eToro gains new Managing Director in UK

Online social trading and investment network eToro has today appointed former Skrill US Vice President Joe Hall as Managing Director of its UK division.

Mr. Hall joins the company after five years at Skrill (formermly Moneybookers) where progressed from Head of Corporate Account Management on the company’s Leisure and Entertainment side after joining in January 2011 to become VP of Skrill’s US division, his tenure beginning in London, Berlin and Sofia, and extending to New York and Atlanta.

Before joining Skrill, Mr. Hall was Chief Business Development Officer at Initial Rewards for three and a half years, and has had a series of publications taken to print which focus on payment processing and gaming sites.

In December last year, FinanceFeeds met with Lance Liu of Ping An Ventures, one of the investors that had extended further funding to eToro, who explianed why the Chinese investor had joined existing investors which include Russian financial institution Sperbank, a transaction which sparked speculation that eToro had its eyes on China.

FinanceFeeds asked Mr. Liu what the rationale was for such an investment on eToro, to which he replied “Our core business is investment in financial services firms, and there are many good business models overseas with good technology which China does not yet have. We have a large market to serve so we have a remit to invest in new technology and foreign business model and bring it into China.”

“eToro’s collaboration with us is on two fronts” said Mr. Liu. “One is a cooperation on the social investment side, whilst we also invested in the fintech side of their business.”