London is world renowned as a center for long established FX and CFD companies, many of which develop their own in-house trading platforms which cater toward the British market’s predilection for spread betting and CFD trading.
One of the byproducts of Britain’s somewhat unique trading environment which requires specialist platforms to accomodate CFD trading and spread betting which is treated favorably by British tax laws is that the necessity for such platforms drives technological development.
A firm which dedicates substantial resources to technological development among London’s financial giants is City Index, which has launched what is to our knowledge the first ever Excel based trading platform, XcelTrader.
In order to discuss the finer details of the new platform, LeapRate spoke to Peter Dale, Head of Product Development at City Index, who explained the ethos behind XcelTrader, and its functionality.
“XcelTrader combines the power and usability of Excel with our trading API to enable professional traders to create their own fully customisable platform including live prices, historical data, streaming PnL and custom charts as well as create their own automated trading systems using VBA” explained Mr. Dale.
“Some standard Excel functions are also available for less experienced traders, while VBA can be used to create intricate automated systems” he stated.
City Index’s presence in London spans more than three decades, with the firm having recently been purchased by GAIN Capital for $118 million, subsequent to which GAIN Capital CEO Glenn Stevens explained to LeapRate his enthusiasm for expanding City Index’s experience with CFD trading to an international audience. Thus, the development of new technology to catch the attention of astute traders worldwide is paramount.
“At City Index, we are dedicated to enabling our clients to become better traders” said Mr. Dale. “From our 32 years experience providing trading solutions to retail clients all over the world, we know that no trader is the same so we want to give our clients as much trading flexibility as possible so they can find the right platform for them. With XcelTrader being based on the traditional Excel functionality that many of our clients are already comfortable with, this latest platform technology from our product development team epitomises that aim.”
“We also recognise that client collaboration could also become a key part of XcelTrader’s development. That’s why we have set up a new forum page which enables like-minded XcelTrader users to share sheets, trading systems and provide mentoring and support for each other. Early indications within BETA testing shows that XcelTrader has helped users to more efficiently manage risk and track their trading progress” he explained.
iPhone Widget
Mobile trading has become a very important means of client engagement for most FX firms recently, therefore City Index has developed a further innovation in the form of a new iPhone widget.
Mr. Dale detailed its modus operandi to LeapRate “The recent release of iOS 8 has enabled us to offer real-time trading widgets to both Apple and Android users. City Index widgets allow clients instant access to their account balance and trading positions, meaning they are always only a swipe away from managing their accounts on the move.”
“We will also very shortly be rolling our further updates our widgets which will allow clients to view their positions instantly, meaning they can get in and out of positions on the move quicker than ever before” he said.
“With the markets turning more volatile, it’s imperative we give our clients as much functionality as possible to monitor their account and react to market moves when necessary. That’s why we feel our trading widget integrates so well, as at the same time users may be checking their calendar or weather, they can also keep an eye on their Profit and Loss.”
“As with the original iPhone trading app, City Index is the first major company in our industry to roll out a live trading widget for iPhone and Android users” concluded Mr. Dale.
