Retail Forex broker Oanda has announced a change in its top management suite.
Vatsa Narasimha, Oanda
Oanda has appointed Vatsa Narasimha, CFO of the company for the past 3 years, as its new CEO.
And out as CEO is Ed Eger, who had joined Oanda in 2013 from PayPal, where he was SVP and General Manager for the Americas. At Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), Eger oversaw dramatic growth in the company’s customer base as well as in revenues while he opened new markets. Previously, he was the CEO of Citibank’s multi-billion dollar international consumer credit card business, spanning over 50 countries.
But apparently Mr. Eger was not as successful at Oanda. Oanda’s key UK arm has been fairly stagnant. And the company has seen some high level management departures lately, such as Head of China Gavin Ward (now at AxiTrader), and CMO Drew Izzo.
In August Brian Myers resigned as VP Sales of OANDA Europe to join London-based rival GKFX.
Ed Eger
We understand that Oanda had brought in Mr. Eger with the hopes of growing the company toward an IPO, to help better compete with rivals FXCM Inc (NASDAQ:FXCM) and Gain Capital Holdings Inc (NYSE:GCAP), but that never got off the ground with Eger at the helm.
In a statement on the management switch, Kittu Kolluri, Chairman of Oanda said,
I would first like to thank Ed for his tremendous leadership at OANDA. As CEO, Ed took a technology-driven approach to growing our services, increasing our market share, establishing record revenue and client growth, and taking customer and employee satisfaction to all-time highs. On behalf of the Board and our group of talented employees, we thank him for shaping OANDA into the business it is today.
Working closely with Ed over the last three years, Vatsa has been fundamental to OANDA’s growth. He brings strong financial management, sharp operational insights, and a global perspective. Under Vatsa we will carry on building scale and excellence. The Board is confident he will continue to deliver greater employee, customer and shareholder value.
Mr. Eger commented:
It’s been an honor to lead OANDA. We have accomplished a great many things around the globe, diversifying the business and firmly establishing OANDA as the technology platform of choice for organizations’ and consumers’ foreign exchange and trading needs. It’s been a pleasure working closely with Vatsa and the team to achieve the growth we have over the last three years. I look forward to watching him build on these successes.
Prior to joining Oanda as CFO in 2013, Vatsa Narasimha was a Principal of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). While at BCG, he led a number of financial institutions through growth strategies, corporate development and a variety of operational transformations.
Mr. Narasimha commented:
I’m thankful to Ed for his leadership over the last three years and proud of what we have been able to accomplish. As CEO, I will continue to expand OANDA’s trading, data, and cross-border payments businesses, retaining the steadfast OANDA commitment to exceptional technology and customer service.