ISSUE #15
KING KULKARNI
GAME CHANGERS
DIRECTORY O1
Note from the editor
O2
Abhijit Kulkarni
O3
Petros Archontides
O4
Raj Reddy
O5
Mario Singh
O6
Dmitriy Petrenko
O7
Invast Global
View from the top. 03
Wealth Planet. 04-06
S.C. Audit Ltd 07-09
Digital Primus. 10-13
Fullerton Markets. 14-15
FX Back Office. 16-18
19-21
VIEW FROM THE TOP
Summer has well and truly finished and we move into autumn where we can hit the sales jets and shake off the summer cobwebs. This month’s edition, I am pleased to welcome into the fold both new participants and old alike. My good friend for many years Abhijit Kulkarni is on our front cover, and we are honoured to have renowned Indian superstar photographer Sikandar Shaikh taking control of the shoot. In case you are not aware Wealth Planet is one premier service providers within the region, and it has been a pleasure to not only do business with Abhijit for many years, also to become great friends from our dealings together. We have a welcome return from Dmitriy Petrenko from FX Back Office. I had lunch with him and we talked some of the major issues of the day concerning our industry. Game Changers was also incredibly honoured to see one of the original contributors to our publication, Mario Singh, launch his third book. Read our interview with him inside. We are always intrigued how Mario fits so much into 24 hours! Social media guru Raj Reddy from Digital Primus features again in GC. We discuss how the role of social media is constantly changing in all industries.
Another new entrant this month is Petros Archontidis from SC Audit. For those who are not aware. Petros has been helping international businesses find a home in Cyprus, along with finding stress free solutions for obtaining local residency. As ever, thanks to everyone who has been involved in creating this issue. Thanks to you all for reading and spreading the word. Let’s keep changing the game together!
Paul ORFORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
P-3
Wealth Planet ABHIJIT KULKARNI Owner and CEO of Wealth Planet
Q We have worked together on a number of projects over the years, where you have become a very well-respected FX personality. Can you tell the readers how you started in this industry? For me, the start was not easier at all. When I wanted to learn about the Forex market back in 2007, there were no resources available in India and online courses were too expensive. On the other hand, I had never traded in stock markets as it was never attractive to me. But with Forex markets both its volatility and liquidity attracted me towards it. Also, Forex market sounded like a challenge to me
and I love a challenge stemming all the way back to my childhood. I decided to learn the skills on the basis of free information available on internet. Gradually, I started creating my own strategies and implementing it on markets. For 2-3 years, I back tested and also forward tested over 54 self-created strategies. In the meantime, I realized that risk management plays a major role in trading so I created my own rules of risk management and from 2009 I started live trading. Q Did your background in computer science play any role in this? In fact I will add a little extra to it. After my computer science education, I did graphic designing and animation as well. For 1 year, I was working as a teacher in Animation institute. All this education gave me an added advantage in my Forex career. Because of my Computer Science background, I can understand MQL language or FIX API things which seems pretty technical. Just because of my teaching experience, I am able to run Forex as an educational program as well. I am really thankful to my each and every education I did. Q Just over 2 years ago you started Wealth Planet. Why did you start this? The last 10-11 years, whether it comes to investment field or investment related education field, I felt that many things were lacking in this market. Nobody was ready to take managed accounts services to new levels. And when it comes to Forex education, either it is too expensive or was limited to only 1 strategy selling at a time. That’s it! On the other hand, I was in touch of well reputed professionals like yourself. So, I thought to create a concept to provide 2 prime services – Investment and Education with the help of experts around the world. Where Investment services will provide the best diversification options to our clients, and the education service is focused on home-based employment. These were the two big aims behind starting the Wealth Planet. And I am happy to say that we are very successful till now in achieving our targets. Moreover, we now have a presence in 5 countries and we are looking to expand further in 2019.
Abhijit Kulkarni Owner and CEO of Wealth Planet Pic courtesy - Sikandar Shaikh, India.
Q To an outsider many may view your services as the same as others. How do you differ from others? What’s the upside if using your services? Yes, you are right. To an outsider, our services may sound similar as others. Take a look at below mentioned points and you will come to know how we differ from other i) Loss Protection – We provide 100% loss protection to our clients. It means, when a client chooses us to manage their account and if there is any loss occurs, we pay the losses in order to keep their capital safe. The most important thing is, we offer this service to retail and institutional clients as well. ii) Diversification – There are investors who also looks to explore investment options beyond Forex. For such type of investors, we have an investment options like entertainment and infotainment industry in India. In fact, for one of our institutional investors from Singapore, we are doing a Bollywood movie in coming year which is a big budget project.
Q What’s your plan for Wealth Planet for the next year? We want to expand our reach to Hedge Funds, Institutional Clients and Family Offices in a next year. To do so, we are on the verge to enter into a strategic agreement with one of the reputed FCA regulated fund management firm. At the moment, we are having retail clients from over 50 countries. In a coming year, we want to increase this number of retail clients. Also, as far as education program is concerned, we want to take it to another level in coming 3 years in India as a ‘Skill Development Program’. I want to make India a hub for Forex research and development. Q Do you think there will be much change in the legislation in your region for FX trading? It’s a very complex issue. As per Reserve Bank of India, an Indian resident cannot invest in margin trading. And as you know, in Forex, margin is used. But there is a hope since the new government is formed 2014. They have promoted a new concept called GIFT city (Gujarat International Finance Tec-city) where India’s first international exchange has begun (India INX). In India INX, trading will be done in equity, currency and interest
iii) Employment oriented education – When it comes to Forex education, there is only one perspective for it and that is trading. In fact, it has many aspects and that we teach through our education program in India. Then after we hire successful candidates and they work for us from the comfort of their home. Q You work in partnership with one of Game Changers favourite contributors Mario Singh. How did you two meet? He is my favourite too. We first communicated through LinkedIn to discuss a potential partnership. By that time, I was in the process of forming Wealth Planet, UK. I shared the same idea with him and told him about the launch we were planning in India. He agreed to come to India and I became his fan & follower. We were in search of a good, reputed and trustworthy Forex broker for our retail clients and thankfully, Fullerton Markets is the one we were looking for. Mario has built Fullerton so strong as I can’t imagine any other broker for our retail clients.
Abhijit Kulkarni Owner and CEO of Wealth Planet Pic courtesy - Sikandar Shaikh, India.
rate derivatives markets. I think if it becomes successful, not immediately, but slowly, India will legalise Forex in India and in my opinion, leverage restrictions will be like USA. Q You have a huge knowledge of FX and a great reputation, why did you never open a brokerage? I always felt you could make a real success of it. Thank you for believing in me but to be honest, I am happy with my trading. I never had aim or dream to be a broker. I always wanted to be a best trader and I am trying to become a one. I know the technicalities of brokerage as well but somehow it doesn’t excite me. And when the people like you and Mario are there, why should I start my brokerage, right? I am happy with my trading and education programs. Q Can you see Wealth Planet moving into Crypto Trading? No. I don’t like to invest money where there are no fundamental reasons involved. I see Crypto as a bubble and it will burst one day for sure. Q I always considered myself a basic level trader, and based upon what you taught me over the years it has helped me develop my skill set. What qualities do you think help your students?
Abhijit Kulkarni Owner and CEO of Wealth Planet Pic courtesy - Sikandar Shaikh, India.
First thing first, one should always consider himself/herself a student of the market. No matter how expert he or she is. Because market is a great equaliser. 2nd thing is, stick to the basics. There is no need to do complex things while trading. Basic things can lead to great profits. 3rd and the last thing, risk management. If the risk management is right, you will survive for a long time in a market and if you survive for a long time, chances of making profits increases. Q Everyone has had a role model in the personal and professional lives. Can you tell me about your role models in your life? There are two influences influenced or helped me directly or indirectly in my life. One is my family and Second is the great Sachin Tendulkar. Without the support of my family, especially my mother and father, I would have never ever able to enter into this field which had no respect in 2007. And what can I say about Sachin Sir. Though I don’t know him personally, but he has influenced me throughout my life. His passion for cricket, focus, discipline and determination are the qualities I tried to absorb at an emotional level when I decided to choose Forex as a career. I’ve never seen such a successful player with a great humbleness. Email: Abhijit@wealthplanet.co Website: www.wealthplanet.co
PETROS ARCHONTIDIS S.C. AUDIT LTD
Q SC Audit Ltd has a very long history dating back to 2005. Can you tell us your background prior to joining and some words about you? From a young age I was always fascinated with numbers, so it was natural for me fall in love with economics. This gave me a direction in my life, to which led me to study it at university, opening the door to participate in the Investor’s presentation of Hellenic Fund and Asset Management Cooperation. This was the day that “theory” became real life, with real investors with millions on the table. This was the day that I realized that I would like to be in position to produce relevant information and be able to contribute to this industry My first employer was an accounting & consultancy firm who saw my excitement, and offered me a part time role where I could also continue my studies. Despite the fact I was junior with not so many responsibilities, my target was to absorb as much knowledge was possible and develop professionally. I drove myself on by learning as much as I could no matter how demanding the task was, I knew the end result would be positive. I returned to Cyprus where my first role was in an international audit and accounting firm. I dealt with both international and local clients alike, up until 2009 where I found my “Ithaka”. (My journey) I believe that S.C Audit Ltd played a key role in developing the local financial market to what you see it as today. The partners of S.C. Audit Ltd which I have a tremendous amount of respect for, from the outset believed in me, and this has always resonated with me. We all held the common belief of developing and the committing to a high quality service. Q You are widely recognised as one of the premier service providers in the country. Is there a core service that you excel at? Although we our boutique firm, I believe that we have managed to win the trust of our clients and have a huge amount of repeat business from our portfolio of clients. This has come from a monumental team effort based upon
Petros Archontides S.C. Audit Ltd.
staggeringly high levels of service, along with the personal attention we have on our business. Although many use the cliché of their colleagues being like a family, here at S.C Audit Ltd all of us we feel like a family and we extend this approach to our valued clients. When we advise our clients, and they may have a different opinion to what we offer, they always know we are looking for the best solution for them. As Bill Gates said “Your most unhappy clients are your greatest source of learning”. At S.C Audit Ltd we cover full range of professional services addressed to both local and international clients and our services includes: Auditing, Banking, Consultancy Services amongst many other services. I’m proud to say that the unique firm’s capabilities and resources are focusing in both traditional and specialized industries, such as regulated companies and financial sector ensure that our clients receive a high quality service and solution that fit their requirements. On personal level I’m excited with the regulated companies that we have built up long relationships with. The challenges that they are facing is a constantly evolving situation which can affect their operations. The game has changed and our target is to ensure that our clients have the necessary support to win this game, and together with us to be the game changers!
P-7
Q When we met at the Invast party at Columbia Beach, we were discussing the challenges with banking that local brokerages have. Can you outline for the readers some of the solutions you have? As mentioned above the game has changed and this has impacted not only for local brokerages, but also for all individuals and companies. After the banking crisis of 2008, the rules have changed and still a number of banks globally are facing challenges. This is due to the cost of compliance which has been increased. The main challenge our clients face regarding opening bank accounts or maintaining their existing banking relationship, has become harder over the past few years, as they have received fines of €/$billions for money laundering. Based on this banks having to adopt a new policy that has come be known as the “de-risking” policy. Moreover, banks prefer to reject an enquiry if there is a remote possibility of risk. Evidence of this locally post the 2013 crisis is seen by the banks becoming much more conservative. I like to see this as an opportunity rather than a hindrance and we must think outside the box. The ‘traditional’ way on a day-to-day basis that transactions and banking is carried out has changed. At S.C. Audit we understand that this is a necessity for our clients, so we know have a separate department dedicated to this. The game changed, consultants in my opinion should not only focus only on corporate structures but take into consideration the individuals /owners’ level and how this affect everything. Q One common challenge faced by start-up brokerages is to find the correct jurisdiction. Any suggestions? I would encourage start-up brokerages not be afraid, but at the same time to choose carefully their overall structure based on comprehensive study, and advise them which is the correct fit for their strategy. I understand that is difficult to project the future nevertheless especially for start-up brokers it’s wise to make the right choice from the beginning in order to avoid other implications. We have seen in the last several years, a number of investors making their selections driven by the trends, rather than facts. This has caused significant operational challenges.
GAME CHANGERS Issue #15
A European License especially under the MiFID II and ESMA intervention measures for certain strategies and models is challenging and demanding. However, there are measures which enhance reliability and increase investors protection. On the other hand, we have offshore jurisdictions with “softer” regulations, that can give the impression to investors that is not so reliable, also facing operational and tax issues (including banking) with constantly increasing maintenance costs. In general, a lot of brokers for diversification & strategic purposes choose a combination of European License (a significant number is Cyprus Investment firms) and offshore jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction has it positives and negatives therefore it will be incorrect for me to advise what jurisdiction start-up brokers should choose without deeply understanding their services. Cyprus as an EU member offers a very attractive package to investors with significant benefits. Moreover, it is not coincidence that Cyprus is one of the most popular destinations of Forex and Brokers in European Union with Key players from all over the world. The business environment, the infrastructure existing in relation to the industry and the financial sector as well the tax system with low corporation tax, constitute a premium choice for investors. Q Over the past several months the international media has in my opinion wrongly criticised Cyprus for the passports and internal investment program. As someone from the UK i know we do this more than you, so it is quite a hypocritical position. How hard is it to invest in Cyprus, and what are the time frames to receive citizenship? Cyprus over the past several years despite its size has become a significant financial centre, especially for investors from CIS Countries. The financial sector has made a significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of the country. The banking system up to 2012 was rapidly expanding and the overall business environment was very positive. In my opinion the negative impressions have been generated since the banking crisis of 2013 with the accusations in involvement on money laundering and weak controls. That period was a turning point for Cyprus, since in order to respond to these challenges and restore its reputation massive changes have happened.
As a result of the banking crisis the measures that Cyprus Government had taken to help the economy such as the “passport investment program� was already in operation from other European countries for many years.
Having in this in mind we cannot remain static with all these changes. Based on our strong foundations, we are expanding our activities and our networks to ensure that our clients will continue to receive the highest levels of quality service and solutions.
Although Cyprus over the last few years has been heavily criticised for the passport investment programs, I believe it is a little bit unfair since similar investment programs are running in other Europeans countries too.
As mentioned prior, we cover the full suite of professional services at all levels. Further to our traditional products, such as audit and accounting.
The Cyprus government have realised that there is a negative impression, and are aiming to protect the investment program by placing stricter controls for citizenship.
We understand that today’s market is a dynamic environment. We are focusing on consultancy, structures, banking solutions, compliance issues on regulated companies, amongst many other activities.
We participated on the suggestion team regarding the new regulations to the Committee of Supervision and Control for the Cyprus Investment Program.
Finally, we are aiming to introduce new ways of conducting business by taking advantage of the new breed of technologies.
Q Are there any new services that you are looking to offer in 2019?
The majority of our clients are familiar with the new technologies, and often its more convent and cost effective to use them on a daily basis. Therefore, it is something we understand and want to promote even more.
The business environment has changed, becoming much more demanding with clients looking for both quality and professional solutions.
Petros Archontides S.C. Audit Ltd.
Why You Need
Digital Marketing For Your
Business
“
Businesses that don’t do digital won’t be in business for very long.
Raj Reddy explains why digital marketing is a business necessity. www.digitalprimus.com
Rajasekhar Reddy CEO & Founder, Digital Primus
Digital Primus RAJ REDDY CEO and Founder
Entrepreneur Rajasekhar Reddy is the CEO & Founder of Digital Primus Marketing Solutions, a leading digital marketing agency in India that delivers sophisticated and results-driven solutions to businesses, particularly those in the finance industry. With his extensive background in both marketing and finance, he helps new and existing clients raise their profiles, win over new clients and land more sales.
Q What prompted you to start your own digital marketing agency? When I was working in the finance industry I saw people struggling to promote and grow their businesses. It was painful to watch. However, I thought I could help them because of my marketing experience which included being the Head of Marketing for several financial companies. So I decided to establish my own company to help my own clients and hoped that we could all grow together, which is what happened because of our unique selling point. And that is we offer a suite of marketing services to companies in the finance industry. Q What sort of mistakes were these companies making prior to coming to you? Basically, they lacked experience. Many didn’t have a digital presence nor did they understand how to put everything together online and reach people. Some were doing traditional marketing online but were not approaching it in the right way. So I saw a huge gap in the market. Q Were you and do you come across businesses that think that having a website is enough? Yes. But if you only have a website that is not going to help. You need to understand your target audience and where to find your target audience online. And you also need to know what value your products and services are giving the customer. One of the problems I’ve seen with many businesses is that they are not focusing on the value of their offering. They just try to market to the consumer and so it doesn’t work out. They need to identify the problems their customers are facing and provide effective solutions.
Raj Reddy Director & Founder. Digital Primus.
P - 11
Q What are your key offerings? When it comes to new businesses we help them with branding and reputation building online so that they have a positive presence. We do this before lead generation and customer acquisition. We also offer a suite of marketing services such as pay-per-click, social media advertising and search engine optimisation. When it comes to SEO our own company ranks very highly. We also offer email marketing and content marketing which is very important at the moment. Additionally, we design websites using psychological principles. Sales pages and websites are about the art of persuading. If you don’t have persuasive pages you will never sell. So we build websites that actually convert.
dramatically. If you have a company and you don’t have a digital presence you are not going to be in business for long. Q And you also offer marketing automation? Yes, we offer different kinds of marketing automation. For example, we can automate social media marketing and email marketing using a variety of tools and technologies to automate some of the more repetitive activities. An example of where this works very well is if a customer visits your website and leaves before purchasing anything. We can make your brand visible to them wherever they go online, even when they’re not on your pages. We can then pull them into sales and marketing funnels. Q So it’s laser targeting of customers?
Marketing’s importance is underlined by the fact that a marketing role is one of the top ten positions in any company. Also, look at the United States. Right now Amazon is one of the biggest e-commerce sites while Walmart another major brand has a chain of offline stores. For a while, they weren’t online and their sales dropped
Yes, it is. Let’s say you have 1,000 clients. Sending emails to them manually is an impossible task. But with marketing automation, there are no limits. If there are 10,000 customers you can target them easily because it is all automated.
Q What do you enjoy about your job? What excites you about what you do?
Q Are there any projects you are particularly proud of?
I am a very passionate Entrepreneur, who believes that marketing will add value to any business. First of all, I like to help businesses grow because it’s a very satisfactory thing for me to see how my skills are benefiting others. I deliver my best to people.
There are several but one, in particular, comes to mind. This is a company in the finance sector that has been with us for almost three years. When we started with them they didn’t have proper digital marketing at all. We took over everything. We branded the website, we built concepts for them, we built marketing and sales funnels and we were able to improve their sales and leads and they are still one of our clients after all this time. They are very happy with the results.
Also, I like to educate myself and every day I read best practices from leading marketing professionals. I then apply the knowledge I’ve acquired to the services my company offers. When a customer comes to me with a problem I want to have a solution for them. And when I have a solution I am very satisfied. Q So you are learning all the time? Yes, absolutely. In marketing there is a learning curve every day because the technology is changing very fast, the mediums of communication are changing very fast and search engine algorithms are changing all the time. And you need to be aware of what they are.
Q What ambitions do you have for your company? For my own company my vision is to search for even better ways that are more effective for our clients. What is interesting about us is that we try new methods on our own websites and if they produce results we then take them to our clients. This is different from other agencies that try to experiment with different approaches with their clients. We don’t do that. We only implement methods that we know are going to work because we’ve tested them. My other big vision is to expand my company into many different niches.
You also need to be aware of user behaviour because it too is changing continuously. I am passionate about learning and so is my entire team. If you are not willing to learn you will never be a good marketer in this environment.
Q Are there any particular challenges that you have to deal with? As far as the company is concerned, not really. All the challenges are those that our clients present. Often, they are stuck at a roadblock and don’t know how to put themselves in front of people. We also see many businesses rushing to put their brand before an audience without having any objectives. Q But marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Some people think of it as a sprint and they collapse. It’s all a learning curve. In terms of marketing, it’s about the audience and the audience keeps changing every day. And so we test everything first to see what is working and what is not working and then we go with the methods that are working.
Raj Reddy Director & Founder. Digital Primus.
P - 13
Fullerton Markets MARIO SINGH Founder & CEO Fullerton Markets
Mario Singh Founder & CEO Fullerton Markets.
Game Changers magazine were one of the lucky few to be granted access to the VIP launch of the world famous FX Guru Mario Singh’s 3rd book launch. We grabbed a coffee with him at the world premier of his new book entitled ‘Secret conversations with trading tycoons’.
Q What challenges did you face in writing this new edition? I had 3 main challenges in completing this book. The first was to come up with the list of questions. I wanted a balance between the “trading side” and the “human side” of the tycoons. I finally came up with a list of 20 questions that explored their best/ worst trades, their #1 trading rule, how they spent their trading profits and their daily life when they are not trading the markets. The second challenge I had was in choosing the 12 tycoons. I wanted them to come from every corner of the globe - from USA to Europe to Asia. This would allow me to break any cultural barriers and bring their timeless wisdom into the hearts and minds of all traders and investors worldwide. Tracking them down was hard but getting them to commit to an interview was harder! We did it
GAME CHANGERS Issue #15
nonetheless! Talk about the power of persistence! The final challenge for me was really sitting down and getting the book completed. I have a pretty full-on life, juggling my time between my beautiful family and my beloved company Fullerton Markets. Whatever time I had left after my own downtime (I like snooker) was spent arduously writing and editing this baby. No wonder I took 2 years to finish this! Q Who is it aimed at? The book is written for all traders and investors worldwide - newbies who are looking to get their feet wet in the financial markets, seasoned professionals and those who have been trading for awhile without consistent returns. Q What were your reasons for writing it. The main reason is to share the endless advantages of good mentorship, as I am a product of it. Here are a few advantages: • Mentorship helps you cut short your learning curve. • Learning from several top mentors allows the reader to pick a style that is most suited to him/her.
Q How is this different from the first 2 books? The first 2 books focus a lot on the Forex market. This 3rd book expands further into the financial markets. The tycoons come from the word of trading and value investing, and between the spheres of manual trading and algorithmic trading. This one book distils the wisdom of the 12 tycoons’ strategies, money management and psychology.
FX Back Office
HIGHLY AUTOMATED ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR FOREX BROKERS. CONSISTS OF THE ENTIRE BACK-OFFICE SET-UP, PARTNERSHIP AND CLIENT AREAS CHOOSE FX BACK OFFICE TODAY, FOR A FASTER, MORE SUCCESSFUL TOMORROW
Phone: + 357 25 10 34 19 Mobile: + 357 955 90 559 E-mail: sales@fxbackoffice.com
FX BACK OFFICE www.fxbackoffice.com
DMITRIY PETRENKO FX BACK OFFICE
Not everyone will tell you the difficulties they faced to get to the top of their game, fewer will give you advise on how to deal with them. Game changers recently sat down with Dmitriy Petrenko from FX Back Office to discuss how he overcame the challenges of B2B in FX.
Q Dmitriy, in such a short period of time you’ve managed to make a huge name in the industry for FX Back Office. Tell us a bit about how you managed to accomplish that… Dmitriy, in such a short period of time you’ve managed to make a huge name in the industry for FX Back Office. Tell us a bit about how you managed to accomplish that… Q Very true. Needless to say that the rise to the top hasn’t come without challenges. What would you say has been one of your biggest challenges so far, and how have you managed to overcome it? Trust was one of the biggest challenges when we started out. A company’s CRM is such an integral part of their business. Our clients fall into three categories: those who are new to FX and who may not be familiar with certain aspects of our product, those who have their own in-house solution, and those who have been in the industry a long time, but have had bad experiences with our competitors. We found that companies who are new to FX needed more support, training, and reassurance that we are contactable and able to solve issues immediately. In turn, we provided training on our solution at no extra cost, put a ticketing system in place, supplied 24/7 emergency contact numbers, and offered Skype assistance as a back-up. Gaining the trust of companies who had their own in-house solution or who used our competitors CRM’s in the past was a little trickier. Companies using their own systems were reluctant to change and needed a lot of persuasion to move to a new, automized work flow, whereas companies who had used our competitor’s systems were the hardest challenge (especially if they had had bad experiences), and gaining their trust involved overcoming their doubts, comparing the differences with what they had previously experienced in terms of CRM functionality and reliability - to what they would get with us, and most importantly, proving we were
Dmitriy Petrenko FX Back Office.
established with a wide client base and able to handle any amount of active clients and volume without fail. One of the most important parts of gaining and indeed keeping this trust, was to continually provide the highest level of customer service and support. To this day, we have not had a single client move from us to another CRM provider.
P - 17
Q What difficulties do you come across when trying to sell FX Back Office’s CRM on a daily basis? Like anyone in B2B, reaching a decision maker doesn’t always come easy. We give around 5 presentations per day on average, and always encourage our main contact to have a decision maker present, if they are not the decision maker themselves. Luckily the majority of people we have partnered with and who recommend our services help us to bypass this process so we don’t lose too much time. Another difficulty I can say we face daily is trying to explain the differences of our CRM (in comparison to our competitors), in our interactions with potential clients. For instance, a potential client may have a mental check list when looking for a CRM in FX (Client Area, Backoffice, Partnership Area). They’ve spoken to our competitors who offer the same, maybe even at a cheaper price. Breaking down our product, its features, the infrastructure and automization involved, and explaining to them that yes, technically we offer the same things, but we operate on a completely different level which is incomparable - is one of the most difficult challenges we face. However, this becomes apparent quite quickly once the presentation is in full swing!
Q How do you manage to stay ahead of your competitors? What would you say is the secret to beating the competition? I’d say having strong customer service/support is key when it comes to beating the competition. Flexibility, not only in terms of the product itself but also in relation to pricing is important, so you’re able to provide your product to a company of any size. Constant innovation and development, coming up with new solutions or features before your competitors can is essential, but above all, make sure you provide a stable product or solution. We pride ourselves on doing or offering all of the above, and our product has over 90% code coverage, meaning nearly 100% of our code is fully tested.
Q Based on your experience, what would be your advice to someone thinking to start a B2B project in the FX industry, or to someone who is currently struggling to get their product known? Making sure your product is able to handle a client of any size is probably one of the most important pieces of advice I can give. Whatever your product may be, it’s important to aim for the big fish. If you are unable to do that from the beginning – wait until you’re ready. I’ve seen so many B2B businesses fail due to bad word of mouth. If you managed to get THAT meeting - the mother of all meetings - with a very established company, and you come unprepared or with a product that is still ironing out the creases and unsure of its capability, you can kill your name right then and there. Directors, owners, marketing specialists and sales people alike know each other, socialize, and discuss new products between them. Word spreads fast. Before you know it, you are the company that ‘just isn’t ready’ and all the hopes you had for your product will slowly slip away beneath you.
GAME CHANGERS Issue #15
Start off with reasonable pricing. Don’t make the mistake of over-pricing your product. Think about your client base and try to give the smaller companies affordable options and the ability to upgrade when the time comes. Do a lot of research on your competitors to confirm your USPs. Make sure your product is great quality, failsafe, and most importantly, value for money. Once you know your product is ready, have no fear. If you’ve got a good marketing budget, participate in FX events, make sponsorship deals, advertise through the usual methods. To get your product known on a budget, be proud of what you have achieved and talk to anyone and everyone about it. The girlfriend or stay-at-home mother of your friend knows someone in FX. The over-friendly restaurant or bar owner tells you the directors of the biggest companies eat or drink there and he can introduce you, your ex colleagues (who you meet once every few months for a coffee) and who now work in other FX companies, may be looking for a product like yours. Talk. You never know where your next meeting is coming from. Do interviews, post on social media, go to every networking event possible. Partner up with other B2B providers, present them your product (this should go without saying but many companies don’t do this). If your partners know what your product is capable of, they are far more likely to recommend it. Having had multiple meetings, spending weeks or sometimes months speaking to a potential client and believing they are inches away from signing a contract, one of the hardest things to swallow is getting the uncomfortable call or e mail sent your way that in fact, your potential client decided to go with someone else. DON’T GET DISHEARTENED. Respect their decision and stay on good terms. Ask why they decided to go with your competitor, and use this information to improve what you have. In our case, so many potential clients that initially went with another CRM provider came back to us within a 6-8 month period. We’ve also experienced multiple cases where former employees at a company who initially told us no, moved to other companies and recommended us, and now we proudly call them our clients. Take any ‘no’ you get as a no for now. Move on, have faith in the bigger picture, and don’t lose your confidence.
Invast Global In a world first, Invast Global has successfully integrated over 30,000 DMA single stock CFDs into the MT5 platform. Nick Briscoe: Global head of prime services. James Alexander: Chief Commercial Officer. David Vanstone: Head of Prime Services. Benjamin Goddard: Associate Director - Prime Services.
Game Changers were lucky enough to attend the fabulous Invast Global party held at the famous Columbia Beach Resort in Limassol. Having attended these type of events many times, we always view them with a certain amount of trepidation, based upon seeing the same old faces, and hearing the same old stories. However, the strictly VIP invite event thrown on 30th August was one of the best in recent memory, with a great selection of decision makers and thought leaders attending. Moreover, they also blended a fantastic selection of food and drinks, which you come to expect from this tier one venue, complemented by the amazing late Summers weather on the south east Mediterranean island. For the uninitiated, Invast Global is a prime broker, and one of the premier names in FX and CFD liquidity and trading technology. Based in Sydney Australia, they have a pedigree which is unrivalled by their peers within the institutional FX space. Having the enviable trifecta of credibility consisting of their parent company’s lineage dating back 60 years, being listed on the Japanese Stock Exchange, and also holding the much sought after blue ribbon ASIC license. Invast Global provides multi-asset liquidity, market leading technology and award-winning service to licenced retail brokerages, investment funds, asset managers and regional banks. Anyone who knows the FX world understands what a huge advantage Invast Global has over their competitors. When I was discussing the events success with Artur Abramavicius, Operations Engineer from oneZero Financial, he commented that “This is a great event. It’s always great to meet up with the Invast Global team. We have a fantastic working relationship with them, where we complement each other’s ethos in the same way as the fantastic food and beverages available tonight”. Although it was great to share a Gin and Tonic with James,
Nick, David and Ben. They were keen to get the message across regarding their services, namely that of their MT5 single stock liquidity offering along with the negative balance protection (NBP) that Invast Global now offers. “It is fantastic to be here in Cyprus during such an important period for the industry. With everything that is happening, we wanted to host an event where brokers, technology providers and industry professionals could come together to discuss the current landscape of financial markets in Cyprus” mentioned James Alexander, Chief Commercial Officer at Invast Global. “Invast Global prides itself on its ability to swiftly react to client’s needs. So, we knew it would be mutually beneficial when we decided to host the event and hear directly from brokers about their thoughts and apprehensions for the future.” Over the past 2 years, ESMA and CySEC have demonstrated that they will continue to introduce new restrictive measures which lead to the maturing of the financial services industry. Whilst some brokerages have voiced their concern of the increasing regulatory scrutiny of FX, Invast Global is extremely optimistic. Nick Briscoe, Managing Director and Global Head of Prime Services at Invast Global, stated that the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) has created a once-in-a-decade opportunity for retail FX brokerages in Europe. “The regulatory authorities yearn to see a diversification of risk and a shift towards more sophisticated investment products. The successful
P - 19
Kevin Xu. Director FXCH.
Artur Abramavicius. Operations Engineer. OneZero.
Left to right: Benjamin Goddard. Associate Director. Prime Services. Invast Global. | Nick Briscoe. Managing Director - Global Head of Prime Services. Invast Global. James Alexander. Chief Commercial Officer. Invast Global. | David Vanstone. Head of Prime Services.- EMEA. Invast Global.
brokerages of the next 10 years will be those that are prudent and evolve by providing true multi-asset offerings.” In 2005, a Russian software company called MetaQuotes launched an innovative electronic trading platform which would ultimately become the most popular retail FX platform in the world. MetaTrader 4 – commonly known as MT4 – changed the way that retail traders accessed the financial markets. A decade later, MetaQuotes introduced an enhanced product – MT5. However, the significance of this trading platform has often been overlooked. It is only now, with the recent regulatory pressures, that the revolutionary capabilities of the platform are beginning to be recognised. MT5 is built to accommodate multi-asset trading products, including the complexities of exchange connectivity, live market data and exchange execution considerations. In a world first, Invast Global has successfully integrated over 30,000 DMA Single Stock CFDs into the MT5 platform. The prime broker can now offer retail brokers the ability to connect their MT5 to 40 exchanges from around the world. This single stock CFD offering is available in addition to Invast Global’s award-winning OTC liquidity; including FX, Index CFDs, Commodity CFDs and precious metals.
Marios Antoniou. Inflyx. | Petros Archontides S.C. Audit Ltd.
Benjamin Goddard. Associate Director. Prime Services. Invast Global.
Nick described the offering in more detail, “We are thrilled to be launching our exchange liquidity MT5 solution for our broker clients. After 18 months of development with bridges, exchanges, data providers and technology vendors we have created a perfect solution for retail brokerages to seamlessly integrate.” James proudly explained “We have also agreed landmark data redistribution deals with each stock and futures exchange, solving the issue of data redistribution for our clients.” The Invast Global team provides full operational support 24 hours a day to handle the back-office administration of equities, such as corporate actions, dividends, customised reporting and outsourced execution – if required. The introduction of single stock CFDs presents a new opportunity for retail brokerages to generate additional trading volume and new revenue streams. A true multi-asset offering is now available for MT5 brokers. To speak to Invast Global, feel free to reach out to their 24-hour team at primeservices@invast.com.au or +61 2 9083 1333. To find out more about their multi-asset MT5 liquidity solution: https://info.invast.com.au/mt5-evolve/
Nick Briscoe. Managing Director - Global Head of Prime Services. Invast Global. James Alexander. Chief Commercial Officer. Invast Global.
P - 21
ISSUE #15
THE JOURNAL FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS
http://gchangersmag.com info@gchangersmag.com