, so you can see your self gathering momentum. Moreover, also take a moment to see on your list what are the critical tasks, and allocate the time that you believe is adequate to complete them.”

Maria goes further and adds “Whilst having a list can give you focus, don’t become a slave to it and use it as the cornerstone of your life. It is important to have some kind of flexibility and fluidity to your day.”

Taking into account what the guru’s say, I think it is time to streamline my list system and only add what is relevant to the here and now, and hopefully I will not turn into Guy Pearce from the film Memento!

P - 17

Speakers Corner Why I hate Woman’s Day ANONYMOUS I must be some type of masochist, it’s Monday morning I am looking at Linkedin procrastinating with a huge list of things to do. However I had to contact GC to write an anonymous article based upon what I observed this morning.

The fact I have to write this anonymously is pretty self explanatory, as we live in a time where if you make a critique or have a view that is conflicting with a very vocal minority, it can be detrimental to your career.

I am going to hopefully successfully construct a somewhat coherent argument where the minimum I aim for is just to acknowledge my position before, and avoid the blind rage of cancel culture and all the related collateral damage that comes with it.

It’s international Women’s Day and judging by the mess that Linkedin has become, I feel that many people have missed the mark totally on its meaning.

They have made it into, at best a huge bundle of self congratulatory nonsense, and at worst weapons grade day of virtue signalling.

Usually on a Monday I have my standard morning caffeine injection so I can think clearly (although some reading this you might think that I have started drinking early), I have not had any major disagreements

with my partner over the weekend to make my opinion based on some residual gender rage from any weekend activity.

Furthermore, before the angry comments start about me being a woman hater, or perhaps having the same psychological profile as a serial killer, let me state my position. I am not one of those weirdos who argues that there should be a men’s day (which there is one already), I just get tired of organisations hitching their wagon to the latest cause, or whatever special day we are commemorating today..

Let’s take Women’s Day for example. An institution gives them gifts with the following formula in mind, five percent gratitude and ninety five percent with the express intent that they take a picture and put it on social media with the brand tagged. How does this improve women’s empowerment.or is it just an easy piece of content generated to satisfy the algo gods of social media.

I think what spurred me on was one particular example that stood out to me. Now they probably had the very best of intentions when they created the content.However, they published a picture of US Stateswoman Madeleine Albright, with a standard empowerment quote attached to it. Sadly, they did not make a second one where she stated that 500,000 children dying in the Middle East is a price worth paying to bring stability to the region (60 Minutes, May 12th 1996).

My point is, if you’re going to do this, then at least do some basic research into which person you are attaching to your message, as your good intention may be completely honorable, it can go horribly wrong.

How many times do we see organisations put out the standard we love our woman message on their socials. To me respect is not shown by a gif or a meme. Perhaps a pay rise, decent maternity leave and understanding if there is a family issue that needs to be contented with would be the best way rather than a group photo holding a bunch of flowers.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

Is this nothing more than virtue signalling, peer pressure and weak minded marketers who think it is great to attach their brand to any cause or whatever special day it is today.

Why do we do it? Marketing departments are riddled with FOMO directionless box tickers, who think this is a great way to get ‘eyes’ on their brand.

Do organisations ever really take the necessary action to follow their bulkily constructed memes and words that they just fired out into the social media universe? Not from my experience. If you take a look at the composition of CEO’s, the overwhelming majority in an FX company are male. The only roles that women dominate are compliance, marketing roles and support roles.

How long before we have to employ a woke consultant who tells us what are the ’hottest’ causes to follow to raise our brands profile. Based upon what I have seen in looking at this subject, people very rarely buy from you because you are supporting a cause. Keep it simple, just sell me your product. It’s a nice clean relationship between buyer and seller.

A further point is taking the knee. Whilst it was a very worthy thing to do, which did highlight a huge injustice.

However, it did lose its power with it becoming nothing more than a we better do it as we dont want to look bad exercise.

Where were these brands when Colin Kapernick did this several years back before it was fashionable? More importantly, when do you stop doing it and how do you stop without offending others. Is there a set criteria for how long something like this should be adhered to?

In essence I think it is a modern phenomenon which we are all guilty off, myself included. In that you post a supportive meme or add the latest cause over your picture on your socials, and it absolves you of the need to take any actual positive action that should be taken to redress the balance.

By highlighting a cause it really is a cop out of doing something positive. For example, if you were laying on the side of the road with a broken leg, would you like someone to highlight your plight with a wonderful linkedin campaign, or would you like them to actually take action and help?

It really is a moral quandary which you can solve by taking the first step and making sure that you treat people of all genders, ethnicities and backgrounds with the dignity they deserve,rather than just virtue signalling us all. think more importantly we can stop the evil nexus of the HR and marketing departments coming together with their ridiculous employee appreciation day cake on my desk.

Let’s take positive action and give me a decent salary from your booming brokerage that is dripping with money.

Anyway...it’s Monday and my rant has cleansed my spirit.

Have a great day everyone.

Alexander Professional Studies CONSTANTINOS ARISTOPHANOUS Director of Alexander Professional Studies

HOW TO KEEP YOUR STAFF FOREVER!

We have all probably felt a little overlooked at one time or another working for a brand, who offers minimal professional development. GC speaks with Constantinos Aristophanous from Alexander Professional Studies, who can show us how your brand can develop a skilled and knowledgeable workforce, at practically zero cost. Further to this, they assist you every step of the way in completing the necessary paperwork to start...the perfect professional dream!

Q I have found that the local FX industry is full of highly intelligent people, however historically they do not add to their skill set by acquiring new qualifications.Why is this?

That can be for a number of reasons such as time, money or perhaps the company they work for has

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

a more short sighted approach to their staff development. One of the main reasons why we founded Alexander Professional studies several years back, is that an individual can take control of their professional future.

Moreover, we like to make it easy for a company to also encourage their staff to improve themselves on a professional basis, In case you are not aware, we are the professional arm of Alexander College, where we have designed many syllabuses to cover the gaps in knowledge that may appear within investment firms.

Not only do we offer CySEC exam preparation courses, we also teach the prestigious CFTe (Certified Financial Technician) Diploma along with courses from the CISI such as, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and many more. Furthermore, these can all be

carried out online where you can achieve a qualification from the STA or CISI, along with a certificate of attendance.

Q If an institution is making money, why go to the headache of putting your staff through extra training?

This really improves the calibre of your staff members and you can set yourself apart from your peers. There are so many different roles that people take on in this industry. You can often see a candidate that is interviewed having experience in many of the departments of an investment firm, however they do not have the relevant skill set to do the job at anything above a rudimentary level.

Further to this, when you speak to your clients they will also understand that they are talking to someone who is knowledgeable, qualified and professional on the subject. This is a fantastic reflection on your organisation. We all know that the best advert is word of mouth, and this comes from being professional.

Q By investing in your staff, does this also act as a great retention tool to keep them?

If you really want to grow as a strong organisation, you need to invest in your staff’s development. Far too many places claim that they are interested in growing their staff’s knowledge and competence, but live in fear of doing so in case they leave for a competitor.

This is the wrong attitude to have, as studies have shown that you will have staff members stay with you for a vastly increased amount of time if you invest in their personal development. Of course you may have to increase their salary in accordance with knowledge.

The alternative is that they leave you and work for a brand that helps them grow professionally, and you have to go through the headache, cost and additional workload of filing that position.

Q What are the entry level requirements of knowledge you need to start a base level course?

We cater for all as we understand that people are beginning their careers. One good suggestion if you are starting a new entry level staff member’s, is to take one of our courses so they have a great grounding in how the investment industry works.

We have many cases where people have begun working in sales, however from the studies showed huge aptitude for another discipline and their profes-

sional development took them in that direction using our courses.

Moreover, in case you think that this will be of huge cost to your company, all of the courses are subsidised by the HRDA which covers the majority of the cost that can be claimed back. We will assist you every step of the way in doing this to make it straight forward.

Further to this, at the turn of the year we offered an online bundle which covers CPDs, CISI introduction to securities and investment, the CFTe exam along with professional refresher courses.

Normally this is 10,000 GBP however, where it is online we are only charging 3,000 EUR. Please bear in mind these are heavily subsidised by the state to make it accessible for all.

Q What is the HRDA, and how do local companies get access to this?

We can take care of all the paperwork, also all companies that pay social insurance in Cyprus for their employees have access to have a portion of this cost subsidised. Further to this, we do offer in house training, and if it is deemed to be relevant to the brokerage it is 100% subsidised. This can be things like regulatory framework or best execution policies to name but a few.

It is a very simple transaction where the company pays Alexander Professional Studies, and then you can claim that back from the HRDA with the minimum of fuss.

Needless to say we are on hand to assist.

Q The vast majority of your study portfolio is online.

How does this help your students?

This helped them tremendously during the lockdown as you can imagine, it was incredibly challenging to run the face to face education establishment. This aside, it also benefits a student where they can look at one topic per night instead of only being able to cover 2 topics in a classroom based study package.They can fast track their studies, as one thing many of us have at the moment is additional time on our hands.

Q What’s the best way to reach you for more information.

The easiest is to go to our website where you can see all our contact details www.professional.alexander.ac.cy Also, you can see from the website that we have a huge team, you can contact myself or them using Linkedin.

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MT Proxy KENT RIBOE Managing Partner at MT Proxy

Q Tell us about MT Proxy. What is it you do?

We help brokers offer their clients a better, faster trading experience. And we do this in a number of ways.

The first thing we do is help brokers get closer to their clients. You see, fast trading comes from fast data transmission. The closer brokers are to their clients, the faster they can send and receive data. And of course the faster they can process trades. We help by figuring out where the clients are and what the best server locations would be. We then find the best network routes based on client location. We also continually optimise pathways to meet growing client demand. This ensures clients are always connected via the best route, enabling brokers to offer clients the best possible trading experience.

The second thing we do is help brokers improve their overall performance. You see, fast trading also depends on server availability. The more brokers rely on their main servers, the more vulnerable they are to server overloads, outages, and even DDoS attacks. We help brokers reduce the load on their main servers by seamlessly moving client connections to our proxies.

We also monitor all our proxies and their performance in real-time. This means brokers benefit from better connectivity, and their clients benefit from a better, more reliable service.

Q Why did you decide to start MT Proxy?

Brokers need the lowest possible latency in order to stay competitive. We started MT Proxy about a decade ago, because we saw a real need for a better, more affordable way for brokers to boost connectivity and speed up trading for their clients. Many brokers rely on VPS services for this, and it is very hard to find a VPS provider that offers the right level of stability, connectivity, and routing. It is also hard to find one that offers services in the right regions for the right price.

We felt that with MT Proxy we could bring something really unique to the market. We have an extensive network of proxy servers, so we can be wherever

GAME CHANGERS Issue #32

our partnering brokers need us to be. We also have the technology in place to optimise network routes, reduce latency, and monitor proxy performance.

This means brokers can get the robust trading infrastructure they need, without having to invest a lot of time and resources in managing proxies. There are very few companies in the market that do what we do. We also provide a fully-managed service and we believe brokers see the value in that.

Q Although your company is the market leader at what you do, why do you keep such a low profile?

We’re not here to take the spotlight from brokers.

They are the ones who have the relationship with the traders. We’re just here to make that relationship faster, better, and stronger. We’re a low profile partner who helps them deliver a better service, and we’re happy with that. And to be fair, we also work with world-leading CRM, bridge, and liquidity providers.

We’re proud to share the spotlight with such amazing partners.

Q Many of the readers get endless calls from ‘solution’ providers. Why do I need your company at my brokerage?

Low latency has always been important to traders.

The difference now is that traders are much more connected and able to share their trading experience with others. With more and more companies entering the market, brokers need to offer their traders the best possible trading experience. This means low latency trading and fast order execution.

And no other provider in the market is as good as us when it comes to speeding up trading on the client-facing side.

Low latency will become even more important to traders in the future, as the industry moves towards 24/7 trading. Tools for Brokers for example, has already enabled weekend trading for forex and cryptocurrency markets via their bridge. I imagine other providers will soon do the same. This means brokers will need to be in a position to offer low latency trading across all markets at all times. No other provider in the market is as well equipped as us to help them do that.

Q How hard is it to integrate the technology?

It’s relatively simple actually. We can get everything set up in less than two working days, all the broker needs to do is to add our hostnames to their MT4/MT5 platforms, and this takes about 15 minutes. As the process is so straightforward, it also makes it very easy for us to offer free trials. We are currently offering a free two-week trial to brokers who want to try our services. The setup is seamless for clients and the performance benefit is immediate.

Q What are the common objections you get from a potential client not to sign up?

I think some brokers feel that this type of trading infrastructure is something that

Kent Riboe Managing Partner at MT Proxy

can be managed internally. And it’s true that there is nothing stopping brokers from setting up their own proxy servers. But setting things up is the easy part.

The hard part is knowing how to find the best server locations and how to best optimise pathways. What we offer brokers is a fully-managed solution. We roll it out, we monitor it, and we make sure it works. We optimise the network, we maximise connectivity, and we boost the overall proxy performance. As such, we offer real value to brokers in terms of both the service they get, and the time they save.

Q We always felt your price was too cheap. Will you be raising the price soon to reflect the value that your product gives?

We are looking into price models this year. That said, we want our services to be affordable. We know what services are available on the market. And we know how much these services cost to run. We also know that MT Proxy adds value and we feel our prices reflect that. It is important to us that we can offer the same great service to all brokers, regardless of their size. And we want to be affordable to both new and established brands. That’s why our prices start at just 980 euros per month for a package of 5 proxies.

Q What makes you so special?

A lot of companies are about the bottom line, whereas we are very much about customer service and added value. We’re looking to build long-term relationships with all our brokers and partners. That’s why we

do everything we can to help them improve their infrastructure and offer a better trading experience to clients. We’re really on the ball when it comes to monitoring our proxy performance and client connectivity. If there’s an issue, we know about it immediately and brokers can rely on us 24/7. We think it’s that high level of support that enables us to help brokers improve the trading experience for clients and that makes us stand out in the market.

Q With a particular business model being more aligned to financial gain of their brand rather than the client, does this work for them?

Yes, it does. It might even be more important for them. Financial gain comes from having great customer service. And you can’t offer great customer service without also offering great trading services.

Financial gain also requires brokers to have great trading infrastructure.

Brokers with high latency are much more vulnerable to latency arbitrage. It is in their best interest to invest in improving their infrastructure, speeding up trading, and protecting their business from latency abuse.

Q How can people contact you to get a better understanding?

Smoke signals when their server goes down!

I’m joking, of course. They can also reach us via hello@mtproxy.io or via our website www.mtproxy.io

Breinrock ZORAN RADOVANOVIC Founder and CEO of Breinrock

Why cheap banking is expensive!

Since Game Changers has been speaking with Zoran, our knowledge regarding EMI’s has radically increased to the point of maybe adding something mildly constructive to the debate. One thing we have found is that we are often pitched on cheaper banking solutions being the answer to all our institutions ills.

However, as we are all aware when you need a quality solution, choosing based on price can be the most expensive mistake.

Q Many people I have spoken to have advocated using an EMI from a region such as the Baltics. From the outset it can look attractive to users, however can result in several challenges for the end user. How can you help the readers?

First of all it really depends on what type of business you are conducting, as one massively differentiates from the other. If you are selling shoes locally then no issue at all, however if you are conducting online business which would be considered high risk, it may not be the best fit for you and your business.

I covered this a little in our previous conversation, where these would be operating under the rules of the European Central Bank, for example only 5 out of 100 of their clients can be considered high risk so this can make a couple of challenges for the user.

How hard will it be for you to stay as one of the five prefered clients of this EMI if they can only take 5 per 100 in that category. Not only this, it would be hard to establish 95 solid low risk clients to appease the regulator. Based upon this, you really are at the mercy of that institution gaining and maintaining these relationships in such a small geographical area to keep your banking working.

Based upon this you have to evaluate whether the potential lower costs, such as transaction charges or if you are looking to purchase your own EMI license.

You have to ask yourself the hard questions of, will the Baltic EMI have challenges either in handling your money based on your business activities, or if you are also looking to enter an already incredibly crowded market.

Q So based upon this what would you say is the answer?

Q If you are a brand who has many banking challenges, what solutions would you consider?

Although everyone it is very common to say that a solution being offered is bespoke, this phrase has never been more important if you are looking to use or buy an EMI license. The two areas that Breinrock are really focusing on is the FCA license from the UK, and one that has been incredibly overlooked the Canadian license.

One solution that we have been offering is the EMI white label where you can have your own EMI brand that not only caters for your banking needs. Moreover, you can also offer your banking services to others who are experiencing the same organizational challenges as you are.

The post Brexit business environment has become incredibly welcoming to outside financial services who are looking to start business in the UK. The application procedure is more straightforward than I thought it would be, and it is a license we will be adding to our service in the very near future.

In case you are not aware, we also hold the Canadian license which means that we operate under a very strong, but more importantly a regulator who is looking to work with you in offering a solution.

Having a combination of a long career in banking, and one of the most respected licenses in the industry has enabled Breinrock to establish many sought after AAA rated banking relationships, which really give that added value to our clients.

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

The upside of this is that you can also mark up the transaction costs, which are incredibly low die to our relationships where we look to pass this value on to our clients. Moreover, it adds credibility to your group of brands by having a centralised EMI to show your clients that you are not just your average offshore brokerage, but a viable investment institution with long term goals.

I think in the next couple of years, you will see a lot of evolution in the FX industry with brokerages only offering a platform for execution will struggle as they are not using the full relationship that they have with their client.

Q So if you are to essentially open your own bank, how hard is this to do. Do I have to employ hundreds of highly trained banking staff?

Well you would certainly think that if you were using the old thinking of setting up a high street bank. The true beauty of a white label EMI from Breinrock is that we can take a tremendous amount of the burden from you not only when we are setting up your EMI with regards to the licensing procedure.

Moreover, alot of the compliance and payments roles can also be outsourced to Breinrock, giving you time to work out organisationally where you would like to employ key staff members at a future date, and more importantly at a pace that suits you.

Finally, if you have several brands that are all in the same industry or they differ, you can offer them your own personal banking solution, saving you a lot of headaches to keep control of your own money, ending the monthly cycle of misery of trying to find new and interesting ways to solve your own personal banking crisis.

This is not a process that takes years to set up, all things being equal we can be functioning in around 3-4 months from start to finish. This will no doubt revolutionise your business very quickly at a low cost, low effort and add additional revenues to your all important bottom line.

Q Have you got any other new products you will be looking to release in the near future?

Zoran Radovanovic Founder and CEO of Breinrock

We are currently in the final stages of development of GOLD/TOKEN as physical gold connected to USDT dtabile Coin that offers an option for Liquidity. These solutions which will be integrated to our service will give an opportunity to clients to hedge their investments with real gold purchasing. We found that the infrastructure on some of the products our clients were working with were not, shall we say, the most stable and transparent so we are looking to develop this market also.

Having assessed this closely, we have leveraged our relationships to offer a solution that can solve many of our clients needs of not only just purchasing physical gold or Crypto. But also by offering our WL clients and regular B2B clients a payment solution that can take many headaches away from having to deal with a certain niche of the banking market.

We will have more information coming out over the next month, with our first live clients already signed based upon the demo’s we have shown them.

Q What’s the best way to reach you?

It is always best to meet face to face, so you can come to our new office in central Limassol near the law courts. Also I will be at the Dubai expo, so come by our booth 70 as it is always great to meet to see how we can help you build a better future for your brand.

P - 27

GTH TRANSLATION ILDIKO GYIMESI Director of Business Operations at GTH Translation

Q Like most of our readers you have a background in FX. How did you fall into the industry?

It’s funny you mentioned that I “fell” into forex, as that’s exactly what happened. I moved to Cyprus in 2015 and got right to work with one of the island’s largest brokers, HotForex, spending two enjoyable years learning the ropes in the Partnerships department. Working with IBs and affiliates was a real eye opener as I was quickly introduced to the world of FX, but more importantly, I got to see the inner workings of how the industry operates.

Dealing with partners such as Introducing Brokers, Money Managers, and Affiliates, there were a few things they wanted; no scratch that; demanded. One of the key things all partners asked for was proper localization and great content. Obviously, the partners looked at the customer care side too, but that was greatly affected by the way the forex brand relayed information to their clients. So, the localization aspect became a massive aspect in the way we onboarded clients, and funnily, or ironically enough, it’s what I now do!

Q What intrigued you to move over to the translation industry?

Communication is key, and that applies to any and every industry, not just forex. If you’re looking to convey a message, then you’re going to have to not only speak the language, but understand the nuances of the language, as well as the cultural differences too. This is what really intrigued me to get into the localization business. I realized quite quickly that if any Forex brand is going to make a real success at advertising their brand and building strong relationships with partners and traders in a new country, they’re going to need to understand them; speak their language, so to speak.

As I mentioned earlier, when it came to dealing with the Forex partners that were being managed by me, they would often complain that a simple translation wasn’t enough. A native speaker can translate a sentence no problem, but does he/she fully understand the meaning of what they’re translating? If you ask a native speaker to translate the word “spread”, are they

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

going to translate the meaning and relate it to spreading butter over toast, or the difference between the bid and the ask?

Language is truly a complex thing, and when it comes to FX brands, there are quite a few who don’t fully understand the complexities of localization. For instance, when it comes to a brokerage targeting a new region, some are under the impression that one glove fits all. While working in the FX industry, I saw this first-hand.

Over time, I saw that dealing with the bigger picture is what really counts, and that means not just looking at translations, but actually localizing a brand completely. And localization is the much broader term for when it comes to translating content.

Do you want me to expand a little more?

Localization does include the translation of your content, of course it does, but there’s a lot more to it.

You asked me what intrigued me about moving into the translation industry, but I think you need to swap out the word “translation” for “localization”. I remember reading a case study on localization gone bad, and it was one of the sparks that led me on this pathway.

That spark was a case study on Marks & Spencer (no pun intended). We all know M&S to be a global brand, and so it might surprise just how wrong this brand got it when it came to penetrating the Chinese market.

M&S’ management thought they could expand their brand based solely on its global brand appeal. Their management also thought it would be a good idea to simply translate the M&S website into Mandarin.

In 2008, Marks & Spencer pulled out the red carpet and entered the Chinese market with all the bells and whistles they could muster. They are an international brand after all, so you would expect this from them.

M&S opened their 40,000 square foot flagship store in Shanghai’s premier shopping street, and this was the first Marks & Spencer’s in mainland China, as well as its largest in Asia.

Thing is, it doesn’t matter how big you are. If you can’t convey your messaging, your brand is meaningless.

The same happened to Marks & Spencer in 2016, when

they closed down their flagship store. Two years after that, Marks & Spencer announced that they would be closing down their online sales in China.

How did this happen? M&S simply failed to adapt to the tastes of Chinese consumers. They didn’t localize their brand to the culture of the region they were trying to penetrate. Thing is, this is just one case in a series of thousands. So, localization intrigued me because it doesn’t really matter what your brand is.

If you’re not willing to communicate with the target audience, you’re not going to do too well.

Q I think the name of your brand kind of undersells what they do. You also make content, is that right?

GTH? If you don’t know what the acronym stands for, then you’re probably right. GTH stands for Global Translations Hub. Now that we’ve been around for over a decade, we’re at the point where potential customers are getting in touch with us. I think we’ve been banging the localization drum for long enough and now brands realize that they can’t simply translate the content, but rather need to have specialists review their content and brand, which is what we do.

With regards to content, we also produce great content for our clients, and have done so for years now. The beauty is that because we’ve got a team of extremely talented Copywriters who are experienced in all the verticals we deal with, it’s not too much of a challenge for us to serve our clients with content.

Plus, we can produce fully localized content too, which is a huge benefit to brands looking to expand into new markets.

Q Do you have clients that completely outsource their content needs to you?

We do. In fact, quite a few clients now view GTH as their dedicated content team. We’ve nailed down how to create unique, great content that is created in the tone of the brand we’re working with. That’s really important, and when we work with clients in relation to producing content for them, we make sure we understand their brand and tone of voice before producing any content for them.

Q How complex can you make your content solution?

When it comes to what our clients see, we make it quite simple. Any brand that needs content, whether it’s a forex broker who is looking for website, landing page, or email content, or a blockchain start-up, we make it easy for them to get started. We send out a questionnaire which asks our clients a series of questions. These relate to the brand DNA of our client.

What style of content are they looking for?

Professional, off the cuff, conversational, etc.?

P - 29 Ildiko Gyimesi Director of Business Operations at GTH Translation

ETX Capital PHILIP ADLER CEO of ETX Capital

Q ETX Capital has evolved from being a very successful CFD trading brand to in the recent past moving into capital raising.

Why do this?

This was opportunity driven. We knew a Corporate Brokerage team who were looking for a new home in an established brokerage business. They explained to us the mechanics of their business model which is very simple; they match investors who are knowledgeable about the AIM market with AIM listed corporates who are looking to raise funds.

Q Do you see this as a useful way to mitigate risk to your bottom line as a company with more regulatory shackles being placed on CFD brokerages now?

We see this as a way to diversify our revenue streams. Traditionally ETX revenue relied on spread, commission and financing.

Now our revenue includes routine Corporate Brokerage fees and fund raising fees.

Q Can you see more brands who are looking more long term to also follow your lead, as just offering an MT4 trading solution does not seem to make a brand stand apart?

I agree that it is hard to get cut through with your brand especially if you are just another MT4 broker. We are happy that we

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

do achieve brand recognition for a number of reasons.

We have an award winning multi asset proprietary mobile and web based trading platform, Traderpro, that clients very much value. We have been established as a regulated UK broker for over 50 years. We have won many awards for our client service of which we are very proud.

Q What type of due diligence are you carrying out, prior to accepting a partner to raise funds for?

Extensive due diligence is carried out on all aspects of the business and the related sector. Each opportunity goes through an Investment Committee made up of several senior ETX executives to encourage debate and challenge and to collectively uncover all possible risks. The Corporate Brokerage team presents the business purpose/proposition, the balance sheet, the market liquidity, the management team, any licensing or technologies underpinning the business and any 3rd party dependencies. The Committee will approve or reject the opportunity or occasionally ask for more information.

Q As a client, how can I get involved in this. Is there a minimum deposit, or am I classified as a professional client?

There are no minimum deposits, no special accounts you have to open but you do have to be classified as a Professional client to participate Q Will you be looking to attract Family offices and Funds in the future for larger capital raises?

We do work closely with family offices and small funds who are looking for investment opportunities and will look to continue to attract such investors. As we have become more established, we are regularly shown placing deals from other brokers and this activity is reciprocated.

Q Is this only for existing ETX Capital clients to take advantage of?

Yes you must be a client of ETX Capital

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Game Changers Magazine

Lifestyle

GC:ASIA The Windows of Malaysia PAUL CABILDO Travel Writer

I have always been vocal that Malaysia will always be my happy place. With so many breathtaking places to visit, mouth watering foods to try and friendly people, for sure, Malaysia will always have a special place in heart. I’ve visited this country a few times and it never gets old. Malaysia occupies parts of the Malay peninsula and the island of Borneo. It’s known for its vibrant cities, tropical rainforest, relaxing beaches, busy shopping districts, and iconic buildings.

Now that most of the countries are still on lockdown and won’t open to tourism anytime soon, we can only look back to the times when traveling is a breeze.

Although I miss traveling big time, I feel grateful that I have tons of travel memories I can cling on to at least until everything gets back to normal.

Let me take you to Malaysia and share with you some of the must-visit places in this awesome Southeast Asian country.

Petronas Twin Towers - Kuala Lumpur You have never been to Malaysia if you did not visit the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. The famous twin towers are situated in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and were built to house the headquarters of Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia. An Argentine-born Marxian architect, Cesar Pelli designed the famous building. The 88-story building was the tallest building in the world from 1988 to 2004. To date, the twin skyscrapers remain to be the tallest twin towers in the world. The observation deck on the 86th floor offers a close-up view of the pyramidal towers with digital displays about the history of the twin structures.

Petronas Twin Towers is also home to multinational companies including Accenture, Al-Jazeera, Barclays Bloomberg, IBM, Microsoft, and Reuters to name a few. A sky bridge two stories tall links the two towers between the 41st and 42nd stories. The sky bridge serves as a passageway from one building to another without the need to go back to the ground and is also an emergency exit route.

Masjid Putra - Putrajaya Masjid Putra or Putra Mosque is known for its pastel Pink architecture. It sits next to Perdana Putra which houses the prime minister’s office in Putrajaya.

The mosque was completed in 1999 and was crafted with rose-tinted granite. It consists of a prayer hall, courtyard or Sahn, and various learning facilities and the mosque is big enough to accommodate 15,000 worshippers at a time.

This religious structure faces the scenic Putrajaya Lake. Putra Mosque combines the Malaysian, Persian, Arab-Islamic architectural design, local craftsmanship, and the use of indigenous materials. And the result is a world-class architecture that is truly worth visiting.

Batu Caves - Selangor

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

The word Batu in Malay translates to “rock”. Rising almost 100 meters above the ground, Batu Caves is located in Selangor, Malaysia, and this limestone hill houses a series of caves. The biggest cave is known as the Cathedral or Tempe Cave that has a high ceiling and the only way to reach it is to climb the 272 steep and colorful stairs. It is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India and it is the focal point for the Thaipusam Festival, a Hindu celebration that was first celebrated on this famous hill in 1892 and has since attracted thousands of tourists from different parts of the globe annually. Aside from the caves, the goldpainted statue of Murugan that stands 140 feet is one of the most famous landmarks of Batu Caves.

Chew Jetty - Penang Located in Weld Quay, George Town, Penang, Chew Jetty was part of the seven Clan Jetties. To date, only six jetties remain after one was demolished by fire.

These jetties are known as the waterfront society of old Chinese settlements. Wooden houses were built on stilts by the immigrants and over time, food stalls and other tourism-related business has evolved.

Chew Jetty is said to be the most tourist-friendly of all the jetties. No wonder, it became a popular tourist destination. Strolling along a wooden walkway will take you on a food adventure and sightseeing. Don’t forget to try the famous Chew Jetty big bowl noodles that can satisfy at least five people with a big appetite.

Before you leave, bring home some souvenirs that are being sold all over the place.

Street Art in George Town - Penang George Town is the multicultural capital of Penang.

It depicts the colorful life and tradition of its inhabitants. George Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site as evidenced by its well-preserved cultural and historical heritage. Walking along the streets of George Town is fun and the rich and stunning street paintings make it even more enjoyable. It’s like interactive murals that are worth capturing and sharing on social media.

This street art conveys the way of life of the people in Penang.

The transformation of the streets of Penang into street art started with a Lithuanian artist named Ernest Zacharevic. He was tasked to create six murals for the George Town Arts & Culture Festival in 2012. And just like that, Penang evolved into a vivid and aesthetic place while preserving the old culture. A combination of the old and the new that unfolds a fascinating world to be enjoyed by locals and tourists.

I enjoy traveling and have documented my Asian travels to come up with a handy guide that includes some of the best places to visit in Southeast Asia.

Travel Asia Mini-Series is still available on Amazon and Google Play.

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GC: LUXURY The perfect way to explore the Island!

With summer fast coming on the horizon, what better way to explore the country than chartering a yacht for your trip from one coastal resort to another. Cyprus has one of the best coastlines in Europe, and is completely accessible from the various marinas around the country. You can leave Limassol marina for a great night out in Ayia Napa, or a relaxing weekend in Latchi plan your own adventure in marine luxury.

Also for those not looking to spend wasted hours in crowded hot airports, for a small extra cost you can charter the boats to other neighbouring countries for a more relaxed trip which the itinerary is designed for yourself.

GC took a look at our favorite providers of boat charters in Limassol, Princess Charter, to take a look at how real game changers spend the weekend.

GC’s preferred mode of transport would be the imperious Princess 30, at over a 100 feet long this modern yacht is considered to be one of the most luxurious pilothouse crafts on the planet.

Start the trip with a great breakfast onboard from one of the attentive crew members who can cater for various dietary requirements on the deck of one of the most enviable craft in the marina.

Your first stop should be the amazing Blue Lagoon beach which is one the most spectacular on the island.

Located to the west of Paphos, the water is usually warmer due to it being in a bay area.Stop here to take a dip in the clear blue sea to see why this is one of the best places to visit in the country.

We would suggest that once you stop in Latchi to eat at Yialos Beach Tavern offering a great selection of local foods for everyone’s palate. Located close to the harbour, there is no need for a chauffeur to pick you up. Just hop off the marina boat service for a relaxed lunch where you can watch the world go by.

After digesting your food, and relaxing for a few hours in complete luxury as you sail over to Ayia Napa. We would suggest that you relax on deck, or if you are in a food coma take a nap in one of the several air conditioned large bedrooms that are on the yacht.

After a couple of hours of sailing, you will be ready for a night out in Ayia Napa. If you are looking for a chic but relaxed night out, perhaps try Sage where you can indulge yourself with great cocktails and food. With it being Ayia Napa, you can choose how you want the night to go whether it is hedonistic bars or a more subdued night out before you return to the yacht.

Having experienced many drunken taxi rides home in my life, this can be the most pleasurable journey home, as you can fall asleep in your luxury double bed as the Captain slowly cruises through the night to the next destination of your choice...enjoy!

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GC: FEMME JOYCE GROUP

Founded in 1970 and continuously representing designers who transcend creative boundaries, JOYCE Group is Asia’s vanguard of fashion retail, brand management and distribution.

A nurturer and supporter of extraordinary talents across the world, JOYCE Group today owns its eponymous and legendary multi-brand boutique JOYCE, a prestigious beauty retail concept JOYCE Beauty, and a distribution portfolio of innovative designers including Alexander Wang, Dries Van Noten, Marni, Rick Owens, sacai, Thom Browne and Victoria Beckham.

JOYCE Group operates points of sales across Greater China including five JOYCE multi-brand boutiques and over 10 JOYCE Beauty store concepts. www.joyce.com

BRAND: JOYCE NAME: Molly Goddard Ruffle Detail Midi Dress COST: € 2.556 www.mollygoddard.com PICTURE CREDIT: Farfetch

BRAND: Dolce & Gabbana NAME: Kendra tassel-trim straw bag COST: € 3.998 www.dolcegabbana.com PICTURE CREDIT: Farfetch

BRAND: Ugg NAME: Shearling slippers COST: € 422 www.ugg.com PICTURE CREDIT: Farfetch

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BRAND: Nodaleto NAME: Bulla babies Mary Jane pumps COST: € 710 www.nodaleto.com PICTURE CREDIT: Farfetch

GC: FEMME

73937 Brand: Melekkis Jewellery Name: EARRINGS 18K YELLOW AND WHITE GOLD WITH 1,15 CT DIAMONDS SI/G Cost: €4.149

77019 Brand: Melekkis Jewellery Name: RING 18K YELLOW GOLD WITH 0,25CT DIAMONDS VS/G Cost: €1.070

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

81302 Brand: Melekkis Jewellery Name: COLIE 14K RED WHITE GOLD Cost: €409

79398 Brand: Melekkis Jewellery Name: RING 18K RED AND WHITE GOLD 0,18CT DIAMONDS AND 1,77CT PINK SAPPHIRES Cost: €2.220

82757 Brand: Melekkis Jewellery Name: BANGLE 18K RED GOLD WITH 0.57 CT DIAMONDS VS/GH Cost: €2.411

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GC:HOMME Giorgio Armani is a high-end label specializing in men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, glasses, cosmetics, and perfumes. He first came to notice, working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually diversified into music, sport and luxury hotels. By 2001 Armani was acclaimed as the most successful designer of Italian origin, and is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion.

BRAND: GIORGIO ARMANI NAME: Double breasted jacket in linen COST: € 2.700

BRAND: GIORGIO ARMANI NAME: Polished leather Derby shoes with transparent detailing on the sole COST: € 1.100

BRAND: GIORGIO ARMANI NAME: Upton line regular-fit jacket in linen and cotton COST: € 2.300

BRAND: GIORGIO ARMANI NAME: Flat-front trousers in linen COST: € 1.300

BRAND: GIORGIO ARMANI NAME: T-shirt in jersey seersucker with contrasting profiles COST: € 580

BRAND: GIORGIO ARMANI NAME: Single-breasted denim jacket in linen and cotton COST: € 1.050

BRAND: GIORGIO ARMANI NAME: Crew neck sweater in linen and cotton COST: € 630

GC:EAT RAFAELS FOOD TRUCK - LIMASSOL. Tuesday - Saturday: 12:30-15:30,17:30-21:30 or until sell out Sunday-Monday:closed Contact us: 99 4026507

For this edition we are going a little off the beaten track with a local gem that we have discovered in central Limassol. I had seen Rafaels Food Truck on instagram, and to be honest with you I was looking in the wrong area of the city, as I was dying to try it for quite a few months.

Luckily GCTV mainstay Daniel Abdel Malak happily put me straight post video shoot, confirming its location and that I was in for a treat. You can find it by St Nicholas roundabout, across the road from Sams Lebanese (which I will give you my shawarma report soon.).tucked discreetly in the side road if you are driving up Riga Feriou, do a left opposite DHL.

Little did the good people of Rafaels realise that they were being critiqued by one of Limassols stermest food reviewers, an 8 year old girl who constantly reminds me that she does not like ‘bits’ in her food After parking the car, the fresh smell immediately found a welcome home up my nose, where you can smell the fresh dough being gently heated by the flames to create one of my favorite ever smells of any dish.

Reassuringly we saw a smiling group of happy patrons carrying away several boxes of pizza away from the truck, leaving the way open for me to order for myself and my choosy companion a taste of the old country.

My offspring went basic with the Margaeretta, I went for the spicy salami, which was made in front of us like some type of pizza artist carefully adding garnishes to suit our palette.I would estimate the all important measurement of oven to being forced into the hole in my face at around 5 minutes, which is very respectable for two hungry people.

Whenever I am waiting for a pizza to be made there is no better feeling than when they make the final withdrawal with the pizza spade or whatever it is called, and being placed in your box.

Something about that clunk of the pizza shovel, the sound of the folding box and the synapses in my brain knowing it will soon be satisfied.

They immediately got a high score from the child, who upon opening her box, sank her teeth in and immediately learned the art of patience and always having a bottle of water close whenever you eat from any food truck around the world. It’s fair to say that the food comes oven hot!

I can honestly say that after eating, this is without a shadow of doubt my favorite pizza in the city. If you are used to

using the faceless multinational pizza takeaway places, you are missing out on what real pizza is.

Each bite was the right resistance when you chew, moreover,the ingredients were all fresh which you could appreciate with every mouthful. It may appear to be a little smaller when you buy it, however Domino’s et al are really designed for Americans who go for the sheer bulk of food, rather than high end Italian quality. By the time I had finished it, I felt a little stuffed but not needing a 10 minute power nap.

What I love about food trucks, and this city desperately needs more post lockdown, is the accessibility to different food types that they can give to the vast majority of us. You may get a huge family deal from Pizza Hut, however that is mass produced where each unit is measured and costed by

an anonymous accountant. With this establishment, every pizza shape is unique, and having it box fresh was great after the last year.

At Rafaels, each pizza from memory is under 10 Euros. So for fresh tasty food which will leave you full, and not with that nasty residual feeling you have from many of the mass produced fast food providers. In fact, when you eat from here, in all honesty it should not be classed as fast food, as there are several healthy choices if you choose them.

After leaving Rafaels we both agreed to return to a nice setting in the early summer evening. Turning the car engine on and heading home, we both agreed that we were living la dolce vita!

GC:FITNESS How To Prevent Tinder Fingers.

LUIS RIBEIRO Founder of Club Health www.clubhealth.uk

Let’s set the scene

LR: You should try swiping right sometimes.

A patient walks in the Club for their scheduled physiotherapy appointment. The issue at hand? An actual hand issue. The patient explained that she was developing onset right wrist pain. The pain was located on the radial part of the wrist and worsened by extension, abduction or adduction of her thumb. Once she finished explaining the condition, I asked a rather weird question:

We both laughed out loud before I finally revealed how her condition and a dating app are related.

Luis Ribeiro: Are you on Tinder?

The patient was stupefied.

Patient: Yes, how do you know?

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

LR: You got Tinder-nitis!

Before you start Googling what Tinder-nitis is, let me come out and say that it’s not a medical term or condition. It’s a term I came up with to describe the constant and repetitive use of the app which leads to what my patient pretty accurately describes.

While the name is quite specific and points to the famous app, this condition is opening a larger discussion regarding the use of mobile phones and the stress

we put our thumbs and hands through. Texting, swiping, scrolling, mobile phones have become an extension of our hands. Where does this constant smartphone use lead? It sets patients on a path towards tendinitis and arthritis.

The condition is more widely known as “texting thumb” (again, not a medical term) dates back to the 80s, the video games era. During that period, you would hear the same description of the condition but a different name, the “Nintendo thumb” which in the 90s and early 00s “BlackBerry thumb” was the diagnosis du jour. It’s basically laypeople’s terminology for discomfort that they were having in their hands due to the constant use of the phone.

Which brings us to the next point of order: smartphones. Smartphones are not ergonomically designed for repetitive use over long periods of time. As a result, people get sore. The repetitive use of a smartphone is categorised as a repetitive stress injury (RSI) as there is nothing broken or dislocated in the hand, and in many cases there isn’t even much inflammation.

An RSI is a “diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning that all other diagnoses have been ruled out. When we operate a smartphone, there’s a whole slew of complex motions going on under the skin. Muscles are contracting, tendons are colliding, and over time, the hands develop the soreness described by our client.

What’s The Prescription? What’s The Solution?

I’m sure that in your ideal world, I would be able to prescribe a cream, a pill or a magic potion for that matter that would make the soreness go away and keep you clicking, swiping, and scrolling.

Unfortunately, the solution to this problem is much simpler and unimaginative: give your hand a rest. Put the phone down and allow your muscles to rest. You could also switch hands if you absolutely must keep going but the best course of action is to decrease the time you use the phone.

Take frequent breaks over the course of the day. Open and close your fingers,stretch your wrists and forearms. When your hand starts to cramp up and get sore while you’re using your phone, that’s just your body’s way of telling you to take it easy. Listen to your body.

Some might consider swiping relentlessly on Tinder a sport, but we won’t be seeing it at the Olympic Games schedule any time soon. Jokes aside, In the world of orthopaedics, overuse injuries are those caused by repetitive microtrauma to the musculoskeletal system.

Often seen in sports, these injuries develop subtly over time. Examples of overuse injuries are tennis elbow, runner’s knee, jumper’s knee, little leaguer’s shoulder, shin splints, and more.

What’s interesting to see is that mobile phones and video games are the new cause of overuse injuries.

Analysing My Patient’s Case Let’s have a closer look at the case of my 21-year-old female student patient. Without significant medical history, she developed gradual onset right wrist pain. The pain was located on the radial part of the wrist and worsened by extension, abduction or adduction of her thumb.

She was diagnosed with wrist tendonitis secondary to De Quervain’s tenosynovitis (a painful condition affecting the tendons on the thumb side of your wrist). This injury greatly affected her ability to perform daily activities. The pain was only on the palmar side of the wrist/thumb and there was no pain on the dorsal side. Symptoms persisted to the point where she was no longer able to hold anything heavy because of the pain.

A week later, she became aware that her symptoms

GAME CHANGERS Issue #33

worsened after she started using her new iPhone X, which she obtained approximately 2 months prior to the onset of the symptoms. Taking into consideration the iPhone’s screen is large which translates to more strenuous movements of the fingers and that she started spending considerable time on Tinder, you can immediately see the root of the problem.

She held the iPhone with her right hand and texted/ swiped/scrolled with thumb on the same hand. She previously used the iPhone 6, which had a much smaller body and display.

After changing her habitual practice of holding the smartphone with her right hand, she started to hold the phone with her left hand, manipulating the display with her right index finger. Symptoms gradually improved and within a few weeks, they went away.

I hope you found this article helpful. Our team here at the Club is always ready to help you with any and every injury, no matter how minor it seems.

ISSUE #33

THE JOURNAL FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

www.gchangersmag.com info@gchangersmag.com