Things must be going well at Currensee, which decided to release some operating numbers for the period since it launched about eight months ago.
Some of the numbers include:
$6 billion traded since launch (8 months), or about $750 million per month, although on a run-rate basis that number is probably closer to $1.5 billion per month. $12 million in client assets in the program, with average account size of $25,000 – meaning that on a relative basis Currensee has attracted larger, sophisticated investors that the typical “retail” client.
Interestingly, they did not release any information on client profitability – i.e. did their clients in the Trade Leaders program actually (on average) make money, and if not were their losses less than average in the industry. From recent US firm disclosures we now know that about 75% of clients at Forex firms lose money each quarter (see our Forex Industry Report for more details).
The full Currensee press release can be downloaded here.
Currensee is technically an “IB”, or Introducing Broker, which makes its money from receiving a percentage of volume it channels through to Forex brokers, as well as from earning a percentage of client profits earned through its Trade Leaders program. The Trade Leaders program enables Currensee clients to automatically replicate the trades of leading traders within Currensee’s social network. Thus, unlike with “regular” IBs (which typically earn a fee based on volume or deposits whether their introduced clients profit or lose), Currensee is highly incentivized to make sure its clients make money – Currensee itself will make more if their clients profit. We believe that this is a very welcome model in the Forex world, which has been rife with speculation that “introducers” or even the firms themselves try to profit off of client losses.
Currensee is also one of the few companies serving the Forex sector backed by technology venture capital (VC) firms – its investors include North Bridge Venture Partners, Egan-Managed Capital and Vernon & Park Capital. (For a detailed list of financings and M&A transactions in the Forex sector from 2005 to present see our Forex Industry Report).