FX is back: Acuity’s Andrew Lane at FMLS 2022

This year’s Finance Magnates London Summit, FMLS, held at Old Billingsgate on 21-23 November was a landmark event not only for FMLS on its ten-year anniversary.

Ten years ago the FMLS event opened its doors for the first time and in the same year, 2012, Acuity Trading was on the cusp of turning from an idea into reality. Now a decade on, the two fintech powerhouses are no longer fledging start-ups but full blown international players in the trading and brokerage industries.

This year the fintech community descended on the FMLS event to discover and debate issues that have pervaded the industry in 2022 and the trending issues surrounding FX, CFD and Crypto that will shape the markets in 2023 and beyond. This year has seen the collapse of FTX, Bitcoin, and the suspension of MetaQuotes products from the Apple Store; what will the next twelve months have in store?

FinanceFeeds caught up with Andrew Lane, CEO of Acuity Trading to discuss the last ten years and what the next decade may bring for the #fintech industry . . .

Acuity born 10 years ago in Barcelona

Acuity is a market research firm that offers trading ideas, research and news on the financial markets through inspiring visualizations for retail and institutional organizations. Its products conduct a holistic deep analysis of the markets to deliver actionable trade ideas for traders and commercial benefits for brokers.

Andrew Lane told FinanceFeeds Editor-in-Chief how Acuity came about, namely due to his delayed desire to build his own business and an unwillingness to leave Barcelona after departing News Corp’s Dow Jones.

“I had always wanted to break out but was too comfortable”, he said, noting that having kids led him to take the safest bet, but the company then took the decision to change direction and Andrew’s division was dissolved just when he had his second child.

The Mediterranean lifestyle in Barcelona was too good to just pack and leave and return to London in order to get a job. So, Andrew Lane chose to make it work in Spain and “Acuity blossomed from that”.

Ten years later, the firm has 30 people on the payroll and Andrew Lane takes a less hands-on role, empowering people to take the firm in its own direction. What matters is “not where you’re going but the journey along the way” and I want everyone in the company to feel they play a crucial part in shaping that journey.

Acuity releases AnalysisIQ: a mini Bloomberg integrated with MT5 and more

Founded in 2013, Acuity leads the fintech market with alpha generating alternative data and engaging trading tools using the latest in AI research and technology. The team of academics, scientists, news and market professionals aims to bring value to investors of all levels and experience. Delivery options include APIs, MT4/5, plug and play widgets and third party automation services.

“We have two businesses: B2B2C via online brokers and B2B via data feeds for automated hedge funds ”, he continued, adding that at FMLS 2022, Acuity is focused on content for the retail market which includes: trading ideas from Signal Center, news and calendar feeds from Dow Jones combined with Acuity’salternative data feedsthat all plug into our latest product AnalysisIQ – a unique 360* view of all assets.

AnalysisIQ is a key component of its revamped Research Terminal to empower online brokers to harness the power of leading AI technology and a professional trading experience. AnalysisIQ operates as a mini Bloomberg integrated with MT5 and other platforms.

The platform is an extension to recently launched products and can be seamlessly integrated with AssetIQ, formerly known as Signal Stream. According to Acuity, brokers who have integrated AssetIQ are reporting positive returns on investment with increases in user numbers and adoption rates.

Crypto’s tarnished reputation and the shift back to “the FX trader”

Crypto remains a hot topic today despite the ‘crypto winter’, but Andrew Lane sees the digital asset craze as a reincarnation of the DotCom and Binary Options eras. “A certain amount of traders want that thrill”, he said, noting that crypto has gotten much bigger than binary options.

In regard to utility, he referred to a Financial Times article that argues that decentralized platforms have proven to have zero utility. “The idea that crypto tech can be used elsewhere is wrong, the FT opinion says”.

As to the future of crypto, the expectation is that we’re going to see massive regulation entering the space and it is better that way, “to make sure people are not destroyed”. The overwhelming feeling is that “trust is gone” and that, “on a global scale, we’re not going back to what it was before” because common people have been burned. “It’s reputation has been absolutely annihilated.”

That said, Andrew Lane doesn’t consider himself qualified to speak about the future of the digital asset industry, but he expects it to continue on a much smaller scale.

As to the trends in the overall trading space, it is clear that the industry will keep innovating.

Those traders burnt by the crypto winter and the market decline in equity are likely to take a back seat in the short-term. With ongoing market volatility, we’re likely to see an ongoing shift that sees investors become the main focus for trading as they ride out the storm.