Natallia Hunik explains the brand new prime of prime suite from Fortex. Live from iFXEXPO in Hong Kong

Prime brokerages and technology providers are looking to the New Year that lies ahead by refining their products considerably.

This week at the iFXEXPO Asia 2016 in Hong Kong, jointly hosted by ConversionPros and Finance Magnates, Natallia Hunik, Global Head of Sales at Advanced Markets & Fortex, met with Andrew Saks-McLeod to discuss what is in store for the year ahead.

“There are a couple of important areas that I would like to focus on where Fortex is concerned” said Ms. Hunik, “one of which is the extensive development work that we completed in 2015. We have employed significant resources towards refining our product solutions for our Chinese clients and have been preparing for this event for quite some time.”

She continued “The second important development is that the Company launched a major product called xForce Prime of Prime Suite.”

“We at Fortex have yet to make the official announcement on this, however we launched this suite to address, what we see as, a current gap in the market where many brokers are looking to become liquidity providers and to distribute their liquidity to their partners as they grow their business. But the solutions currently on offer are either too costly and high-end, requiring a Tier 1 Prime Brokerage account, or at the low-end of the spectrum, not scalable, poorly performing and built around MT4.” explained Ms. Hunik.

“The new product is designed to fill this void, by facilitating liquidity aggregation. It utilizes the following components; the Fortex xBook ECN solution, premium hosting at the Equinix NY4 and HK3 data centers, the Fortex 5 institutional trading platform (for omnibus account management), sophisticated risk-management tools, FIX API access for partners and the Fortex OMX MT4 liquidity bridge. The suite also incorporates a middle and back office solution. ” she explained.

“Using this platform, brokers can issue omnibus accounts to their white label partners. They can also extend FIX API access to their partners.”

“This solution is for any broker that wants to become a liquidity provider in their own right and elevate their business to the next level by onboarding funds, white label partners, and professional traders.”

“This package was created to address the demand from brokers looking to grow their businesses. A MetaTrader 4 platform, with a few plugins, doesn’t really allow the ability to offer a real white label solution. ” – Natallia Hunik, Global Head of Sales, Advanced Markets & Fortex.

Ms. Hunik explained “There are similar products in the market, however the main differentiator is that we are able to offer our own proprietary platform, featuring real-time quotes, real-time reporting and real-time liquidity management allowing brokers to manage their partners’ corporate accounts effectively.”

In conclusion, Ms. Hunik explained “There are very few brokers in this market that have access to Tier 1 prime brokerage services, mainly because of the credit tightening that ensued following the Swiss National Bank’s removal of their 1.20 floor on EURJPY early last year. The Fortex/Advanced Markets product suite offers the best of both worlds, access to Tier 1 prime brokerage with Tier 1 liquidity and cutting-edge technology. As a result, many companies no longer need to live with the large fees associated with institutional platforms such as Currenex.”

As far as doing business in Asia is concerned, Ms. Hunik has a great deal of experience, having established two offices for two different firms in Shanghai during her career.

“The market is very vibrant in China” she said. Brokers who have been in the market for 5 years or so, and have reached their plateau, are looking to elevate themselves to the next level. Business here is very MT4 centric so, until now, there has been no real product solution that allows them to create real white label solutions and onboard broker partners.”

Photograph: Natallia Hunik hosts institutional partners at the iFXEXPO in Hong Kong. Copyright Andrew Saks-McLeod