Online trading services provider easyMarkets has been going from strength to strength under the leadership of CEO Nikos Antoniades. After nearly two years at the helm, Nikos reflects on the highlights of his tenure, the diversity of his staff team and the importance of being happy at work.

1. How long have you been CEO of easyMarkets and how has the company developed under your leadership?

I stepped into the role of CEO in June 2014. A lot has gone on in that time. We developed and launched our new website, blog and trading platform. We also enhanced the number of markets our clients can trade and upgraded our brand from easy-forex to easyMarkets to reflect that.

On an operational level we’ve moved towards a greater focus on Business Intelligence and automation. We reorganised our client-facing teams into three categories – globally based call centre staff that provide first point of contact with the client; client relationship managers that train and support our traders; and VIP relationship managers that provide a highly individualised level of service.

From a marketing perspective we refocused on more direct acquisition via online channels through to a comprehensive content management strategy to provide high-quality content.

We also restructured our partner programme and are soon launching our new forexAffiliate site for introducing brokers and online affiliates. We’ve become more competitive with our compensation packages and offer more tools and widgets for the partners to promote us.

2. What were your aims and ambitions when you took over as CEO for the company? Have you achieved them yet?

Every CEO comes into a company knowing they can bring certain values and standards with them. I’m a numbers guy and I need supporting data to make decisions, whether they impact on the business today or in 3 years’ time. And each company needs different approaches depending on where they are in their life-cycle. My aims are to solidify our foundations, streamline our operations, be more data driven and introduce automation so we can better focus our energies on delivering what traders need.

So far I’m satisfied with our progress. The foundations for a lot of the above have been laid and we’re already beginning to see the fruits of our labours across all our key operational metrics.

3. One of the first things many people notice about the easyMarkets team is its diversity. What do you think that having so many nations represented in the staff team brings to the company? How do you celebrate the team’s diversity within the office environment?

Our clients are based in over 160 countries around the world. We need the talent and skills in our employees to reach, engage and retain those clients. It makes for a vibrant and diverse office environment and personally I love it. I love the unique perspectives brought to the table and I particularly enjoy the many celebrations we have – including celebrating the Chinese Moon Festival, the Polish national day and our Brits this year celebrated Pancake Day. Recently we celebrated carnival which kicked off with a BBQ at work and was followed by a week of dressing up in costumes. Most of the celebrations are around food – who can complain?

4. What are the most important values in the modern workplace and why?

Be happy to come to work. Try to provide a satisfying work environment where innovation and initiative are encouraged and where no one is afraid to make a mistake – cos that’s usually when we learn the most.

5. How do you feel that the world of investment is changing – does each new generation of traders expect more than the last?

There’s a lot more knowledge about the industry than before. Traders are demanding better technology, responsive mobile friendly platforms and a wider product offering. They’re also more educated about regulations and their rights – which is a good thing in my view.

6. easyMarkets has recently rolled out a great new brand identity. What’s next for the company?

We’ve rolled out a lot of new products and features recently and we’ll be looking to optimise them. We want to provide the best risk management platform for our clients so more safety features for when they trade are on the way. We’re developing a new trading app that will enable us to engage even more with our clients. And we’re investigating the introduction of individual stock trading – that’s a really exciting new project but quite a few months away yet.

For further details visit www.easymarkets.com, email pr@easymarkets.com or call +44 203 1500 748.

Risk warning: Forward Rate Agreements, Options and CFDs (OTC Trading) are leveraged products that carry a substantial risk of loss up to your invested capital and may not be suitable for everyone. Please ensure that you understand fully the risks involved and do not invest money you cannot afford to lose. Our group of companies through its subsidiaries is licensed by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (Easy Forex Trading Ltd- CySEC, License Number 079/07), which has been passported in the European Union through the MiFID Directive and in Australia by ASIC (Easy Markets Pty Ltd -AFS license No. 246566).

• Global real estate reaches value of $217 trillion (Savills)
• Brexit debate impacts doubly on overseas property investment (easyMarkets)
• Sterling down 20% against its high of 1.7159 in July 2014

With the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU now looming, the financial impact of the uncertainty is already being felt. From the value of the pound to the state of the stock market, the Brexit debate is posing challenges for the UK.

One area with the potential to suffer particularly from the uncertainty of the Brexit question is overseas property investment. Nikolas Xenofontos, Director of Risk Management at leading online trading services provider easyMarkets, observes,

“Overseas property investment is likely to suffer doubly as a result of the discussions around Britain’s EU membership. The decreased value of the pound means that buyers can get less for their money, meaning some will hold off from an overseas property purchase until sterling recovers. Meanwhile others will pause until the outcome of the referendum is known. Buying a holiday home in Europe that you plan to retire to one day doesn’t have quite the same appeal when you don’t know whether you’ll still have the freedom to move to that country when the time to collect your pension comes.”

The referendum has already hurt sterling, with the pound falling to a seven-year low against the US dollar on 21 February. In fact, the pound lost 1% against all 16 of its major trading peers, while the pound-to-dollar exchange rate reduced by more than 5% in the first two months of 2016 and is down a massive 20% since its high of 1.7159 in July 2014.

Should Britain actually leave the EU, Swiss bank UBS has projected that the move might drive the pound down to parity with the euro. This would have a major impact on the number of Brits buying property overseas, with many opting to wait until the pound recovers, which few analysts are predicting would happen anytime soon.

One approach to overcoming the lingering uncertainty is to hedge against undesirable movements in exchange rates by using options. easyMarket’s Nikolas explains,

“Say you’ve arranged to buy an apartment in Spain that costs €100,000 and you agreed to pay for it in 4 weeks’ time, using your savings of £78,600. This means that you need the EUR/GBP exchange rate to be below 0.7860 in order to insure the full €100,000 for the purchase. If for example the exchange rate rises to 0.9000 in 4 weeks, your £78,600 will be worth only €87,000.

“By purchasing a ‘call option’ with a four-week duration and strike rate of 0.7860 you can ensure that if the EUR/GBP exchange rate in four weeks is above 0.7860, you will be able to cover the deficit with the profit made on the call option. In case the exchange rate after four weeks is lower than 0.7860, and hence the current market rate is better for you, you will let your call option expire without exercising it as your savings will be enough to cover the property cost in euros. You will only lose the small premium you paid for the option/hedge but profit from a better exchange rate.”

Of course the global property market is about much more than just UK buyers. According to Savills, residential real estate around the world has a value of $162 trillion, including $54 trillion of investable real estate and $108 trillion of non-investable. The firm calculated that global property value in 2015 amounted to 2.7 times global GDP, observing in its Around the World in Dollars and Cents report that property accounted for around 60% of all mainstream global assets.

While a Brexit would not impact massively on such large scale figures, the local impact on the overseas property market – particularly in popular locations such as Spain and France – would certainly be felt. Indeed, the ongoing Brexit debate means that the market is already facing a great deal more uncertainty than it was just a few short weeks ago.

For further details visit www.easymarkets.com, email pr@easymarkets.com or call +44 203 1500 748

Risk warning: Forward Rate Agreements, Options and CFDs (OTC Trading) are leveraged products that carry a substantial risk of loss up to your invested capital and may not be suitable for everyone. Please ensure that you understand fully the risks involved and do not invest money you cannot afford to lose. Our group of companies through its subsidiaries is licensed by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (Easy Forex Trading Ltd- CySEC, License Number 079/07), which has been passported in the European Union through the MiFID Directive and in Australia by ASIC (Easy Markets Pty Ltd -AFS license No. 246566).

• Last Golden Week saw China’s gold imports hit 10 month high (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Dept)
• Yuan-denominated gold fix could lead to long-term price rally
• 2016 could be the year for gold market bulls (easyMarkets)

From 9-13 February, the Spring Festival Golden Week will see hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens down tools and enjoy a week’s well-earned holiday, following Chinese New Year on 8 February. To welcome in the year of the monkey, families will enjoy firework displays, feasting and the exchange of gifts.

The economic impact of giving around 770 million people a week off work is staggering. The surge in travel and tourism bookings made by Chinese citizens is rivalled only by that which occurs during the country’s National Day Golden Week, which takes place from 2-7 October. There’s also a sharp rise in the purchase of food, decorations, clothing and gifts.

Gold is one item that benefitted from 2015’s October Golden Week, with net imports from Hong Kong (the main conduit) reaching a ten month high during September, at 97.242 tonnes according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.

China’s relationship with gold and its impact on the price of gold is a complex one. Nikolas Xenofontos, Director of Risk Management at leading online trading services provider easyMarkets, explains,

“China’s Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) is the world’s fourth largest for global gold transactions, trading around 75 tonnes per day but the country’s pricing power has struggled to compete with the older institutions of London and New York. The SGE is aiming to change that through the yuan-denominated gold index, which could mark 2016 out as the year for gold market bulls.”

The volatility of Chinese markets has also impacted on the price and popularity of gold over the past year and is likely to continue to do so during 2016. Safe-haven buying demand is a powerful influencer and many analysts are excited about gold’s prospects for the next 12 months.

Of course, demand for gold is about far more than just China. The fall of the other BRIC economies, the global commodities rout and (most recently) the Federal Reserve’s actual and planned incremental interest rate increases have all played their part in gold’s decline from its heady all time high of $1,920 per ounce in September 2011.

Despite so many negative factors, 2016 could mark a turning point for gold. While it remains to be seen whether the current rally is just a short term one, or the start of a longer term trend, it is a rally nonetheless, and investors and analysts are watching gold carefully as Golden Week approaches. 2016 could just be the year that gold begins to shine once more.

For further details visit www.easymarkets.com, email pr@easymarkets.com or call +44 203 1500 748.

Risk Warning: Forward Rate Agreements, Options and CFDs (OTC Trading) are leveraged products that carry a substantial risk of loss up to your invested capital and may not be suitable for everyone. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved and do not invest money you cannot afford to lose. Please refer to our full risk disclaimer. EF Worldwide Ltd