iFX EXPO International 2022: What is a Prime of Prime?
We explore established Prime of Primes with qualified and accessible liquidity.
The iFX EXPO International 2022 took place earlier this month in Limassol, Cyprus where more than 40,000 participants networked and discussed their businesses with industry peers. Amongst these were the Australian headquartered prime brokerage, Invast Global.
Finance Feeds Editor-in-Chief, Nikolai Isayev had the opportunity to sit down with Riana Chaili (recently promoted to CEO, EMEA), Lochlan White (recently promoted to Chief Commercial Officer, EMEA) and James Alexander (Chief Commercial Officer, Australia) to learn more about Invast Global and hear their thoughts on the current FX environment.
Invast Global doubles down on EMEA region
Invast Global have recently doubled down their EMEA presence, headed by FX industry expert, Chaili. Her appointment in a male-dominated industry made waves for all the right reasons. “For Invast Global, it’s a huge step forward,” said Alexander, who has known Chaili for years and has been consistently impressed by her. He believes this sets an example for the industry as diversity becomes an inevitable topic going forward. “I don’t know about diversity. What I feel is that I’m the right person for the right role. If I happen to be a woman, why not? That’s a plus”, Chaili added.
Commenting on the EMEA region, Chaili stated that Invast Global had been servicing clients in the region for many years through Asia and Australia, “So it made sense to expand our support. It’s great for clients, as most of us are locals, we break down the language barrier,” she explains.
Invast Global is making waves in the European and Middle East brokerage space with a high-quality offering that includes best execution, with real time analysis for brokers and Negative Balance Protection, which has seen a massive uptick of interest from clients.
Lochlan White revealed that in the second half of this year, Invast plans to launch a highly resilient trading solution which aims to address the ever increasing desire for faster quote delvery amongst retail brokers. The drive for innovation within Invast is apparent as they look to expand their offering across product and support lines, while upgrading their trading technology.
Invast brings reliable DMA access to Tier 1 banks and credit
Finance Feeds addressed the elephant in the room, cryptocurrencies, which have no place at Invast Global, yet. Alexander adds, “Crypto will evolve in coming years as regulations catch up, but how do you regulate what is decentralized? And when regulators continue to implement and evolve their frameworks, then what is left from the decentralized world?
In the EMEA region, Chaili observed there has been a real shift within the FX and CFD brokerage industry in Cyprus with trust levels at a historic low. It would seem the Invast Global presence in Cyprus has been well timed. The prime broker is positioned to enter the vacuum that the gap in trust has created by offering reliable DMA access to Tier 1 banks and credit. As risk has become a key concern for clients, their highly regarded solution, tight spreads and competitive pricing are attracting attention.
On real-time analysis from a best execution standpoint, White also called upon all brokers to have their systems set up. “Every single broker should do this sort of analysis, even if it’s not required by regulators, not just to look after their clients, but to ensure they’re not being gamed by Liquidity Providers.”
“There have been developments from data analytics firms on best execution, including dollar cost per million of slippage, fill rates, rejections rates, execution duration….metrics that are very important for retail brokers to hold LPs accountable”, he continued, adding that there is a very big difference between the spread that is shown on screen and the effective spread.
As the interview wrapped up, Alexander added his thoughts,“Brokers should assess their suppliers and the performance of their own customers,” he continued. “It’s a regulatory requirement under ESMA, but beyond regulation we should all be trying to achieve our best possible outcomes for our clients and investors:”
Some solid takeaways from an experienced and well established team.
