LeapRate Exclusive… Matt Porter, ATFX (UK) Head of Operations – Institutional Desk, joins LeapRate today to discuss the recent launch of the company’s new institutional desk offering ATFX Connect.
During his career, Matt Porter has also been employed at Morgan Stanley and Nat West/Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). From these roles, he has gathered solid experience within the FX space.
LR: Hi Matt and thank you for joining LeapRate today. First of all, congratulations on the recent launch of your new institutional desk offering ATFX Connect. Can you tell us more about this platform?
Matt: As an innovative and rapidly growing fintech company, we are proud of our new offering that is exclusively tailored for institutional clients. The platform allows us to deliver bespoke liquidity to both High Net Worth clients as well as other brokers, fund managers, asset managers, and proprietary vehicles. We are offering a multi-platform service which can deliver a competitive price via a fixed API, a desktop GUI, or even a mobile app depending on the client’s requirements.
The platform uses low latency connections which coupled with our bespoke liquidity matching solution, ensures that clients enjoy a seamless trading experience. The clients will also find our platform to be highly accessible, very intuitive, and available for early trading hours in Sydney.
LR: What institutional service does ATFX Connect offer?
Matt: As well as the above, we will be able to offer flexibility to our clients, and not to mention the exemplary customer service that our company has been globally recognised for. We provide our clients with a dedicated account manager who is guaranteed to be with them through the entirety of their trading experience. Furthermore, our clients will be able to manage their own risk via our client portal. We offer liquidity from 20+ Liquidity Providers including tier one banks and non-bank providers. We are going to launch a CFD package which will allow our clients to pass on the CFD pricing to their clients via an exchange data solution, that is only available to a handful of brokers.
LR: What does the next generation of execution services look like?
Matt: For me, technology and flexibility will be the features of the next generation of execution services. As a growing fintech company, we have invested heavily in our IT infrastructure, and have taken our time to select partners who will allow us to offer our clients flexibility paired with a bespoke value-added service. By working closely with clients and liquidity providers, we believe that we are able to match them according to trading styles, locations and time zones. As mentioned previously, we are introducing CFDs very shortly and we will continue to listen to our clients and match their needs.
LR: If everyone can access the same data, where do firms find their edge?
Matt: Where the margins are so fine, you need to then look at what other value as an Institutional Broker you can offer. We look to our globally recognised customer service, our industry-leading technology and our flexibility when working with our clients. We have an experienced team of operatives here in the UK, we have taken our time to select and develop our technology to ensure that it not only meets our client’s requirements but is able to evolve and continue to add value for many years to come.
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 and how will markets react to ASIC’s binaries ban and CFDs restriction?
Matt: There will be a consolidation of brokers, the brokers that are providing excellent client services, with add-ons, like education, webinars, a variety of products, and a more personal value-added service to their clients, will survive and grow. It was just a matter of time until ASIC made their recent proposals, particularly as there was an influx of clients from EU to Australia who were encouraged to trade via Australian firms to ensure they maintained the higher leverage available. I think you will also see an increased number of institutional brokers, targetting clients who can enjoy the benefits that are attached to greater leverage.
LR: What can we expect to see from AT Global Markets (UK) Ltd and ATFX going forward?
Matt: The company will be launching its own retail platform which aims to enhance the user experience as well as increasing the product range and price. We will also offer the MT5 platform on the retail side of the business. We are investing a lot in our technology and infrastructure and one of our many projects is developing our own aggregator and bridge. Our institutional business, ATFX Connect can also offer a prime broker solution for clients if they require it. The group is also ready to expand further at a global level, and will continue to increase its market share in the jurisdictions it has become established in – the EU, UK, ME, and Latin American regions.
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