LeapRate Exclusive… LeapRate has learned that longtime ETX Capital executive Joe Rundle has joined FCA regulated online broker ThinkMarkets as its new Director of Trading.
LeapRate had exclusively reported that Rundle had left ETX back in July after being with the firm for more than 12 years, in search of a new challenge – and the opportunity to eventually move up the management ladder at a top broker, which just wasn’t in the cards at ETX.
We then reported in mid August that, after a brief garden leave, Rundle had joined retail forex broker GKFX as its new Managing Director, replacing former Alpari executive Jacob Plattner in the role.
Well it turns out that Rundle never formally took up his position at GKFX, deciding to make the switch to ThinkMarkets, which we had exclusively reported rebranded from ThinkForex at the beginning of the summer.
We had the opportunity to speak with Joe, and get some more background on his decision as well as more insight into his new role at ThinkMarkets.
LR: Hi Joe. Busy summer, I take it. Can you let our readers know about the decisions you took these past few months, which eventually led you to ThinkMarkets.
Joe: Thanks, but in truth I spent a good part of the summer vacationing with family after leaving ETX, the first time I’ve been able to do that in more than a decade.
The truth is, one of the key reasons I left ETX was to look for a new challenge and be able to really build something from scratch – what I had done in the early days at ETX. GKFX is a great company and does a lot of business, but it turns out that it just wasn’t the right opportunity for me. I just did not think I would have been able to truly make my mark there.
I think I enjoy much more being in a smaller company and helping it grow, which I now have the chance to do at ThinkMarkets.
ThinkMarkets has an excellent base as an ASIC-licensed company and a leading Australian forex and CFDs broker, and now with its FCA license and rebrand – as well as its own proprietary trading platform ThinkTrader – we have the opportunity to make a big splash in the UK and beyond.
LR: What are the things you’ll be focusing on at ThinkMarkets?
Joe: What I’m really looking forward to is the chance to build a new trading floor from the ground up, working in a much more Fintech environment.
Until now ThinkMarkets has had diversified offices world-wide, it has now reached the right time to build out the London hub.
LR: We know that you’re still new to ThinkMarkets. But in a very crowded FCA regulated UK brokerage market, how do you see ThinkMarkets differentiating itself?
Joe: I truly believe that ThinkMarkets are in a unique place to be be able to offer their own platform that has been built out of the successes of their MetaTrader product.
In the fast paced changing Forex market, firms that can move dynamically and have best-of-breed architecture will be able to offer the best customer experience. Coupled with the investment and commitment to London as a financial hub, we will be able to make ThinkMarkets an industry leading dynamic company.