Game Changers ISSUE #40
BUX THE TREND! GC speaks exclusively with Jean Nahas from Bux.
GAME CHANGERS
DIRECTORY O1
Note from the editor
O2
Iva Bogicevic
O3
Christian Di Zio, Neil Schwartzman, Jadie Naicker
O4
Match-Prime Liquidity. 12-15
O5
FiveComply. 16-19
O6
PandaTS. 20-25
View from the top. 03
Breinrock. 04-07
Swiffy. 08-11
Andreas Kapsos
Nayia Xiari
Thomas Kareklas
O7
Joshua Bentley
O8
Exclusive Capital
O9
Jean Nahas
1O
OvertEd Markets. 26-27
28-31
Bux Europe. 32-35
Elina Bagautdinova Brokeree Solutions. 36-40
11
GC:EAT
12
GC:GOING OUT
Sam’s Food. 43-44
La Caleta. The Icon. 45-47
13
GC: FEMME
14
GC: HOMME
15
GC:FITNESS
Rolex. 48-51
Rolex. 52-55
Dino Ermogeneous. 56-57
VIEW FROM THE TOP We have got to that time of year again where the retail FX industry comes to Limassol for a couple of days of expoing and all of the related endeavours that brings. Going back to the sports hall it will be interesting to see how the industry has changed since its last appearance there. It was great to have my old friend Jean Nahas feature on the front cover of the current edition of Game Changers and learning more about Bux. It looks like a great brand that is forging its own path in the industry, and appears to be more than just the standard industry platform dressed as something new and exciting. Moreover, it is awesome to see how far Jean has come in his career, from the fresh-faced FX first timer, to a veteran of the local industry…chapeau monsieur. :-) Thanks everyone who has made a wonderful contribution to this edition, it was great fun putting it together. Also, if you want to meet in person, you can see me at the Breinrock booth number 151. Have a great time if you are visiting Limassol!
Paul ORFORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Game Changers
ASK IVA IVA BOGICEVIC Head of Payment at Breinrock
Dear Iva, My brand is looking to expand into the boom markets of LATAM, Africa and Asia. However, one major hurdle is finding a stable solution that can not only accept the larger transactions of over ten thousand, also as with any brokerage we need the funds to clear quickly as they clients sometimes cannot wait 3-4 days taking the normal banking routes. What do you suggest as a remedy to this? Many thanks. Michael Mavros. GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
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Dear Michael, This can be a huge challenge, as people are fighting to get a solid foothold in this region, and providing a solid solution not only for your clients but also your brand to move funds globally is critical. One solution I would suggest is having a banking partner that offers local payment routes in the countries you need. The advantages of having access to a real local payment routes is that they will offer huge value to your service. With many brands looking to make a significant footprint within LATAM, Asia and Africa, it is still a relatively new market for many outside these regions, so you have to make sure your banking structure (and the provider you use) is on point. If you have just the ‘standard’ system, this can act as a massive hindrance in some cases having to wait several long days for the transaction to be complete, which will create unnecessary friction between you and your new client. What’s the answer? Choose a banking partner where they can show solid local payment routes prior to signing up with them. With this you can have access to almost immediate clearance of funds leading to more fluid relationships with your clients. Having access to this should probably be on your checklist when you use an EMI or banking partner. Moreover, if you are using a discount service that offers just a SEPA account and maybe two banking options you are going to find this a challenge for your brand to penetrate these markets. Going back to my mantra of you get what you pay for is incredibly relevant with a banking service. It is naive to assume that you will get this at a discount service price. Moreover, you should look at it as a value add to your service having solid access to new markets rather comparing it to a discount banking brand. At Breinrock we have almost 70 local routes including all the major LATAM, Asia and African countries which will clear your funds in your Breinrock account in moments ending the stress and strain that other solutions can bring. For more information on upgrading your banking structure, feel free to contact us to see how we can help you. Thanks, Iva To find out more about how Breinrock can help you, mail us on welcome@breinrock.com
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
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Swiffy CHRISTIAN DI ZIO | NEIL SCHWARTZMAN | JADIE NAICKER
Game Changers caught up with the founders of Swiffy - Christian Di Zio, Jadie Naicker and Neil Schwartzman - a payment services provider based in South Africa.
our services to licensed merchants who are looking to enter global markets where we have a presence or work via trusted PSP partners.
Q Guys, tell us about yourselves and your backgrounds?
Q South Africa is a boom market, why do you think it has exploded?
If you didn’t know that we were the 3 founders of Swiffy, you’d never put us in the same room together! Our backgrounds and careers are so diverse covering several industries and geographies, yet they ironically complement each other amazingly.
C.Z.: One of the main reasons for this is the strong and regulated financial sector paired with local demand from our investors. Another factor that has driven this explosion is that many South Africans now have the ability to diversify their portfolios to include attractive foreign investments and trades, especially with the influx of highly reputable FX and CFD brokerages – most of which we work with.
C.Z.: Most of my career was spent in the medical and financial services industries (ranging from pharmaceuticals all the way to X-ray machines) in business development and sales management roles. J.N.: Innovation in the financial services sector was my bread and butter, spanning the likes of KPMG, FirstRand Group (First National and Rand Merchant banks) and Alex Forbes. N.S.: From navigating tech startups across the whole of Africa, to leading a multi-national (Naspers) I gained experience across a multitude of industries from music to financial services. Q Why and how did Swiffy start? J.N.: Swiffy was born out of the need to provide innovative payment processing solutions at a low cost to merchants whilst ensuring the highest level of service standards. From starting in a home garage (complete with plastic chairs and tables), we have built a global brand that is synonymous with TRUST in the payments processing arena. For the past few years, we have grown Swiffy into a registered Third party payment processor (TPPP), a member of the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) and are PCI DSS compliant giving our customers, partners and staff the assurance of the highest level of integrity. Q Are your clients only local or are you do you have an international portfolio? N.S.: Having our roots set in Africa, Swiffy prides itself on strong payment processing capabilities across specific geographies in Africa. We have, however, also applied our skills internationally and are able to offer
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
According to estimates by Forexbrokers.co.za, there could be around 190,000 traders in South Africa alone. South Africa’s Forex trading volume including CFDs and spot total around $2.21 billion per day with a total daily foreign exchange volume of $20.37 billion for all FX instruments. Q What tips would you give brands in succeeding in South Africa and Africa in general? N.S.: One of the key lessons we have learnt in working with international merchants over the past few years is that localization is key. Partnering with a PSP that has a strong local understanding of the landscape, has the know-how on how to deal with customers’ vernacular in the region, and the ability to forge strong relationships with local banks is key. Critical to success is partnering with a PSP that is credible, well respected in the industry and has the necessary memberships and authority approvals to provide PSP services, such as Swiffy. Q How does having a local payment brand help someone trying to penetrate the market? J.N.: The Swiffy brand is synonymous with Trust and outstanding customer service. Our experience, deep knowledge and relationships across Africa make us the ideal payments services provider to work with to penetrate the market. Q Can your brand be used for processing payments from outside of Africa like a regular PSP?
P-9 Christian Di Zio | Neil Schwartzman | Jadie Naicker
N.S.: The short answer is yes. Swiffy can process international cards and offer international processing through an extensive network of long-standing trusted partners and direct integrations. Q From our experiences PSP’s can promise big and struggle to deliver. How are you different? C.Z.: Integrity! We’ve been in this industry long enough to not promise what we cannot deliver on. Too many PSP’s will tell you that they can process “all over the world” – and when your platform goes live then suddenly there a myriad of reasons as to why things are falling apart. We’ve always operated by playing to our strengths and are always upfront and clear on what we can and can’t do. Bottom line for us, if we can’t deliver, we won’t offer it. Q How hard is it to onboard and how long? Our onboarding process is super streamlined and efficient. Once we’ve received the Merchant’s KYC pack, we can have it vetted and merchant account credentials ready within 48 hours. Once the merchant has integrated (directly or via cashier) and tested, GO LIVE takes a matter of minutes. Q Is there a specific type of client that you onboard? Not really. As long as the Merchant is licensed, we can work them. Q What’s the best way to reach you and will you be attending the iFX Expo in Limassol? We’ll definitely be at iFX in Limassol and are really excited for the event! We can be reached via email at hello@swiffy.co.za; or Skype: live:christian.dizio. We’ll get back to you right away… again, it speaks to our extreme focus on customer service.
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Match-Prime Liquidity ANDREAS KAPSOS CEO of MTG Liquidity LTD
Today we met with Andreas Kapsos, the CEO of Match-Prime Liquidity, a Nicosia based Liquidity Provider. Andreas agreed to host us at the company’s new offices and answer a few questions. Q Hello Andreas, thanks for having me. Several months have passed since our last meeting. I can see that you’ve been busy - a new office, several new faces in it, and more and more new customers announced. Business is going well, I presume? Indeed! In the last few months, the company has gained significant recognition, and we can see that, especially during the expos. Our booth is always busy, and when we fly abroad, our calendars are filled with meetings. Today I can proudly say that the strategy we adopted at the beginning has brought the expected results. We entered the market with a well-thoughtout and refined solution. We knew that clients approached new entities on the liquidity market with reserve, even those licenced by CySEC, so we made sure that our offer guaranteed them complete security and the possibility of verifying our services first. In this way, we have built trust, acquired several large brokers and partnered with industry-leading companies. Let me put it this way: we had to change the office because the previous one became too small. Q You hear a lot lately that it’s getting harder and harder to find good employees, especially here in Cyprus. Have you noticed this trend? This seems to have become quite a common view over the last few years, and there is definitely some truth in it. We have to accept that this is an industry that has been developing at quite a fast pace for many years, and the number of specialists is simply not growing at the same rate. People know their value; they don’t want to waste time on work that doesn’t help them grow and gives no satisfaction. I understand it perfectly well; the best thing about working in Match-Prime was that I could realise my own vision and create something exactly as I wanted. Cyprus really is the forex capital of the world. I’ve studied in the UK, been here and there, but the local fintech market is just incomparable, you can see it by the number of new companies starting every month. CySEC is a responsible and reputable regulator, the fact that Match-Prime has a Cypriot license opens
doors for us almost all over the world. Customers just know that they can trust us. We are also lucky when it comes to geographical location! If you take one look at a map, you can see the island’s proximity to the MENA region and of course to mainland Europe. Q Do you plan to build your brand also outside of Cyprus? We have already put a lot of emphasis on it, not only in Europe but also in MENA & Asia. In September, we plan to be in Bangkok to attend one of the biggest industry events in the area. We’ve also been to London, signed contracts with a customer from Australia and become exhibitors at several large EXPOs. It really has been a busy time. Recently I’ve realised that we have been to Dubai 3 times in less than a year! Each of them was a great experience, with an abundance of opportunities to make new contacts and forge great relationships with our existing clients. The Middle East is undoubtedly a very interesting market, although demanding, that’s for sure. Our advantage is that we have a lot of experience in this region and we believe that we have the ability to understand its needs much better than before. Stavros Economides, our Chief Operating Officer, held the position of Head of Trading in one of the largest retail brokers operating in the UAE. By utilising his direct experience and understanding of the local market needs, we were able to reach out to the market successfully. Q We talked about the employees, but did you also notice the increased expectations of customers? Are Brokers more demanding than a few years ago? Without a doubt. Customers expect more and more from liquidity providers, things that were “something extra” a while ago are becoming today’s standard. It’s not easy to stand out. This applies not only to brokers that are looking for a prime provider but also to those who just want to diversify their liquidity sources. It’s undoubtedly a competitive game field, but we are fully aware and ready for it. We also have a few tricks up our sleeve and points to attract brokers attention. Q Go on then! Let’s start with the fact that our clients can count on
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an individualised approach from the very beginning. During the integration process, every client is assigned a designated consultant who then becomes the one point of contact who takes care of his every need. Thanks to that, our clients can be certain that our dealing, admin and risk teams will assist them with everything. Another point is our offer. We are constantly working on its development and want to be on top of our game. We constantly monitor market trends, and as soon as our team spots something trending, our reaction is immediate. In recent months, there has been a lot of interest in products related to gaming, like Axie Infinity. We’ve discussed this with Kyriakos Petallides, our Head of Dealing on Own Account and decided to add it to the offer with the best possible conditions, and we were actually one of the first to do so. I’m not saying that other companies don’t keep track of what’s going on, but I believe what makes us stand out on this is the fast actions taken on our side. In Match-Prime there are no long decision-making chains, we can introduce new CFDs in a few days, and I know from my own experience that in other companies the process may take many weeks. I really don’t need to tell you that timing is crucial, right? Whenever there is hype around something, every hour counts! Brokers perfectly understand that if their offer is lacking some products, clients will simply leave and go somewhere else. There are a lot of brokers out there. Q The Crypto topic hasn’t gone away for months, do you think this is the future of the forex market? Of course, you can’t underestimate the Cryptos. We consider this field very important and our Crypto CFDs offer has grown several times in the last few months. For now it settled on over 50 symbols and we plan to add more. However, it seems to me that the future of trading needs to be looked at more broadly. Look at the younger players- they are just entering the market, already play a big role in it, and their share will only grow! That’s why our solutions are based on newgeneration technology which is provided by our strategic partners from Match-Trade Technologies. I strongly believe that in order to attract and retain younger clients, you need to upgrade and offer the latest technology. Additionally, our cooperation with Match-Trade Technologies brings a number of additional advantages to our customers. For example, a lower price when they decide
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
on several products, such as WL solutions, Bridge, Client Office, CRM & Crypto payment gateway. Only a few other companies can provide such a complex offer. Q If you had to point to one thing that makes your company different, what would it be? Technology, customer support? All the things you mentioned above are certainly important. I believe that our experience of many years in the industry enables us to understand brokers and their needs very well. This allows us to help them where others can’t. For example: when routing trades through a FIX, the standard is to use netting mode based on First In, First Out rule. Of course, this is cheaper because it reduces swap charges and margin usage, but it makes it difficult to reconcile the profits on A-Book. We received requests for feedback from clients, so at first we prepared some manuals, then special A-Book profitability reports, showing profitability on trades routed to us, but it wasn’t enough. We did a little market research and decided to work on an alternative solution. That’s how we developed a solution allowing brokers to STP orders through FIX, but in “retail mode”. It required multiple bridge adjustments like passing correct order IDs to be able to recognise correct order during closing, and the Match-Trader Pro engine to support opening opposite trades on hedge accounts. It wouldn’t be possible without our associates from Match-Trade Technologies, that’s for sure. Now our customers can use this method, and the possibility of hedging without netting might help them gain more profits. This is “something extra” I was referring to earlier. Our clients seem to appreciate these efforts, and this gives us the drive to continue in
that direction. Q Is there a way to try your liquidity without onboarding? I know well how complicated this process can be. Initially, I would like to point out that our aim was to have an onboarding process which is straightforward and easy. I believe that this is something we managed to deliver. We managed to connect a large part of our clients in just a few days, targeting to do it in less than a week for sure. A few months ago, we were in discussions with a large broker to be onboarded; however, the potential client had some specific requests. In order to better understand what the client is after, we had to analyse some trading history and statistics. Although this delayed the onboarding process, we managed to meet the requirements and successfully onboarded the client. Coming back to the topic of checking our product- if a potential client wants to see how the platform works, compare our spreads, verify our market depth and take a look at the instruments available, he can always contact us and ask about demo set-up. There is absolutely no onboarding, and it takes just a couple of minutes. Q Thank you for your time Andreas. Last Question: how can our readers reach you? Oh, it’s easy to find me! You can always go to Linkedin or just visit match-prime.com for all the contact details. Finally, if anyone wants to meet in person, our company has become one of the sponsors of the iFX EXPO here in Cyprus. 7-9 June, booth no 105. See you there!
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FiveComply NAYIA XIARI Global Head of Licensing at FiveComply
Go Offshore; Why FiveComply decided to expand in Seychelles It is always very challenging for an investor to prudently evaluate his options prior setting up his forex brokerage; there are lots of different criteria and strategic decisions that need to be taken into consideration, in order to choose the right jurisdiction in terms of cost and time efficiency. This is where FiveComply’s expertise in the financial sector becomes crucial, in assisting investors to properly assess their options for the establishment of their brokerage and also to achieve compliance with regulatory obligations. FiveComply, as a global consultancy firm that acquired licenses for investors in more than 15 jurisdictions, has strategically decided to expand and enhance its Seychelles team to be able to assist its clients with A-to-Z solutions. In this interview, given by the Global Head of Licensing and Compliance Support, Nayia Xiari, we are able to get a closer look on why getting a Seychelles forex license is considered one of the best offshore options right now, for setting up, but also operating your license. Q Why FiveComply decided to expand to Seychelles? Let me mention that, FiveComply specialises in the Seychelles jurisdiction for over 5 years now. Our CEO Gabriel Styllas, has been a specialist in the licensing and regulatory compliance sector for over 20 years and has built a brilliant team of experts that are able to offer tailored made solutions based on each client’s needs. In the last three years, FiveComply has acquired a vast number of licenses in Seychelles, with investors being more and more interested in the Securities Dealer License regulated by the Financial Serviced Authority (FSA) of Seychelles. Our primary aim, is to constantly develop and enhance our operations in order to provide to our clients’ multiple options and the best results possible. Thus, while observing the Seychelles market during this period of years, we understood that, more professionals were needed, especially in terms of compliance support. Thus, we have composed our own team of compliance support experts focused on the Seychelles legislative and regulatory scheme. In addition, we have a local office operated by Mrs. Chantal Senterre who is FiveComply’s Seychelles Office Manager and an FSA Approved Outsourced Compliance Officer.
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
Q What can the FiveComply Seychelles team offer to its clients? Let’s break FiveComply’s services in four main parts; pre-application stage, post-application stage, license activation stage and post-license ongoing compliance and legal support stage. Pre-application stage: Firstly, FiveComply assists clients in acquiring their Securities Dealer License. Our team reviews and advises on the corporate structure, the proposed directors and shareholders CVs and KYC/DD documentation and also prepares all the manuals and the Company’s Business Plan according to each client’s business model. The clients have also the option to appoint our FiveComply compliance officers to whom they can outsource the compliance function of the company. Post-application stage: Once the application is submitted to the FSA for examination, FiveComply responds to all the queries raised with the FSA and follows-up on a constant basis with the FSA responsible officers to ensure a smooth and prompt coordination in regards to each application. We consider it of paramount importance to build and maintain a relationship of trust with each and every regulator, this is why Gabriel our CEO along with myself and other key members of FiveComply, travel on an ongoing basis to Seychelles and arrange face-to-face meetings with the FSA. In this way, we utilise the feedback we get to upgrade our applications and be proactive according to the FSA’s updated internal policies. License activation stage: Once the license is acquired, FiveComply offers ongoing compliance support to its clients to help clients activate their license; this entails assistance with opening of a bank / EMI account, detailed plan in regards to the activation process and actions needed, assistance in obtaining a professional indemnity policy and constant support in regards to regulatory obligations imposed under the FSA regulatory scheme. Post-license ongoing compliance and legal support stage: After activation of the Securities Dealer License, the FiveComply team, assists clients on a constant
basis with meeting their regulatory obligations and with any enquiries the clients have. At the same time, we do have continuous communication and face to face meetings with all our clients, as we consider this, the key to successful cooperation. Q How does FiveComply’s local personnel be of assistance to your clients? First of all, we offer to clients the possibility to appoint the FiveComply approved compliance officers, to whom they can outsource the compliance function of their entity. It is really important to mention that, it is a legislative requirement for the compliance officer to be local or resident in Seychelles. Thus, it is very difficult for clients to source a suitable candidate that is either willing to move to Seychelles or is a Seychelles resident and also acquires the relevant qualifications to be approved by the FSA. With our approved outsourced compliance officers that are residents in Seychelles, clients minimise costs and maximise efficiency. In addition, we assist clients with office visits requested from the FSA; in this way, clients do not
need to travel there on short notice. FiveComply may, also amongst others, arrange to collect office keys, arrange for office furniture, office signs, collection of originals from the FSA, etc. Our presence in Seychelles has proved very helpful for clients so far, and this is why we are enhancing our Seychelles team on an ongoing basis. Q Why an investor to choose Seychelles for setting up his brokerage? Usually, investors want to set up their brokerages in jurisdictions that there is a clear picture in terms of regulatory obligations, cost and time efficiency to acquire and operate the license, as well as, for the regulator to carry a positive reputation throughout the investment community. So, let’s keep it simple; in terms of organisational requirements an investor can start a brokerage in Seychelles with USD 50,000 as minimum capital to be deposited, two directors that can have multiple roles in the entity and a local outsourced compliance officer, that is provided by FiveComply. So, in terms
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of organisational requirements and capital, we do not consider Seychelles to be a burdensome jurisdiction, but on the contrary, it provides flexibility while at the same time, it keeps high compliance standards. In terms of time and cost-efficiency, the Securities Dealer License is relatively fast to be obtained and the cost of set up and operations is quite low. In addition, let’s also not forget that, Seychelles offer a beneficial tax regime. In terms of regulatory obligations, FSA imposes reasonable obligations that with the compliance support of FiveComply’s experts, can easily be dealt with. Last but not least, there are no leverage restrictions; this enables our clients to do business according to the business model they would like to establish. The FSA is also considered a reputable regulator that has made huge steps of improvement both on a regulatory but also a practical perspective. In summary, we believe that Seychelles is one of the best choices to set up your brokerage, as it provides leverage flexibility, cost and time efficiency and is also considered a reputable regulator. Q Based on your experience with the FSA, is it an approachable and responsive regulator? Based on our experience with different regulators across the globe, we consider the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles to be one of the most approachable and reasonable regulators. The FSA consists of a team of individuals that is open to discussion and new ideas; during face-to-face meetings that we had, but also during our ongoing communication on different matters, we can see that our feedback is be-
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
ing taken into consideration. In 2022 and due to some changes in the FSA’s management, we have also seen a huge improvement in the time needed from the FSA to examine and finalise the applications of clients. From both a practical and regulatory perspective, we would say that, the FSA is well-balanced, as it aims for utmost compliance of its licensees, but at the same time, does not impose on them excessive regulatory burdens, deeming the operation of the license impossible. Q Do you believe that there is future for the financial industry in Seychelles? Yes, in my opinion, this is certain. Seychelles’ economy depends a lot on the financial industry and its stakeholders and based on our meetings with the FSA in Seychelles, it is clear that, their aim is to grow and stay ahead. For example, currently the FSA is conducting a strategic National Risk Assessment in relation to Virtual Assets (VAs) and Virtual Assets Service Providers (VASPs), in order to assess whether they are proceeding with the establishment of this regime. In addition, the National Assembly in Seychelles has recently approved the Financial Consumer Protection Bill 2022, that aims to enhance financial consumer protection and promote fair practices. Lastly, the FSA is conducting trainings in coordination with the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), as their plan is to enhance professionalism in the sector by providing the necessary talent pool / experts in the financial sector, in order to attract foreign investors and diversify their portfolio of sectors operating in the industry. Q We know that FiveComply as a global consultancy firm, specialises in other jurisdictions and services, as well. Are there some other recent developments for FiveComply?
Firstly, let me just refer to some background details related to FiveComply that readers might not be aware about. FiveComply’s name has dual meaning; on the one hand, it means the five pillars of compliance (i.e. identification, prevention, monitoring and detection, resolution, advisory) while at the same time, it means the five main pillars that FiveComply’s experts / departments focus on; advisory (including mergers and acquisitions), licensing, internal audit, risk management and compliance support. Within these five pillars of expertise, we are able to offer to our clients A-to-Z solutions from incorporation and licensing of entities to compliance support, internal audit, risk management, etc. We also have a dedicated Payments and Banking Relations Department which can assist clients in selecting the most cost and time efficient options among Banks /EMIs / PSPs. FiveComply specialises in licensing, set-up and operations of brokerages, establishment of cryptobusinesses and funds in different jurisdictions. In this last year, we strategically decided to focus on licensing
of entities in Seychelles, Mauritius and Cyprus, that we consider the most successful jurisdictions at the moment in terms of acquiring and operating a license. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) Mauritius has also made significant progress and together with the FSA Seychelles is considered amongst the most credible and efficient offshore regulators. We would be extremely happy if our readers meet us at Booth 133 of the iFXEXPO event taking place at Palais des Sports/Spyros Kyprianou, in Limassol, Cyprus from the 7-9 June 2022. There, we would be able to meet in person, have a chat in regards to our services and how we are able to assist potential clients. In the meantime, you can reach us at info@fivecomply.com for any information you might need in regards to our services; we are happy to provide further information, arrange a call or a face-to-face meeting! You can find more information via our website: www.fivecomply.com P - 19
PandaTS THOMAS KAREKLAS Vice President of Sales
Q It has been a turbulent couple of years both in markets and in the wider world. How do you see the prospects of the online trading industry going forward, specifically for CFD brokers? It certainly has been turbulent, to say the least. I think our industry tends to benefit when market volatility is up. Of course, people were stuck at home, they had money to spend, this benefited online businesses across the board. How markets continue to fare now that the stimulus is being pulled back and the postlockdown growth isn’t as easy to sustain, is another story. Specifically for our industry, though, things are indeed looking up, both from the perspective of brokers and technology providers such as ourselves. We’re seeing new markets continuing to develop. Dubai is
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a very exciting regulated jurisdiction, there’s a great deal of development going on over there. South Africa too, is quickly growing into a regional FX hub, and of course there’s tremendous potential for growth in Latin America. That’s probably the least developed of the three currently but the potential is there and the demographics are favourable. Q How do you view the increased competition from other online trading venues from the perspective of CFD brokers? I think it’s all part of that democratisation of trading that our industry has been pushing for the past couple of decades. I don’t really view it as competition because when you talk about rival trading venues you’re talking about crypto exchanges, zero commission stock brokers and so on. These are asset specific venues that all experience their own boom bust cycles.
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Online FX has historically proven to be resilient to these bull and bear markets because it’s always been the place investors come to when stock portfolios are down and they need a source of alpha not available elsewhere. But looking beyond the forex markets specifically, CFD brokers are asset agnostic, they can offer exposure to any asset with a price feed. And they’re still the easiest, most affordable, and flexible way to gain access to markets. Q What about crypto as an asset class? Don’t you think interest in crypto assets poses a threat to FX brokers? I wouldn’t say so, and for the same reasons I just stated. The on-exchange trading of spot crypto is a completely different animal to trading crypto CFDs . Let’s not forget that a healthy derivatives market is essential to the maturity of an asset class and FX brokers are perfectly positioned to offer that to both retail and institutional players. They’ve got the business models down, they’re experienced in managing highly leveraged trades at scale, technology providers such as Panda have been equipping them with the infrastructure to do that and much more. And, as I say, it’s still the easiest and most accessible form of trading.
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40 Thomas Kareklas VP Sales.
Q Turning to Panda as a company, what trends are you currently identifying and what areas has the company been focused on? There’s been a tremendous amount of development going on behind the scenes. On one front, we’ve been very interested in A.I developments and how they can be harnessed to introduce efficiencies to how brokers organise themselves internally that were previously impossible. Our central approach here has been to create products that allow brokers to utilise the abundance of data they generate in their day to day operations, which is usually wasted because they don’t have the systems in place to store, analyse and make sense of that data. So, following on from our Next Call A.I and Document Verification modules, we recently launched Call Control, a A.I powered call analysis module that helps brokerage management teams improve the quality of service provided by their call centre agents. It records calls and provides managers with hard data on how their agents handle customer calls. The system is also equipped to listen for customisable keywords, which opens up so many possibilities in the realms of market research, as well as measuring the performance of existing marketing initiatives.
Dragos Petrea Customer Success Manager
On another front, due to popular demand, we’re currently in the process of modularising our flagship CRM product, which is really the brains behind much of Panda’s broader offering as it brings together all the different forms of brokerage intelligence and insight provided by our other products. As a standalone CRM product we feel it can more than hold its own against anything else that’s out there and so we feel it’s time to get it into as many brokerages as possible. Q What other trends has Panda identified, and what other products or areas of trading are you currently interested in? As a company we’re also very interested in how trading is changing. Technology evolves, assets come and go, regulatory practices develop, but we’re more interested in how the mindset is changing as one generation of retail traders hands the torch over to the next. I think the most obvious of these changes is that the younger generation of traders is much more community oriented. They’re social media natives, they’re immersed in other people’s thoughts from morning to night. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that this generation makes decisions much more collectively than previous ones, essentially outsourcing these things to their network. That’s why we see social trading as much more than
George Nikolaou Customer Success Manager
just a niche, or a simplified form of trading for beginners. We feel that brokers will all eventually add some form of social element to their offerings because it’s becoming clear to them that they need to replicate the stickiness of all the other apps competing for their clients’ attentions. It’s a complete no-brainer that making trading social provides those inputs that users enjoy. It directly translates to more time spent on the platform, as well as ticking all sorts of other boxes regarding how traders reach decisions and take actions. For these reasons we’re actively engaged in developing social trading as a software service that we can provide to our clients. But we’re also finding other innovative solutions that replicate the way social trading helps traders make decisions for brokers not currently pursuing social trading as part of their roadmaps. Q Could you provide our readers with some examples? Aside from all the new developments our teams have been working on, we’ve also been integrating a number of third-party services that all of our brokers can have access to. So, for instance we have the TipRanks collaboration, where the clients of our brokers can enjoy the stock tips of an entire ecosystem of market experts with verifiable track records, as well as
Maria Iacob Customer Success Manager
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stock market news and sentiment. This is the sort of integration that adds value to a broker’s existing stock CFD offering and introduces the sorts of social dynamics and stickiness characteristics that lead to more time spent on the platform, which inevitably leads to more trading activity. Currently this service has only been available via our web-based interface but it’s also about to be launched on the mobile apps. Another important element to this is how brokerages maintain a line of communication with their clients, and how a sense of community can be created in how they craft their messaging as well as the manner in which they deliver it. It’s time to move on from sterile email blasts and so we’re also very pleased with another third-party integration we’ve completed with One Signal. This integration opens up all sorts of interesting messaging possibilities for brokers that they can tailor to their needs. It essentially allows brokers who use Panda’s flagship CRM software to craft a messaging strategy that includes mobile and web-based push notifications, SMS, and in-app messaging, all in one place. Used correctly, it’s a really powerful tool for keeping clients engaged, up-to-date, as well as making them feel part of a community..
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Q How do all these different products and services come together when deployed under one roof by a brokerage? We have plenty of examples of this at Panda, because we’re in regular communication with many brokers that use our products almost exclusively. What we’re finding is that the industry has matured, there’s much more diversity of competition, and at this moment in time it’s all about the efficiencies that can be gained by having each and every brokerage team operating at peak performance. The A.I work we’ve been focused on, and will be continuing, is a direct response to this. Whether it be compliance and back office, sales and retention, or customer support. We’re introducing a generation of products geared to helping these teams outperform by giving them to-the-minute, actionable data to go on. And when you have a means of bringing all this intelligence together, which we do with Panda CRM, it becomes much easier for smaller, smarter teams to out-compete larger less efficient ones. Q Does Panda have any other A.I related releases on the horizon? We do actually, but I have to remain tight lipped at the moment because we’re not ready to announce the details. As a teaser I’ll say that we’re planning to bring the same kind of automated intelligence discussed above, to the world of sales scripts. More details to follow.
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OvertEd Markets JOSHUA BENTLEY Co-founder of OvertEd Markets
Q Client acquisition is a long-standing challenge in the retail CFD/FX industry, what are some of the complexities? The problems around client acquisition are multifaceted with the average cost per first trade being incredibly high and average client longevity being relatively low. This means that brokers need to establish a consistent source of new business of sufficient quality to realise consistent and meaningful returns. The industry has certainly benefited from an influx of new business over the last few years, which has made these challenges less pronounced. However, as we return back to normality, the industry is likely to be more competitive than ever before – We are already noticing this in certain regional markets. The high proportion of traders who use multiple platforms as well as high industry switching rates due to the magnitude of like-for-like offerings also means that brokers are constantly at risk of losing a significant proportion of clients to competitors. This is compounded by the inevitability of a significant proportion of current active traders exiting the market and becoming dormant at any given time. Ultimately, having knowledge of which brokers are dominant in a specific regional market, as well as which regions competitors are focussing on and which brokers are gaining/losing traction M/M can be of great benefit from a strategic and digital marketing perspective – the OvertEd Markets platform provides this degree of transparency and gives our clients a clear edge over their competitors. Q Can you give us a recap on OvertEd Markets main product offering? OvertEd Markets is a cloud-based platform that houses the most comprehensive database on the activities and offerings of retail CFD/FX brokers globally and uses algorithms to predict monthly share of funded accounts across more than 48 regions. An increasing number of leading brokers, including UK listed companies and social trading platforms, use our
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competitor intelligence and industry data to drive client acquisition and to optimise marketing costs. Our platform also provides a wealth of additional industry insight and is fast becoming an industry necessity. Q What were you and your clients able to predict from your data during 2021? The OvertEd Markets platform was the first platform to use algorithms to determine where the large MT4 brokers were generating record volumes and their relative penetration of other international markets. The OvertEd Markets platform also correctly identified the growth in active trader numbers in Singapore as well significant changes in share of funded accounts/account switching dynamics many months before market participants acknowledged the change. Our algorithms were even able to identify a decrease in funded accounts and change in geographic focus for a broker undergoing a change in key personnel (something we didn’t know at the time of identifying changes in geographic focus). Q Are you working on any interesting projects at the minute? Yes, we are constantly updating the breadth of data we cover and the functionality of the platform – adding new features and datasets on a regular basis. We are working on a number of new features that will help clients monitor M/M changes in market share and identify both winners and losers of client switching. In terms of consulting work, we have been doing an increasing amount of work in key regions in South East Asia and emerging Africa. Q How can people contact you if they want to learn more? You can take a look at our product offering at www.overtedmarkets.com and email us at info@overtedmarkets.com to arrange a demo of the platform.
Joshua Bentley P - 27 Co-founder of OvertEd Markets.
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BUX JEAN NAHAS Managing Director at BUX
Q You have now been in the FX industry for a decade, can you share your experience to becoming a Managing Director at BUX and how has the industry has evolved over this period of time? I joined the CFD industry in 2012 as a Business Developer Manager. This role allowed me to gain exposure to many areas of the business such as sales, customer support, front-middle-back office, marketing, and compliance. In 2018, I was asked to join a new startup as an Executive Director. Over the last years, I served in numerous roles; Executive Director and C-level positions. Over the last decade, the CFD industry has evolved dramatically. The major event that disrupted the industry was the temporary product intervention measures on CFDs introduced by the European Security Markets Authority (ESMA) in 2018. This measure has by far had the biggest impact on the industry. This has led companies to change their business plans and strategies. Today, we see many players leaving the EU market due to regulatory constraints, but on the other hand, we have also witnessed solid players entering. As part of these regulatory and competitive changes, it made sense for me to join BUX, a highly reputable neobroker headquartered in Amsterdam with a strong footprint in Europe that has adapted to the ‘new era’ of CFD investing with a dedicated EU focus. Q You recently joining BUX. What values did they have that attracted you to their brand? There are many values that attracted me to BUX. Firstly, BUX is not relying on intermediaries, meaning that BUX does not depend on IBs or affiliates to acquire new users. In addition, BUX is a direct-toconsumer firm that does not employ a sales team. BUX has healthy balance sheets and is financially backed up by International VC funds and continuously strives to meet its long-term goals. BUX is multi-cultural. As cliché as it sounds, the three core values that really stood out to me from the start were innovation, fairness, and transparency. Q What separates BUX from the typical Meta Quotes brokers?
The majority of retail CFD brokers operate on the widely used MT4/5 trading platform, and this allows BUX X to really position itself as a unique trading app. BUX X is an in-house built mobile app, that is one of the most innovative trading apps in the world due to the unique combination of social interaction and financial trading enhanced with fun elements that millennials love. The BUX X app takes out the complexity of trading CFDs and offers those with experience a more simplified trading experience. BUX X is not limited to CFD trading, the app also offers social activities among users. It allows clients to be part of a trading community. Clients can create channels and engage by sharing trading ideas. There is also the BUX X Battle; clients can invite friends or other clients (BUXsters) in the app and test their trading skills. BUX X’s characteristics make it attractive to young people looking to join the trading world. Q With BUX having a Dutch background, is this reflected by a different type of work culture as compared to other Limassol based brands? The culture at BUX is unique and quite different from the companies I have worked for in the past. When I first joined the firm, I noticed that the BUX group operates with complete transparency. All team members of BUX across four different countries are kept up to date on a weekly basis with all the business updates. This includes all aspects of the business, new platform features, new product developments, and new joiners, etc. Fairness and transparency have always been a characteristic of the Dutch culture, this is clearly reflected in BUX’s pricing model and work culture. Being one of top neobrokers in Europe, it is without a doubt that BUX is an incredibly ambitious and fastgrowing fintech group, with a solid innovative and creative culture. Q In your overall plan, where are you looking to place
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BUX in the next two years? BUX is already well established in Europe. Our CFD business currently offers its services across nine European member states. Our goal is to conquer Europe and further expand our footprint in Q4 of 2022. My goal is to continue growing our presence in Limassol with the addition of customer service and operations staff. With strong expertise in localisation and strong exposure in Europe, we aim to be the top choice for new traders in the next 2 years. Q What attributes are you looking for from people looking to join BUX? BUX is a multi cultural company and we strive to seek talent from all backgrounds. In general, we look for individuals that want to be part of a team and contribute to the company’s growth. As I said before, BUX is very transparent, and we always welcome team members’ ideas and suggestions. As a scale-up, we value entrepreneurial qualities in our team members and encourage those who have a strong initiative to join our ever-expanding team.
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Brokeree Solutions ELINA BAGAUTDINOVA Managing Partner of Brokeree Solutions
Q You have been on the tech side for over a decade, how have things evolved? Over the last decade, we have indeed seen the continuous development of the IT sector. Firstly, over the last 10 years, information has become much more accessible. New media, online discussion platforms and educational programmes have appeared. Nowadays anyone can find information about any topic of interest from a variety of sources. Secondly, labour market demand has consistently led to an increase in the number of IT professionals. At the same time development companies face a lack of specialists with specific skill sets which is illustrative of how rapidly evolving the whole industry is. For instance, the popularity of programming languages shifted from C# to Javascript & Python. This is, of course, a direct response to higher standards for quality client-side interfaces and mobile apps. Finally, in our industry, trading platforms have become open to interaction with third-party developers. Now the expertise of niche IT companies is valued even more with the corresponding demand for such services. Brokers as well follow global trends and focus more and more on designing high quality web and mobile apps for their clients. And tend to leave integrations and back--end fine-tuning to the industry experts, like Brokeree Solutions. Q Is the industry more or less complex than when you began? The industry is simultaneously becoming both more and less complex. Of course, it is more convoluted due to the continuous progress and knowledge accumulated over the years, but at the same time, the information is presented in a more digestible way. I believe a trend of simplification both in education and software development makes it easier to navigate through the complex nature of our industry. Q What vision or message do you think Brokeree portrays to the industry? I believe the message Brokeree portrays to the industry is:
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
“We help brokers fine-tune MT4 and MT5 trading platforms to save their time, money and strengthen their brand.” We provide our clients with a wide range of solutions and services for MT4 and MT5, helping them to operate more efficiently, implement the required integrations and to create a unique offer by fine-tuning the trading platform. Q You have an upcoming social trading update of tech. What makes this so unique compared to other social trading platforms? This is the first intra-broker cross-server Social Trading solution on the market, meaning: With the intra-broker system all generated volumes stay within the brokerage, the subscribers are limited to picking traders exclusively among a specific client base, consequently broker’s brand can be significantly strengthened and profits are higher. At the same time it is the cross-server solution, so traders from one MT4/MT5 server can copy trades from another, thus the whole Social Trading system is now scalable for brokerage. Q How has it improved from the previous versions? The main improvement of course is that Social Trading is not only multi-server but the cross-server solution now. Such a significant upgrade required a number of other changes, like partial rebuilding of the solution core components and UI update. Q What value can Brokeree Social Trading add to a brand? When developing software we pay extra attention to configuration flexibility, so that our clients could fine-tune the system according to their strategic objectives, that may vary from region to region and influence brand positioning. For example, one broker may want to establish a network of traders who will be interacting with each other and share trading ideas. Another brand may employ money managers in-house and offer more
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interactive portfolio management services with copy trading functionality. The third company may come up with an innovative idea to utilize robots and AI as their signal providers. At the end of the day, all of them are using our technology to achieve their business goals. That is the value we strive to deliver to our clients. Q Is this relevant for only FX brokerages, or can you work with family offices, hedge funds and banks? The solution is suitable for any financial institution that operates on MetaTrader platforms therefore any instrument configured on the trading platform works fine. Both Brokeree’s investment solutions - PAMM and Social Trading - allow to introduce the service on the well-known for end-users MetaTrader 4 and 5 platform so that all the order execution is done by the trading platforms, whereas our products maintain profit distribution and keep track of all the links between traders on the investment system. Q They can be complex pieces of technology. How can you guard against miscalculation? Quality assurance process is the integral part of development. The main components of the system are covered by different types of tests to ensure the correct calculation check ups in order to prevent miscalculation before release. We definitely understand how crucial correct behavior of the product is and at the same time I will sound
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unpopular but stay honest: we can not guarantee that any technology is perfect. However, we do our best to eliminate any problems not only by testing the solution before release but also with built-in automatic corrections, error warnings functionality and additional monitoring services. Q How easy is this to integrate? Rather easy, I would say. Our technical support team deploys the solution on a brokerage’s server within 3 hours, set up connections to the trading platforms, hosting for web portals and makes sure each core component operates correctly. These steps are enough to start using the solution. Though after that some of the brokers may request to integrate the web interface to their client area. This part can be as simple as adding an automatically generated widget, however sometimes it is more sophisticated, but don’t worry our team will always be there for assistance. Q What support are you giving when teaching your new clients how to get the most out of your technology? Customer satisfaction is important throughout all the stages of the customer life cycle. Brokeree has been growing alongside clients since its foundation. Teaching the client is not always the way to help new clients get the most out of the technology. We stand for continuous dialogue and personal approach.
First of all, we provide 2 presentations prior to system integration: the first one is the intro demo, it helps to get to know the needs of a specific broker better, and understand what features should be demonstrated precisely during the second, technical presentation. Secondly, once the system is installed the dedicated team of ours offers onboarding presentations and further assistance with configurations according to the client’s objectives. This is not required in most of the cases though usually clients tend to check if everything can be configured the way they want by then. Thirdly, we have recently started to offer additional demonstrations before updating a client to the latest version of the solution. During the meeting our team goes over the new features individually with the client, so that the client gets the most out of using our services and shares ideas for the next.
P - 39 Elina Bagautdinova Managing Partner of Brokeree Solutions
Q With the iFX Expo coming up, will you have a booth there to speak more about the new tech?
Q If you could sum up Brokeree in three words, what are they?
Yes, we’ll be happy to meet at the iFX Expo in Limassol at booth №96. By the way, all the visitors will have a chance to get to know and try the updated interface of the new Social Trading immediately and request a more detailed presentation of the system during the expo. More than that, you and your readers are more than welcome to attend our workshop “The challenges of real-time cross-server investment systems” at 12:30 on the 8th of June at IdeaHub hosted by Victor Ivanov, senior BD executive at Brokeree Solutions.
Three adjectives that describe Brokeree and our values best: agile, caring, honest.
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Q What’s the best way to reach you? The best way to reach me would be via personal or general corporate email, telegram, through my colleagues, and at the expos: I am attending the iFX EXPO in Cyprus and Thailand, and several other expos this year.
.com
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Game Changers Magazine
Lifestyle
GC:EAT SAM’S FOOD LIMASSOL CYPRUS
If you are like me and work in central Limassol, its nice to get away at lunchtime for something that is quick, informal and does not involve a reservation. For me this trifecta is satisfied with a visit to Sam’s Food very close to St Nicholas roundabout. For those not familiar with Lebanese food, don’t be intimidated as everyone must eat a shawarma at least once in their life. And to make it even easier I would suggest is going straight for the lamb version accompanied with yogurt, tabouleh, pickles and two spoons of chili sauce. It used to be great when they had many random international drinks in there to go with it, now just grab something mainstream cold and fizzy to make the perfect bedfellow. Don’t expect to be visiting the ritz when you walk in. What I love about the place is that it is probably the same as when it first opened, preparing the food with no fuss and is in your hand fast. Your focus should be on getting one of the two tables outside, where you can gorge on your wrapped lamb, whilst watching car drivers argue with bus drivers about who has the right to park in the bus stop. This is perhaps the best place for when you don’t feel like eating a burger, which I feel has become massively impractical lunchtime gastric exercise. Many places
now seem adamant on serving you a burger that is a minimum of 30 cm tall. Nobody wants it with 18 different toppings and requiring a forty-minute sleep after. I think this is probably the only thing in life where men and woman agree that size does not matter! The shawarma has been designed over many centuries to combat this nonsense and is the perfect antidote to this. Elegantly packaged in a nice light bread and easy to digest without the dear of facing a disciplinary procedure for collapsing into a meat induced coma in the afternoon. There is a science to ordering a shawarma in portion control based 100% of Game Changers led scientific data analysis. The perfect portion is one shawarma for lunch, and if you are visiting after having a couple of beers at a local bar you probably need to order two, but you will hit the wall at about 1.5. Ordering fries is pretty much an irrelevance as it will take you away from your primary goal of lamb inhalation…do not get distracted. Who can begrudge a place that happily boast to have made the world largest shawarma, and has been credited, verified and noted in the Guinness book of records. Moreover, at 3.50 EUR what better value is there at lunch time.
GC:GOING OUT LA CALETA. THE ICON LIMASSOL CYPRUS
So, we took on this review at our f avorite time of the week for a drink’s only review. Whoever does not enjoy an ice-cold thirst-quenching drink at 5pm on a Friday has clearly grown tired of life. The weather is just about to turn to the blazing heat of summer, and currently you can still sit outside without melting and talking over the week with friends in no particular rush and with no plans…just the way we like it. The Icon has been open as far as I know for a couple of months now, and if you are not aware it is the large building in the tourist area with the huge blue gorilla out the front. When you walk in the foyer it is very impressive, where you are greeted by some friendly staff on the front desk who guided us to the tenth floor to pay a visit to La Caleta. The front of house was great at picking out the perfect Friday afternoon table on the balcony, sitting us with a great view of what is probably Limassol’s highest drinking establishment. I was expecting it to be a larger than what it was, with what seems to be an oddly placed swimming pool that takes up too much space. Design wise it seemed to be
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in a peculiar place with it being placed next to where you are eating. It kind of feels like it was placed there to say that it has an outdoor pool and sun beds. You might feel a bit odd walking through an incredibly well-designed bar, with a towel around your waist when the bathroom calls. For the first round of drinks, we went with the international standard of a Friday Mojito with it being a great way to see the standard / baseline skill of the bar staff. Some establishments sadly go over the top and give you what can be best described as a thicket mixed with mint, luckily this was made by a fantastic mixologist who added the right amount of alcohol. With the ice slowly melting it took the bitter edge off the drink which you could savor, whilst watching people take their selection of idyllic sun setting Instagram pictures. As it was very close to cinco de mayo we did what any rational minded person would do and support the good people of Mexico by ordering a strawberry Margarita. Again, a very high standard being made with fresh ingredients and not the usual strawberry tasting goop that many establishments put in just to get the drink in your
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hand asap. A well-constructed drink made which a mixologist can sometimes mess up, as it appears to be a basic drink with not too many parts involved. On their, website the modus operandi of La Caleta is looking to create a ‘buena onda’ translated as a relaxed and welcoming environment. I think it more than achieves this as a good place to decompress. The ambience is very peaceful as you cannot hear any traffic, which on reflection is quite nice on Friday. Usually at that time of day the roadside bars you seem to get a chorus of very loud exhausts in a hurry to get nowhere! The service is not only very good, but also very friendly which in some places where they are higher end establishments, can sometimes be a little stand offish. GC would definitely recommend paying a visit La Caleta. Moreover, we would strongly advise booking a table. Further to this if you are sitting outside check to see if they have umbrellas, as you are very exposed to the sun at certain parts of the day. They might not have them, as it gets a little windy up there and perhaps, they may be living in fear of an umbrella spearing someone ten floors below! After returning recently from Dubai with the splendor and luxury of their establishments, its generally not fair to compare as there is Dubai quality and the rest of the world. However, for Cyprus it’s a great location, a great variety of drinks for all and fantastic staff… what more could you ask for.
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GC: FEMME ROLEX
BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Lady Datejust DESCRIPTION: Oyster. 28 mm Yellow Gold and Diamonds COST: Price on request
BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Lady Datejust DESCRIPTION: Oyster. 28 mm Oyster steel.
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BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Datejust 36 DESCRIPTION: Oyster. 36mm. Oyster steel COST: 6.750 EUR
BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Day-Date 36. New model 2022. DESCRIPTION: Oyster. 36mm. Everose gold and diamonds. COST: Price on request
GC: HOMME ROLEX
Without doubt Rolex are the brand when it comes to luxury watches. Others maybe more expensive, or perhaps more niche. Very few if any have the pedigree in which the brand has become a byword for the highest of quality along with beautiful designs. Here are Game Changers favorite new models.
BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Cellini Moonphase DESCRIPTION: 39mm. 18ct Everose gold. Polished finish. COST: 25.000 EUR
BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Cosmograph Daytona. DESCRIPTION: Oyester. 40mm Yellow gold COST: 31.350 EUR
BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Air King 2022. DESCRIPTION: Oyster. 40 mm. Oyster Steel. COST: 6.850 EUR
BRAND: ROLEX NAME: Sky Dweller. DESCRIPTION: Oyster. 42 mm. Everose gold. COST: 38.750 EUR
GC:FITNESS COACH DINO
dinoermogenous@gmail.com www.theionmethod.com
THE ION METHOD What is the best diet for busy people? I spoke to a businessman earlier today and he asked me what the best diet would be for someone like himself with a hectic schedule. As the vast majority of busy executioves I deal with a time restricted, they can often find themselves taking extreme or fad diets to get quick and perhaps unrealistic results. After giving him a brief consultation on his lifestyle and diet, we both concluded that he didn’t require a new radical diet, what he really needs is a solid system that works for those taking part. Let me explain… The most successful approaches to nutrition come down to a few fundamentals: - eat fewer calories - consume adequate amounts of protein - eat mostly whole foods - minimize processed foods These are things you already probably know and is
GAME CHANGERS Issue #40
quite simplistic to do. Even for those who are not that proficient in understanding diets, you can find a great solution that fits you on the internet. Also, you can learn to cook by just following some of the great chefs that you can find on You Tube. One issue that I have with most diets is that they have fairly rigid rules, which can be a challenge to live by and can put unnecessary stress on you following. A common scenario that I found was this. Imagine you are following the Keto diet. In the modern world many of us get asked to attend business lunches or various networking events. Sadly, some of these events can only offer a menu that is incredibly weighted towards a high carb solution, where you are left with a couple of choices. Go hungry or break the rules of the diet. Further to this, diets based on specific meal timings or food selections changing across days are even harder to follow. The key is having some kind of structure when it comes to your eating habits, basic rules and limitations that still allow for a great level of flexibility in order for things to be sustainable.
So, what’s needed for the majority of business owners, entrepreneurs and people who are generally busy with the day to day of life is a flexible dieting system. One that allows you to deal with a variety of situations, despite what options are available to you at the time. One that also allows you to handle missed or extra meals, without it significantly impacting weight loss. Make sense ? At the end of the day flexible dieting is not a miracle solution but is by far one of the best solutions for busy modern life I’ve found in my 6 years coaching that has worked consistently. We have put together a free handbook on Flexible Dieting, which contains insights into the non-restrictive, balanced and flexible nutritional protocols hundreds of entrepreneurs I’ve coached have used to achieve their weight loss goals.
P - 57 Dino Ermogeneous Coach
ISSUE #40
THE JOURNAL FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS
www.gchangersmag.com info@gchangersmag.com
