TradeStation International, the international arm of TradeStation (a Monex Group, Inc. (TYO:8698) company), is offering access to all the world’s major stockmarkets across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
Created in collaboration with Interactive Brokers, the TradeStation Global platform was launched in 2018 and enables direct market access and execution in FX, Equity, Futures and Options markets. Users are able to fund in multiple currencies and seamlessly trade, monitor and manage positions in over 120 markets, across 26 countries and 22 currencies.
Rustam Lam, CEO of TradeStation International
Here’s what CEO of TradeStation International, Rustam Lam has to say about the TradeStation Global platform, bitcoin futures, and the industry changes after ESMA’s leverage cap:
LR: Hi Rustam and thank you for joining us today. Can you let our readers know a little more about TradeStation International and the people behind it?
Rustam: A pleasure to be here. TradeStation International is based in London and has been serving the online trading community in the UK, across the EEA and beyond since 2005, with the provision of innovative trading software and a US brokerage account with its affiliate company TradeStation Securities Inc. TradeStation International is a wholly owned subsidiary of TradeStation Group, Inc. and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
LR: What has changed since the initial launch of the TradeStation Global platform in 2018?
Rustam: Our early customer focus was in the UK and EEA, however we have seen interest in the platform from further afield than we had originally thought we would – for example we recently added customers in Turkey, Egypt and Russia.
LR: What are the TradeStation Global platform’s benefits? What separates it from the crowd?
Rustam: TradeStation Global is the result of integrating two established and trusted brands. The TradeStation platform and trading technology has won multi- year awards in the US. The advanced trading technology, such as RadarScreen® that scans and alerts you on trading signals, the Matrix that provides easy one click order entry, tracking and adjustment, the 180+ technical and customisable indicators and EasyLanguage® used to create customised trading strategies, has long been used by the active trader community. Interactive Brokers is a publicly quoted agency only broker, providing direct market access execution through a single universal brokerage account, with multi- currency capability, to 120 markets, across 31 countries and 23 currencies. So this is a combination that brings considerable opportunity, power and control to active traders.
LR: Tell us about TradeStation International’s futures offering. Do you provide access to Bitcoin futures (TradeStation Group gave access to Cboe’s bitcoin Futures back in 2017)?
Rustam: You are correct, TradeStation Group was an early enabler of trading access to bitcoin futures on US exchanges. With TradeStation Global you can trade the US and major international futures markets, including interest rate, equity, index, currency, energy and bitcoin (on CBOE and CME) products.
LR: From your perspective, what will the demand for bitcoin futures be in 2019?
Rustam: My personal view is well regulated, structured and transparent bitcoin markets, including futures, will continue to evolve and mature and provide opportunities for segments of the trading community.
LR: There have been a lot of changes in the Retail FX broker space, driven both by regulation (like ESMA’s leverage cap) and increasing competition. From your unique perspective, what changes do you envision for the industry in the coming months?
Rustam: My sense is traders will gravitate to brokers and platforms that provide sensible levels of leverage and importantly the tools to effectively take and manage trading risk. Larger and well capitalised brokers are likely to benefit from customers increasing seeking greater security of funds, a strong capital base and robust risk controls.
LR: What is your clients’ feedback for price, product quality, customer service?
Rustam: What I like is our customers continually challenge us to deliver products and services that meet their exacting trading objectives. One of the drivers behind TradeStation Global was customer demand to apply TradeStation technology, evolved over the years, to power their trading in international markets beyond the US. We believe the integrated combination of TradeStation platform and Interactive Brokers account, providing direct market access to 120 markets, across 31 countries and 23 currencies with TradeStation Global is competitively priced. We are focused on ensuring the support experience plays a central and positive role for customers, including the provision of education, getting started and desktop customisation sessions.
LR: What can we expect to see from TradeStation International by the end of the calendar year?
Rustam: Our aim is to continue to support and help traders meet their trading objectives – to that end we will continue to evolve the TradeStation Global platform and service.