When it comes to making decisions, having reliable guidance and support is vital. This is where finance brokers step in. Finance brokers are professionals who connect individuals and businesses with products and services. They understand the market, access to lenders, and the expertise necessary to navigate complex financial situations. In this article, we will delve into the world of finance brokers, helping you grasp their role and what factors you should consider before choosing one.
What Does a Finance Broker Do?
Finance brokers serve as intermediaries between borrowers (individuals or businesses) and lenders. Their main objective is to assist borrowers in finding loan products from an array of lenders available in the market. Whether someone requires a mortgage, personal loan, car financing, or commercial loan, a qualified finance broker from firms like GQ Finance can guide the process.
These professionals not only help secure loans but also offer valuable advice on financial matters based on their knowledge and experience. They stay updated with market trends and changes in lending policies to serve their clients better.
The Benefits of Collaborating with a Finance Broker:
- Expertise: A finance broker possesses knowledge in the industry, enabling them to navigate complex financial situations. This expertise allows them to provide recommendations based on circumstances.
- Increased Access: Brokers have access to a network of lenders, which means borrowers can explore a range of options compared to dealing with just one bank or lender.
- Time Savings: By spending time searching for the loan product themselves, borrowers can rely on a broker who will gather tailored options based on their needs.
- Credit Checks: Finance brokers assist clients in evaluating their creditworthiness before submitting applications, increasing approval chances, and reducing credit inquiries.
- Personalized Advice: Brokers consider factors like income, savings, and personal goals to identify the loan product for each client.
- Cost Savings: Finance brokers can often negotiate better terms, interest rates, and fees on behalf of their clients due to their knowledge of the financial market and relationships with lenders. This can result in potential cost savings over the life of the loan compared to negotiating directly with a bank or lender.
Considerations When Choosing a Finance Broker:
- Accreditation and Experience: Look for brokers who are accredited by industry associations or possess qualifications. Experience is also important as it demonstrates a broker's track record.
- Transparency: Your finance broker must operate transparently throughout the process. This includes explaining fees, commissions, and any potential conflicts of interest.
- Customer Reviews and Testimonials: Take a look at reviews and testimonials from clients to gain insights into the experiences of others. Check platforms to get a well-rounded understanding of the broker's reputation.
- Track Record: Assess the broker's track record by inquiring about the success rate of their loan applications. A reputable broker should be able to provide examples of outcomes that they have achieved.
- Product Range: Make sure the finance broker you choose offers a range of products from lenders. This way, they can find the match for your needs rather than restricting you to just one lender.
- Credentials: Some finance brokers offer more than connecting borrowers with loans; they also provide additional financial services such as refinancing advice or insurance recommendations. Consider whether these added services align with your requirements.
In conclusion, selecting a finance broker is a decision when it comes to obtaining financial products or guidance. These professionals possess knowledge, have access to lenders, and can tailor their recommendations based on your unique circumstances. By considering factors like accreditation, transparency, customer reviews, product range, experience, and breadth of services offered when choosing a broker, individuals, and businesses can feel confident that they are working with someone who understands their needs.
Keep in mind that discovering the finance broker is akin to acquiring a companion on your financial expedition – someone who will accompany you throughout each stage and provide valuable insights to assist you in making well-informed choices as you progress.
Recent reports show that the notional value of forex trading is more than 6.6 trillion dollars per day. Most of the trading that is transacted is in the major currency pairs. Company treasurers can use forex trading to hedge profits and liabilities in other countries while tourists use it to change currencies.
There are several ways to trade the forex markets, and before you begin to risk capital, you should determine the most suitable process for you. You also want to understand the different trading strategies often used to generate revenue when trading the forex markets. Once you have a good understanding of a strategy and find a process that is easy to employ, you can begin to practice trading and eventually risk your capital in the forex markets.
How Do You Start Trading Forex?
The first step is to determine the most efficient way for you to transact currency transactions. There are several ways for you to accomplish your goal. The most common ways to trade currencies are through contracts for differences (CFD) brokers, a forex broker or bank, a futures contract, or an exchange-traded fund.
Each of these products provides an investor with a different asset to trade. CFDs are the most flexible but are not legal in the United States. A contract for differences allows an investor to purchase an asset that tracks the movements of a forex currency pair. An investor is only responsible for the change in the exchange rate. CFDs are an efficient way to engage in forex trading. CFDs also provide investors with leverage. Leverage allows you to enhance your gains by increasing the size of the position you take. You will need a margin account to trade forex with leverage. When you sign up with a CFD broker, they will ask some personal background questions to determine how much leverage to offer you in your margin account. Note that while leverage can increase your potential gains, it can also increase your losses to ensure you have a firm understanding of the risks involved.
You can also set up an account with a forex broker, a stockbroker, or a bank with multiple account types. A forex account will give you access to the forex market via an over-the-counter transaction. You will be exchanging one currency for another digitally and will be asked to move money when the transaction reaches maturity. For example, if you trade a spot over-the-counter currency transaction, you are obligated to exchange currency two business days after the trade is transacted. Most of the time, you will likely extend your trade through the forward market, and your broker will handle the movements of your currency.
You might also consider opening a futures account. Futures trading allows you to transact on a regulated futures exchange. However, the number of currency pairs might be limited. Futures trading also provides clients with leverage via a margin account.
Lastly, you might consider purchasing or selling an ETF that tracks the movements of a currency pair. For example, the FXY ETF tracks the movements of the USD/JPY. The holdings are usually Japanese yen futures contracts, which allows the ETF to track the movements of the underlying asset.
Once you have decided which type of asset you might want to trade, the next step is to find a reliable broker to facilitate your transactions. During the due diligence process, you should look up your potential broker and read any reviews that might influence your thought process. You also want to evaluate the site and trading platform to see if they are easy to use. Many sites or downloadable apps are very sophisticated and complicated to get started. If you are a novice trader, look for something simple to understand and easy to navigate. If you find it too difficult, you could get lost before understanding the ins and outs of forex trading.
How Do You Create A Trading Strategy?
Before you risk your capital on forex trading, you should spend some time evaluating different types of trading strategies. You need to decide if you want to trade over short periods, like day trading, or more extended periods, where you hold your positions for weeks or even months.
There are fundamental trading strategies in which you look at the interest rate differentials or macro backdrop to determine the future direction of a currency pair. Investors interested in understanding the long-term trend in the currency markets need to have some background news related to macroeconomics. For example, a stronger-than-expected inflation report in the United States is likely to buoy U.S. yields and help benefit the upward trend in the U.S. dollar.
Another type of trading strategy is through technical analysis. Technical analysis studies past price movements and includes patterns, momentum, trend following, and mean reversion. You might want to learn about support and resistance levels and the different studies that help determine if a trend is accelerating or decelerating.
Test Using A Demonstration Account
Before you start trading your capital, you should test your strategy and your ability to navigate your broker’s website and trading platform using a demonstration account. Demo accounts use fake demo money that is not real, allowing you to see if your strategies can be effective. Many brokers have live demo accounts that allow you to trade in real-time using demonstration money.
The Bottom Line
The upshot is that there is a process involved in starting to trade Forex. First, you need to determine the type of instrument you want to trade. Next, you should evaluate different trading strategies. You then need to perform due diligence on your broker. Lastly, you should use a demo account to see if your strategy is viable before you begin to risk real capital.
However, the idea of making investments can be quite daunting if you've never done it before but it is important to educate yourselves on the matter. "If you take a little time to learn about trading stocks in college, you can become financially independent much earlier than otherwise.", says PapersOwl editor, John Russel, in his research paper on the matter of individual stocks. So, if you're a college student or even a graduate and you are unaware of terms like an investment account, a retirement account, and a brokerage account, don't worry. Our simple guide will help you start investing without having to worry too much.
A Little Money Is Enough
When you think about an investment, you might think that you need to have hundreds of dollars to invest in a stock or other assets. While more capital will help you generate larger amounts, you don't need too much for investing as a college student as you can begin doing it even with just $5 a month. All you need to know is which way you want to go when it comes to using an online broker, a robo-adviser, or a micro-investing app.
Easy Ways To Invest
1. Online Brokers
In very simple terms, such a broker is the web-based platform of financial companies that you can utilise to put money in mutual funds, bonds, and more. You can manage your portfolio via this platform and get all the information you need to handle your investments.
2. Robo-Adviser
If you want a more automated process to handle your money, you may want to use a Robo-Adviser. These are apps that utilise various algorithms to find the best options for you based on how much risk you wish to take. Like traditional advisers, these will manage your portfolios for you and charge a small fee to do so.
3. Micro-Investing Apps
For even more automation, consider using a micro-investing app. Such apps are designed to help you make money while you spend money. They can round off your purchases to the nearest dollar and then send the leftover change to your savings account after a minimum amount is collected. With such options, college-goers can become investors with very little cash.
What Assets Should You Consider?
When you want to begin generating wealth from an early time for the betterment of your future, you need to carefully consider which assets you want to put your cash in. You should be aware of the top investment themes in 2022 as well to stay updated on current trends. To keep things simple for students though, here are some of the general options you have that offer various levels of return on your investment.
1. Mutual Funds
This is a very good starting point for any investor as the invested money goes into a pool of capital that is managed by a professional. The manager makes all the decisions regarding how to invest the capital and the people involved don't have to do anything more.
2. Index Funds
When you put your income in an Index Fund, you are essentially investing in all of a market index's stocks. A little knowledge of the stock market goes a long way with this kind and the overall risk and cost are quite low, making it a great option for young people.
3. Bonds
If you don't want to worry too much about fees and don't want to work but rather just put your cash somewhere safe and enjoy life, you might want to buy some bonds. When you do this, you're essentially loaning your cash to the government or a company. In return for your loan, you get interest when you get your amount back. These are some of the safest investment options out there for college-goers and graduates but they do pay lower returns than other higher-risk options.
These are three of the most basic and safe ways for paying your cash to someone and getting started with investing. There are many more things you can also consider though, so be sure to do your research before making a choice. These options include ETFs, Target-Date Funds, Certificates of Deposit, etc. You could also use a traditional IRA or savings account for even more safety.
Some Crucial Things To Remember
If you have never traded before and want to build strong portfolios, here are some things you should keep in mind:
- Don't wait too long to get started. Even if you can spare $10 a month, invest it.
- Always keep aside the capital that you need in the short term to meet your expenses. Only invest the extra cash you have.
- Do some research before you purchase any assets on your own. Brokers can help you put your cash in the right places but if you want to do it yourself, be sure to know what you're doing.
- Don't put all your cash in one place or one kind of asset. Always diversify so you don't end up losing all your cash one day.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to begin investing even as a college-goer with little cash to spare. There are many open sources that you can utilise to educate yourself about different accounts, exchange markets, assets, and more. And if you want to do as little work as possible, you can always get advice from professionals and share your long-term goals with them to allow them to manage your capital in a better way.
What is social trading?
We may seek social trading in the same way we would look for a social network, such as Facebook, Linked In, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter. The difference is that you are trading in financial markets, and you can also observe other people's track records. However, the interaction is essentially the same as in other social networks; you have your feed where you can view other people's postings about markets, questions, surveys, and so on.
Some social trading platforms make it simple to locate successful investors whose trading approach matches your requirements. However, this is not always easy because finding the proper investors to emulate might take time and expertise.
With social trading, you get a more in-depth look at what you're investing in. You have access to the investors' historical returns (which are not predictive of future results), risk score, drawdowns, holding period, and even current holdings, so everything is clear to those who wish to start copying.
How does social trading work?
Social trading operates like a well-oiled system, with brokers, platforms, inexperienced traders, and experts playing vital roles.
A platform for social trading
It's a professional network that acts as a link between novice and experienced traders in trading and a forum for conversation and information sharing. It frequently resembles a typical social network, with capabilities such as publishing information, commenting, postings and sending messages.
Traders who are professionals
Traders who are professionals assign roles as signal providers. They trade on their accounts, allowing inexperienced traders to replicate their moves. They can even have their professional blog on various sites.
Investors and novice traders
Investors and novice traders are the platforms' primary users. They can duplicate the trades of experts, communicate with and copy signals from skilled traders, and do so on their accounts at the agreed ratio.
Broker
Brokers ensure order execution and access to copying instruments. They benefit from increased trading activity and the acquisition of new customers. Some brokers, such as eToro, FXTM, and RoboForex, have their social trading platforms, while the vast majority rely on third-party suppliers.
Provider of social trading platforms
Is a provider of social trading software, a platform that brings together clients from several brokers in one location. MQL5, ZuluTrade, and DupliTrade are the most popular suppliers.
Is it safe to engage in social trading?
A lot is dependent on the broker and platform you've chosen. Consider platforms with the regulation in one of the nations with an established legal system (for example, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Australia, and the United States) and transparent statistics for study.
Social trading on Forex from the world's leading brokers is risk-free, and the main dangers, in general, are in the trade itself. However, as the popularity of the service grows, scam brokers may also provide copy trading. Scam brokers are often unregulated, do not explain the dangers, and exaggerate the possible reward.
Imagine a world without law and order. No rules, no guidelines, no restrictions, no control, everyone having the liberty to do as they please. What comes to mind as the inevitable outcome? Chaos. Utter commotion. The same would be the fate of the forex market, with its $5 trillion worth, if it were left without regulation.
What is Forex Regulation?
Forex regulation is a system of checks that have been put in place to ensure that the forex market is a safe place to be. These checks include the setting up of legal and financial standards. For compliance with these checks to be ascertained or verified, watchdogs or overseers have been set up to monitor the behavior of industry players. These bodies are called regulators.
The primary purpose of regulation is to protect investors from fraud. Forex broker reviews can help answer questions such as is thinkmarket legit? And can help to guide investors to forex brokers that are regulated.
Who Regulates the Forex Market?
There is no central regulatory body in charge of global forex regulations. Regulatory bodies are set up at local levels across the world. Each of these local regulatory bodies functions under the ambit of the laws governing their respective jurisdictions. However, all regulatory bodies in the EU can operate in all the countries on the continent. One of the most widely used regulatory bodies in Europe is the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) which is based in Cyprus. Other major regulatory bodies include the Australian Securities and Exchange Commission (ASIC), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), US Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Services Authority (FSA) UK and the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) France.
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How the Forex Market is Regulated
Forex market regulators set guidelines for forex brokers to abide by. These guidelines protect investors and maintain order in the trading arena.
The regulator is saddled with the responsibility of conducting periodic audits, reviews, and inspection of the financial, legal, and customer-related activities of the forex market players. These guidelines ensure that brokers abide by a set of fair and ethical rules. When these guidelines are not met, a regulator has the power to enforce punishments on the erring broker.
Forex regulation is done in compliance with the prevailing laws of each jurisdiction. These laws spell out a host of requirements for forex brokerage and some elements of these regulations vary from one jurisdiction to another. However, some fundamental standards cut across every area or region of forex regulation. These are;
Registration and Licensing
Regulators are responsible for the registration and licensing of forex brokers. Only pepperstone regulated brokers are safe for investors.
Audits and Reviews
Periodically, regulators look into the books and general affairs of brokers to ensure that they comply with all financial and ethical standards. For example, there is lots of information that brokers are mandated to pass across to investors. Brokers who fail to do so are punished by regulatory bodies.
The role of regulators is crucial to the safety of your funds. Questions about regulation should be a priority for every investor. Broker reviews should be properly consumed by traders before working with any broker. If a broker isn't regulated, steer on the side of caution and avoid them.
Many forex traders enter the market because of the low entry costs and the fact that the market stays open round the clock. However, most traders leave soon because they suffer losses. Therefore, we are going to suggest five ways in which you can avoid losses and stay in the game while trading forex.
Homework Is Essential
People think that since getting into forex trading is easy, they can afford to ignore due diligence. They do not realize that forex knowledge is the key aspect of successful trading.
Even though the major part of learning comes from the experience of live trading, a trader must know about everything related to the forex market, especially the geological and political aspects that affect the currencies. Forex traders should therefore use practice accounts before they start live trading. Some of the things to learn from practice accounts are:
- Techniques of analysis
- Money management procedures
- Control leverage amount
- Maintain a trading journal
- Treat forex trading as a business
- Understand the tax implications
- Formulate a trading plan
Find a Reputable Forex Broker
As with any financial industry, forex trading has its share of fraudulent brokers. Therefore, make sure that you start your trading with a reliable and honest forex broker. Look for a broker that provides a 100% deposit bonus when you trade with them. They should provide you with trading tools that are convenient to use.
As with any financial industry, forex trading has its share of fraudulent brokers.
There must be transparency about the commissions, and you should be able to make the withdrawals in any currency of your preference. International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) monitors the forex broker's operations to ensure that they follow the legislation and framework of regulations. That means it is safe and reliable to trade with a broker that abides by the IFSC rules.
Keep Your Charts Clean
You might feel tempted to use several of the analytical tools offered by forex trading platforms. Even though most of them are meant to provide you insights into the forex market, using too many of them can clutter your charts and confuse you.
Therefore, use one tool for each analysis, like a volatility indicator or an oscillator. Using multiple tools for the same indications can offer opposing suggestions and become counterproductive.
Remove any analysis techniques or tools that you do not use regularly. Pay attention to how the charts and the dashboard look when you select the tools. Use contrasting elements that are easy to interpret so that it becomes easy for you to work. It will also enable you to respond appropriately to changing market scenarios.
Keep Your Trading Account Safe
Most people concentrate on making profits while trading forex. However, it is also equally important to mitigate losses. Most experienced traders would tell you that you can enter at any price position and make some money. But what matters the most is to know when to get out of a trade before you start losing money.
Many people make the mistake of holding on to a losing trade in the hope of making up for their losses. However, you may end up losing more money than you had originally imagined. That is why you must set a limit to which you can handle the losses before you get out of the trade.
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You can also select a limit to the maximum loss you can endure in a day, beyond which there will be no further trading for your account until you choose to initiate it again.
Treat Your Trading Like a Business
When you start live trading, treat it like you would treat a business. Start with small amounts and build up your profits. Don't get tempted by lucrative trades and end up investing a lot in the early days of trading. You would not be able to anticipate the slippage accurately all the time, so play it safe. These are some suggestions to keep in mind while trading.
- Start with small amounts and build up gradually
- Control the amount of leverage
- Maintain the records of your trading every day
- Keep your emotions of losing and winning away from trading
- Know how to treat your trading for tax implications
The forex trading market looks lucrative to many people because they can start small, the market stays open round the clock, and they can get good leverage. But forex trading must be approached like a business with proper due diligence, practice, and precautions.
Choose a reliable forex broker to avoid legal hassles and avoid losses. You must also use efficient money management methods and clean charts to stay in the game and make profits.
No matter which area of finance or business that you operate in, knowledge of the regulatory climate that you work in is essential. If you are working in the UK, which has one of the world's largest financial services industries and is home to many of the world's most important financial institutions, then you will need to become acquainted with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
This is the government body that is responsible for the regulation of any and all financial services activities that take place in the UK or involve UK-based companies, individuals, and entities. They create and regularly update the framework and regulations governing areas such as trading, banking, currency, accounting, and dividends, to name just a few.
Falling afoul of the FCA can not only be ruinous for your business and career plans, but it can also land you in prison. Furthermore, you will not be able to legally conduct financial services activities in the United Kingdom without the approval of the FCA. With that in mind, let's summarise what the FCA actually does and how their remit affects you.
Preventing Misconduct
The most important role of the FCA is to prevent misconduct by financial services companies. They will investigate and enforce against classic types of misconduct such as insider trading and shadow-banking, but that's not all. They also work to prevent anti-competitive behaviour such as monopoly building, the mis-selling of financial products, and any attempts at market manipulation.
Regulating Trustworthy Companies
The FCA also helps financial services companies by providing them with a badge of legitimacy. For example, if you are looking for a qualified UK CFD broker service, you will find that the most well-regarded companies proudly advertise that they are regulated by the FCA. If a company is regulated by the FCA, then potential customers and clients can know that they are trustworthy and abide by rigorous ethical standards.
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Dispensing Advice
The FCA is a massive organisation with thousands of employees and an annual budget of £600 million. Much of these resources are directed towards giving essential legal and compliance advice to the 58,000 companies that the FCA is responsible for regulating. This service is extremely valuable for smaller companies that might not have the resources to fully navigate the regulatory environment on their own. In a business environment where only the top dogs can afford a legal team of their own, the advice provided by the FCA can be a life-saver.
Launching Legal Investigations
The FCA also has powerful enforcement mechanisms and can launch their investigations into companies and individuals, rather than simply referring potential incidents of misconduct to the police. As an arm of the UK government, the FCA reserves the right to investigate any person or entity that they have a reasonable suspicion of being guilty of financial crime. Investigations launched by the FCA can and do lead to the suspension of licenses, multi-million-pound fines, and the arrest and imprisonment of those found guilty of a crime by a British court. That's why compliance is crucial.
If you want to do business in the UK, joining the FCA and paying a membership fee is definitely a worthwhile pursuit. The cost of applying for FCA regulation currently stands at £1500, but this is a worthwhile investment.
The COVID-19 virus is a global pandemic. With countries worldwide reporting cases, it is no wonder that it has greatly affected economies on a huge scale and reach. With more and more people confined in their homes, investors are now scrambling to come up with contingency plans to make sure their assets remain safe from it all. Of all the industries, the real estate sector seems to be the most affected. Hotels, restaurants, and retail stores are now empty.
Effect on Commercial Real Estate
In Asia, particularly in the hardest-hit areas, retailers are closing up shop. Retailers are being forced to send their workers home and stop operations. Restaurants, in the absence of customers, are left with no choice but to offer door-to-door deliveries or close as well. With travel bans in place, the usual busy areas of tourist spots are now deserted. With no sales, companies are forced to hold their wages and figure out how they will cover their monthly rent payments.
Rent Relief
Many businesses are now asking their real estate brokers like the Jeff Tabor group to negotiate rent relief and other forms of support to keep their businesses afloat. In Singapore, their restaurant association already requested shopping mall landlords to cut rents by at least 50% for the next three months. Some retailers have already granted relief measures including marketing assistance programs, flexible rental payments, and a rental rebate.
Effect on Residential Real Estate
Many think that the impact of the coronavirus should not extend to residential real estate. However, the effects are now felt within the residential sector as a number of home buyers are skeptical over fears of uncertainty - which is an expected outcome whenever something unusual happens in the markets. Fears about the virus caused the stock market to drop by over 1,000 points.
Real estate agents, however, believe that this is a good time to list their properties on the market. Uncertainty can sometimes equate to opportunity. Those who already have existing mortgages can negotiate to get the best deals possible. Based on the data provided by Black Knight, as many as 11 million homeowners can move to save more money through refinancing.
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Preparing for the Worst
Some of the malls in Singapore are slowly opening up shops despite the few numbers of buyers trickling in. Many believe that they have better chances of recouping what they have lost by continuing to operate. Nevertheless, they are still wary and are constantly finding ways just to break even and still provide goods and services. Restaurants are now offering food deliveries to doctors and nurses. Some of them are opening only when healthcare workers need to go out, take a break, and eat out. Right now, it is a give-and-take scenario.
The Bottom Line
Uncertainties can happen in the market. As we are experiencing, one crucial factor can affect the economy on a grand scale. In this case, the coronavirus or the COVID-19. With no known cure yet, real estate investors, home buyers and sellers have nothing to do but wait and see what comes of the virus and the real estate industry. For now, people should expect the worst and pray that their assets don’t turn into liabilities. COVID-19 could very well be the next Great Recession that we should brace for.
BrokerChooser is a global online service for comparing and choosing investment brokers. Below, their CEO and co-founder Tibor Bedő talks us through the awards process, discusses the top five awards and the firms that have been selected, providing some insight on the complex world of investment brokering.
Every year we carry out a comprehensive review of the market and of the brokers in it. We then make awards based on nine criteria: fees, trading platforms, product portfolio, security, account opening (ease and cost), deposit and withdrawal (costs and time it takes), customer service (the support across all channels), research (the resources and tools they provide) and education (does the broker offer support services such as webinars and other tool).
This year we collected much wider and more in-depth data on brokers and their services than ever before. Our aim was to make the scoring more precise and better reflect the differences between brokers.
This year we collected much wider and more in-depth data on brokers and their services than ever before. Our aim was to make the scoring more precise and better reflect the differences between brokers.
It was important to use the right parameters for each category. To ensure we got this right, we interviewed our customers about their preferences and, of course, also used our own professional knowledge and insight into the brokerage industry.
There were 24 awards in total. However, the key ones, the winners, and the criteria we used for judging them, are below.
1. Best online broker was won by Interactive Brokers
We considered how brokers performed across all the criteria, particularly fees, product selection and trading platforms. This is the second year in a row that Interactive Brokers have won this category. It won high scores due to its low trading fees, comprehensive product range, and well-developed trading platforms. It is a strong company with a great reputation.
2. Best discount broker was won by DEGIRO
This award is all about the fees and how cost effective the broker is. It is a key consideration with our customers. DEGIRO won this for the second year in a row as its trading fees are low for all asset classes. In addition, there are no withdrawal, inactivity, or account fees charged.
3. Best broker for stock trading was also won by DEGIRO
Stock is one of the most popular asset classes (more than 60% of our clients focus on investing in stocks). The main parameters for this award are fees, stock exchanges availability and the overall quality of their service. DEGIRO won this award due to its low stock fees, global stock exchange coverage, and the high quality of the service it provides.
4. Best forex brokers was won by Saxo Bank
Here we were obviously looking for outstanding performance in criteria that are relevant to forex trading. Our customers told us that these are low forex and withdrawal fees, advanced trading platforms with great charting tools, and wide range of currency pair selection. Saxo Bank has performed well in all these categories.
5. Best discount forex brokers was won by Fusion Markets
This is a new broker category. We created it as many from our customers are looking for great value forex trading. The most important factor here is therefore the forex fees. Fusion Markets charge the lowest commission per lot for buying and selling the currency pairs ($2.25) and doesn't charge any withdrawal fee.
The other awards and their winners were:
Best broker for funds Firstrade
Best broker for bonds Fidelity
Best CFD broker XTB
Best broker for cryptos eToro
Best broker for options TD Ameritrade
Best broker for futures Interactive Brokers
Best broker for beginners Robinhood
Best broker for millennials Revolut
Best broker for buy and hold TradeStation Global
Best broker for day trading Interactive Brokers
Best web trading platform Saxo Bank
Best mobile trading platform Oanda
Best app for stock trading Robinhood
Best desktop trading platform TD Ameritrade
Best broker for research Saxo Bank
Best broker for API trading Oanda
Best social trading eToro
Best digital bank Revolut
Best robo-advisor Betterment
All the winners offer exceptional services but of course there are some brokers who perform very badly. Even investors with a lot of experience can find it difficult to identify the good ones, or the ones that suit them best, without weeks of research. The idea behind these awards is that we do this work for you.
To hear about the importance of reacting quickly to market conditions, Finance Monthly reached out to Vitaly Tyulyaev - the Founder and Managing Partner of ActiveTick LLC. Launched in 2010 with a single product – the ActiveTick Platform, the company has since then expanded into being a leading discount market data vendor for US-based equity, option and future exchanges, in addition to providing order routing connectivity to various execution venues.
Tell us more about the ActiveTick platform? How do traders and investors benefit from your software package?
The ActiveTick Platform is our flagship product that we offer to traders. The platform is a suite of different tools that enable traders to view the markets efficiently and to quickly react to market conditions. At its basic level, the platform provides real-time streaming data to the end user from all supported exchanges, with dynamically updating quote lists, advanced live charts with numerous technical analysis, as well as Level 2 and depth book data. The platform doubles down on functionality with its integrated trading from multiple partner brokers, where users can link their trading accounts with the platform and trade directly from the platform’s charts and order entry screens. Because the platform supports multiple brokers, customers can link their trading accounts from different brokers, and trade in all of them through a single order entry. For more advanced users, the platform offers embedded programming language that allows users to back-test and fine-tune their trading strategies.
The platform suite also comes with its own add-in for Microsoft Excel. The add-in is absolutely loved by our customers because it lets them have real-time streaming data inside their spreadsheets, which automatically drives their calculations with each price change.
Recently, we have added a new addition to our ActiveTick Platform suite - a brand new ActiveTick Scanner product which we have been working on for some time. The scanner is an amazing piece of technology which lets the user choose from over 120 different scan types to be performed on real-time live data, or across from several years of historical data.
Because we control all processes from building everything ourselves, sourcing our own code, running our own ticker plants, managing our own datacenters, and connecting directly to exchanges without middleman present, we’re able to provide the fastest access to data at the lowest prices. Our customers benefit from this arrangement immensely. The majority of our new customers come to us from larger vendors that do not offer as many features as we do, and on top of that, charge them an arm and a leg for the same data that we provide at a discount.
What were the origins of ActiveTick and how did you improve on the existing market offering?
I started my software development career working for a discount broker-dealer called Scottrade. I came onboard with them in the late nineties, and was immediately intrigued by the speed and volume that the trading world moved at. The dot com crash in early 2000 only amplified this for me. I set out to build a trading platform as a pet project of mine, and to my surprise, the owner of Scottrade Rodger Riney welcomed it, and brought it into Scottrade’s product line-up. His acceptance and encouragement allowed me to expand my curiosity about the industry and for the next several years, I coded non-stop, accumulating the knowledge about markets. When Scottrade and I parted, it was a perfect time for me to apply what I have learned and start something new, and that’s when ActiveTick was born. It probably won’t be an overstatement if I say that Rodger Riney had a profound impact on my confidence and thinking, and I am very thankful that our paths crossed.
Starting a new business venture from scratch is not an easy process, especially when it comes to a business where there are ongoing costs from the get-go, such as licensing fees for market data redistribution, and IT infrastructure costs to name a few. Because I self-funded the start-up, it was a race to get to a break-even point, and when it was accomplished, it brought a sigh of relief.
When ActiveTick was created, the mission goal was to provide an inexpensive and functionally better alternative to existing offerings from competition. We had our job cut out for us. In the end, we were able to create such an alternative and pass the savings on to our customers.
What differentiates it from other market data and trading software platforms?
We have several competitive advantages over our competition in market data. First and foremost is our speed. Our datacentres are strategically located at or near originating exchanges, which allows us to tap into exchanges’ data feed multicast backbone with a fiber cable going from our equipment into exchanges’ equipment which cuts our latency to the speed of light. All of our software code that we have developed was written in C and C++ programming languages which provide superb performance. Customers who connect and consume data from us measure data feed latency in nano and microseconds rather than milliseconds. Because we own the whole implementation stack, we can offer very fast data from a large number of exchanges and charge significantly less than our competitors.
In addition to market data, ActiveTick also provides execution routing to over 30 different execution venues from within our datacenters. For one-stop shop experience, customers can connect to a low-latency data feed, access all of our ticker plant services, and route their orders to various destinations.
When comparing our ActiveTick Platform with platforms from some of our major competitors, our toolset matches and often exceeds our competition in terms of functionality and ease-of-use, yet our offerings are priced significantly less.
How did ActiveTick attract its first clients?
First customers were very hard to come by because we were a new company that no one had heard of. Our ActiveTick Platform was still very young, and did not offer all the bells and whistles that it does now. Before that moment, my experience in coming up with and drafting up a marketing strategy plan was non-existent. The marketing budget we had was close to non-existent too. Luckily, there was Google’s AdWords programme, so I tried to learn all I could about SEO, CPCs, PPCs, etc., and then launched a modest campaign that yielded some positive results. Over time, we brought on some outside help in getting better optimisations for our website so we can become visible on search engines’ radars, and invested in marketing and sales departments.
What are the challenges that some of your users encounter on a regular basis? How are these resolved?
Some of our customers often mention information overload. Trading today’s markets is a complex task - there are preferred stocks, moving averages, future spreads, dividend yields, to name a few. Unless someone invests time and effort in learning about these things, it’s hard for that person to understand the data our tools show and use it. Our development team continuously tries to come up with better way to categorise information, and present it in a way that is clear and understandable for the end user.
Over the years, what has kept the company moving forward?
I think what moves us forward, is that everyone at ActiveTick has a real passion for this line of work. There are not that many industries out there that expose you to the large amounts of information in terms of size and speed that this one does. For someone like me who comes from a software engineering background, thinking about how to process 10 million messages per second of OPRA options data feed with latency measured in microseconds is quite overwhelming. I feel the same when working on creating a market data scanner that analyses and identifies patterns inside a torrent of market data, and picks needles out of haystacks. However, finding solutions to such problems excites both us and our customers!
Over the years, we branched out into other aspects of the industry. When I started the company, we provided a single market data product that supported display of US-based equities. With time, we linked up with order execution venues, and signed on a few partner broker-dealers which brought trading functionality to our offering. We have expanded from being a vendor for US-based equities to providing data for options, and later - to currencies and futures. Our business also benefited from expanding into custom development work for our customers, where we offer our expertise and coding skills from our development team to solve customers’ specific needs.
What have been some of ActiveTick’s major achievements recently?
In the last year, we have been undertaking a major effort in enhancing our product line with new functionality, and branched out into supporting futures markets with the integration of CME Group’s exchanges. This was a major improvement in our backend ticker plant software to accommodate 24-hour trading, and provide support for trading complex instruments such as multileg intra-exchange spreads. With the addition of future exchanges, we are now able to cover a wide range of different types of instruments, including equities, equity options, currencies, futures, future options, and spreads. Customers who use the ActiveTick Platform, can now see this entire dataset across a spectrum of different exchanges and instruments within a single chart and quote list window.
ActiveTick Scanner is another major project that was completed and rolled out to our beta-tester group just a few weeks ago. This product is a culmination of approximately 18 months of R&D by our development team, and provides customers with the ability to scan the markets for over 120 different scanning opportunities, and filter results using over 150 different filters in real-time or historical basis. In the near future, we are planning on opening up ActiveTick Scanner API to our developers, so that they can run and test various trade strategies using historical data from the scanner. We are very excited about these new recent enhancements.
What do you anticipate for the company in the near future?
Our company is driven by our products and services, and we make it a priority to stay ahead technologically and work on new and exciting things. Our current major near-term goal is to expand internationally, and integrate our backend systems to connect to additional exchanges from Europe and Asia. On a drawing board we are planning adding support for Euronext, LSE, Deutsche Börse, Shanghai, and HK exchanges. Many of our long-term customers have been asking us to support these exchanges, and we are listening to their requests.
With all the interest around cryptocurrencies these days, we are working on connecting with major exchanges and integrating their market data feeds and order routing in our systems.
In addition to expanding with market data, we are currently developing several additional clients for our ActiveTick Platform, particularly an HTML5 web client, as well as mobile clients for iOS and Android operating systems. Deploying these new clients will provide ActiveTick with additional channels to expand our market footprint.
Another effort that is happening inside our R&D, is a push to learn how AI technology can be applied in our business. Because we are also traders who trade our own money, we are fascinated with possibilities of what could be done when deep learning meets large datasets of historical trade data, and learns how to identify patterns. We have been investing capital and time in this effort, and it looks very promising to us. And as we continue to expand our knowledge and understanding, this will trickle into our products that we provide to customers in a form of new features and functionality.
What excites me for the future is that we have very smart people in our group who are technologists at the core, and get enthusiastic about a challenging task ahead. With evolving technology, toolsets, and standards, it is an amazing feeling to be in the driver’s seat for once.
Website: http://www.activetick.com/
Michael Bender has worked in the insurance broking industry for over 30 years, specialising in the placement of International Binding Authority contracts for Coverholders in Liability and Property classes. As a Managing Director, he is responsible for the day-to-day running of B&W Brokers. Here he speaks to Finance Monthly about the company’s beginnings, his involvement in it, and the advantages and challenges of his role.
You helped set up B&W Brokers in 2015 – what was the process like? What were some of the challenges that you were faced with?
B&W Brokers was set up in 2015 by my business partner Neil Walton. I was sitting at home on gardening leave adhering to my restrictive covenants imposed by my previous employer whilst Neil forged ahead with our plan to set up a Lloyd’s Broker. The toughest part for me personally was that I was unable to meaningfully assist Neil until after 18 months from when I gave my leaving notice in.
The FCA Approval Application process was very time consuming and arduous and the information required was endless, but with the assistance of an outside third party was completed and agreed within 10 months. Once FCA Approval was granted, we sought Lloyd’s of London Broker Status Approval and this was completed and agreed within a further 4 months.
Shortly after B&W’s Lloyd’s Approval was confirmed, I managed to negotiate an agreeable arrangement with my previous employer which enabled me to start working at B&W and also allowed some of the colleagues who had previously worked with me to join us at B&W.
In real terms, in January 2016 B&W was finally up and running and the clients we had been previously dealing with, for the most part, decided to move to us.
What were the company’s priorities towards its clients from the very beginning? Have these changed, 2 years later?
Our priority was to make the change of broker process as easy as possible for those clients that chose to join us and to continue to be a professional, independent, honest and loyal broker to them.
The first priority I believe was achieved and the second part to this day remains the same to our existing clients and to any clients that may join us in the future.
What would you say are the benefits of being a specialist boutique broker?
The benefit of being a boutique broker is that we can provide clients with a personal service. We do not overstretch ourselves by trying to handle business we have no knowledge of. We avoid clashes of interest between our clients and this has resulted in us maintaining loyalty from our clients. Over 50% of our clients have been with us, as individuals, for over 20 years.
As with any new business, cash flow is a major consideration and with the help of Neil Walton’s other company Centor Insurance & Risk Management, which assisted us with some funding, after a relatively short period, we have managed to stand on our own two feet. The fact that the company has no debt and even managed to pay its shareholders a dividend in its first full year, is a testament to how well the business of the company has bedded in.
As a Managing Director, what are the main day-to-day challenges that you face?
The main challenge, apart from compliance, for me is to keep the clients happy. In an ever-changing market, where IT & Data capture is becoming increasingly more important, we need to keep up with our competitors or even move ahead if possible.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?
Being able for the most part to be in control of my own destiny for the first time in my career.
Also, it is rewarding to be able to make decisions with my senior colleagues that will determine how B&W Brokers will hopefully grow and evolve.
What is your overall mission for the company? How do you ensure this mission is upheld?
Our mission is to stick by our principles and encourage other like-minded individuals to join us to help grow the company. In a society that has increasing pressure to succeed we do not want to be sitting on our hands, but we do not want to grow by changing our ethos either.
What do you anticipate for the future of B&W Brokers?
I would anticipate that we have steady growth for 2017 in the main current territories that we trade in, namely Canada and Australia and then look to broaden our appetite for business in other classes of business and territories in 2018 onwards.
For our size, we are a profitable company and this will always be a focus of ours no matter what potential growth is achieved.
One of our strengths is that we have a “Hard Core” of Lloyd’s Underwriters who have supported us over the years and have remained with us through thick and thin. We want to continue this approach by achieving the same in other classes of business.
Our aim is always to see Underwriters and our Coverholders make a profit on the business they write. This has not always been easy when contracts become large in volume and underwriting focus is sometimes lost but we endeavour to give a balance of business to our markets so this may be achieved.
If you would like to find out more about B&W Brokers Limited please email info@bandw.london or visit www.BandW.London.
“In an industry that provides a product that a client is forced to buy for one reason or another we aim to make the process of buying insurance less painful for our insureds.”
FirstPort Insurance Services is a respected and trusted insurance broker working in a niche market that specialises in insurance for blocks of apartments. It prides itself on its ethical ways of working and customer-centred ethos. Managing Director, Judi Runciman talks about her approach and that of her team, which ensures that the business stands out from the crowd.
I began my career in insurance 45 years ago as an underwriter and moved to broking when I was given the opportunity to run a small brokerage office. I have never looked back. Since then I have worked both at a local and national level and have seen a great deal that has inspired me for my leadership of FirstPort Insurance Services.
FirstPort as a business has a strapline ‘More Than Just Bricks and Mortar’, in our business this has never been more relevant.
We deal directly with Resident Management and Right to Manage Company Directors who are entering into contracts with us to arrange their buildings insurance. Some of these clients have taken on these roles without prior property management or insurance knowledge and we take the time to go the extra mile so that they fully understand what service we provide and the benefits – it’s about making their life easier. With block insurance, not only is it important that we get the right price, but also the right cover as not all products on the market are comparable.
As a contents insurance broker, with over 12,000 contents insurance customers, we are often dealing with vulnerable people when it comes to our retirement property customers who require a service that offers reassurance and confidence in our ability. Each customer has a named contact within our team so they can speak to the same person for all their dealings with us and can form a relationship with them. Customer feedback on our unique approach is very complimentary - we have many long term customers coming back to us year on year because they trust and value our service.
The environment we deal in can be extremely complex. For buildings insurance, we are often dealing with multi-block sites that require a tailored approach. We deal with crisis situations, such as large-scale water damage that can affect 100s of apartments and communal facilities. In these situations, we need to be on hand to provide not only a rapid response, but one that meets the needs of all customers concerned.
My team are wonderfully supportive and we are all on the same wave-length as I only employ people that can showcase they have strong ethics and morals. I know we will always put the customer at the heart of what we do, not only because that is what is expected of us by our regulators*, but also because everyone deserves to be dealt with in a respectful manner and given the best advice and service. We work very hard to be fair and transparent to our clients and to treat them with the respect we would wish to receive ourselves.
We operate in line with our own Code of Ethics that I have developed with my team. It sets out the standards we want to work to. For us, it’s about being accurate and straightforward with customers and ensuring advice is tailored and suitable for their individual needs. It’s also about remembering everyone is an individual and about putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes and seeing it from their perspective so the service truly reflects their situation and requirements. We know we don’t always get it right but we always learn from our experiences and have a will to continually improve.
It’s very exciting times for FirstPort Insurance Services. We are growing, with plenty of new business on the horizon. FirstPort recently announced a major acquisition of Pentland Estate Management. I am confident that this will give us an opportunity to WOW a whole new customer base, and I am confident our customer–centric approach will serve us well and see us taking our business forward in a way that I am extremely proud of.
*FirstPort Insurance Services is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Website: https://www.firstport.co.uk/
