Panda Trading Systems

OR GOLD

Head Of Commercial Operations

Q Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to work for Panda Trading Systems

I used to work on the brokerage side of the industry. I spent about eight years working in the financial services sector in both Israel and Cyprus. It’s funny, I actually used to be a Panda client and that’s where the initial seeds were sown. I always had an interest in learning more about the technology of trading and how it all fits together on a big picture level. I was also interested in gaining experience in the B2B side of things. So, when the opportunity arose I jumped at it and here we are. That’s how the initial transition in my career path took place.

Q Tell us more about your current role at Panda and how you found your way to it.

I started out on the success team, which in retrospect was very important because that’s the department on the front line, so to speak. Working there you quickly learn everything about what brokerages require, their pain points, as well as how they operate and how best to do business with them. That experience has helped me in my present role as head of commercial operations, which involves negotiating the fit between our new products and the market’s changing needs. You can say I’m half way between the techs and the creatives. So, I also work closely with sales and marketing, to help them craft the way they approach their own campaigns. Having said that, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the forthcoming expo in Dubai,

on February 22nd. Panda will be there in full force as a gold sponsor, so be sure to pass by and say hi!

Q What was your experience of crossing that line between B2C and B2B?

It was daunting at first because you’re immediately dealing with a completely different set of concerns. Different procedures, different rules of engagement. But I was supported at every step of the way. I should say that I think Panda is quite atypical in its corporate culture, and I’m quite aware that my experience probably would have been very different had I landed somewhere else. The openness between departments at Panda made it easy for me to quickly learn how the company operates as a whole. This helped me in two ways; it made it easier for me to learn about and adapt to the new role, but it also helped me understand the direction I wanted to pursue and how my own skills could be of most value.

Q What would you say is specifically different in the culture of Panda as a company?

It sounds cliche to say, but Panda really is like a big family. The most fundamental difference in culture is that the team is never treated as a resource. It’s difficult to say the same thing about many companies

nowadays, particularly in finance. Also, when the dynamic is different like that, then you notice that the employee culture is also different as a result. For example, you won’t find people jealously guarding their domains, or interdepartmental frictions.

Everyone’s had the experience of working somewhere where the rules of the game are such that it’s everyone for themselves and to do anything else is to willingly put yourself at a disadvantage. When from the top down you have a culture of nurture and support, I think you develop an organic openness and enthusiasm for collaboration as I’ve experienced here. I think it’s why Panda has been around for so long. Good culture, good people, and a can-do attitude that’s fostered at all levels.

Q Are these traits you believe could help other businesses develop a more productive corporate culture?

Without a doubt. But then it depends on your priorities and your time horizons. Different organisations are going for different things. We see this in our industry all the time. You can be super profitable with strategies and business practises that value short term gain over long term growth. If that’s your model, then of course these concepts aren’t going to be of use to you because the payoff is too far out for it to be worthwhile.

As an example, some of our best developers started out in support without previous coding experience. That kind of movement between departments just isn’t possible in a company with a high employee turnover. At Panda, this kind of thinking filters through to everything, such as our focus on building solid partnerships and long-term relationships with our clients in an industry where people, and indeed companies, come and go.

Q What would you say are the main themes you are seeing emerging in the online FX/ CFD segment from your perspective as a technology provider?

It’s interesting, there are undoubtedly new themes emerging, but there are also old themes that have yet to fully play out. For instance, we still see brokerages attempting to run mini fintech teams in-house. This is despite it almost never making sense in terms of time, money and human resources. In 2022 it’s nearly always preferable to bring in an experienced fintech provider. You still see it attempted, though, usually by newcomers wishing to cut costs. In the long-run it’s a no-brainer to hire specialists, especially at this level of the game.

As far as emerging themes are concerned, we’re seeing AI techniques finally finding their way into brokerages. We’ve been part of this movement with a few notable product updates that add AI functionality to different tasks such as document verification and pre-emptivecustomer support. This is definitely a space to watch, and I think the brokers who start thinking carefully about what this formerly exclusive tech can do for them, will necessarily have a competitive advantage going forward.

Then there’s big data techniques in order to optimise sales, retention and marketing efforts. You’ll notice that the broader trend is optimisation and moving away from reliance

on human members of staff for processes that are far better left to code. You get this kind of focus on efficiency when a market matures, and when it scales to a point where managing it via human beings alone becomes untenable. I think our industry is at a stage now where to scale up to the next level requires a completely different focus on systems and technology. This is as trading is finally becoming a mainstream activity, which means more potential clients than most brokers can currently handle, in an environment with so much competition in the form of rival brokers, crypto exchanges, and zero-commission brokerage apps.

Q How do you think that scaling-up looks for today’s generation of FX brokers?

I think it means consolidation across different verticals. We’re seeing challenger banks and wallet providers turn into brokers, and brokers starting to offer basic banking and wallet-like services. The future is a moving target, so I don’t think anyone really knows the precise shape it’s going to take. The trend, though, is towards a greater variety of services offered. We saw this in the move from FX to multi-asset, and we’re seeing it now with the types of partnerships and mergers and acquisitions taking place in the financial services space. Let’s put it this way, there are problems to be solved and a high prize to the businesses that can be insightful and agile enough to identify and solve them in a costeffective and timely manner. I believe Panda will play a big part in this story as it unfolds.

Q You mentioned crypto before, we should probably ask you at least one topical question. What do you think about the current NFT and Metaverse crazes? Are we in another bubble? Do these things have a future?

Are they in a bubble? Yes. Do they have a future? Also yes. It may sound like I’m sitting on the fence but let me explain. Mathematically enforced digital scarcity has a future, of course. The difference between 2022 and 2017 is that the message has now gotten through to people in all fields and walks of life. Bitcoin is here to stay as the Internet’s de facto store of value. Fine. But at the moment that’s all that’s really been established.

All the other more complex uses of crypto tech, like smart contracts, defi, proof-of-stake, non-fungible tokens, digital metaverses, and so on. All that Web 3.0 stuff that relies on a consensus engine far more complex than Bitcoin’s; those things haven’t been decided yet, by the market or anyone else. And the reason for this is that no platform has emerged as the leader that can fulfil all the promises from 2017 and earlier. Ethereum obviously looks like the most viable contender, but it’s still held back by the same scaling and fee issues that plagued it in the previous cycle. And since NFTs and metaverses derive their value from the platforms they run on, I’d want to see at least a little more clarity on that front before I get super enthusiastic about this or that specific digital collectible or parcel of digital land.