Earlier this month, LeapRate exclusively reported the opening of a new CFD and FX provider in Israel which operates under the name First Index.
The new multi-asset CFD brokerage opened its doors with $5 million assets under management from British, European and Israeli customers, and has completed March with £4.6 billion in trading volumes.
First Index’s ethos is to engage Israel’s elite network of traders by commencing regular seminars, its first having been held yesterday in Ramat Gan, Israel, which was attended by 55 high net worth traders.
At the time of announcing its opening, First Index confirmed to LeapRate that it now has $5 million assets under management, which comprises of $3.5 million from Israeli clients and $1.5 million from clients in Britain and Europe.
This approach is serving the company well, as March’s volume figures, the first since the firm was officially deemed open, are by far in excess of those experienced during the establishment period of the firm.
In December 2014, the firm experienced £1.6 billion in trading volume, followed by £1.8 billion in January 2015. February, an industry-wide month of low volumes, was completed with £1 billion, standing March’s £4.6 billion as a 360% increase over February’s figures.
Indeed, it must be borne in mind that March was the first month of the firm’s official operations, however it is clear that the company had some degree of valuable order flow in its initial foundation stages, which is testimony to the business acumen of its founders, all of whom are senior industry figures.
First Index selected a specialist platform as CFD and spread betting requires functionality that differs from spot FX, and in attracting a specific type of high net worth client, the company actively looks to onboard senior and mature traders with large portfolios for a long term business relationship.