What does the rapid shift to home working mean for traders?
CMC Markets looks to offer their clients access to trending & growth industries through expansion of share baskets portfolio

CMC Markets, (www.cmcmarkets.com), one of the world’s leading contracts for difference (CFD) providers, has further expanded its range of share baskets, in response to popular demand from clients.
The rapid shift to home working has accelerated what was already a growth area for technology providers. Collaboration tools have never been more important for both businesses and individuals, and look set to shape the way we all operate in the years ahead. As a result, today the company has launch two new share baskets to track key behavioural changes, harnessing the popularity of Remote Lifestyle and Collaborative Technology investments.
CMC Markets regularly consults with a number of respected industry experts to help better understand what clients will want to trade next. Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager Joe Kunkle is one such contributor, who noted:
“Recent events have accelerated the speed of major thematic shifts such as work-from-home, and discussions from management across the software space are validating the surge in demand for these solutions as every company scrambles to ensure business as usual in the new environment. This includes having an online presence, a collaborative work environment, network security, modernized digital infrastructure and more.”
In recent months, the valuations of many fast growth businesses have soared. Zoom Video is up almost 200%* since early February whilst Peloton has risen by more than 150%* from its lows in March. CMC Markets has seen the popularity of these two stocks increase dramatically, too with both now frequently appeared in the top 30 daily list of the broker’s most traded equity CFDs, compared to having never registered in the top 200 at the start of the year.
Simon Campbell, Group Head of Trading at CMC Markets, commented: “There has been much speculation around how different industries will be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and certainly it will take time to see, however there are some clear obvious innovators. Traders are often the first to identify new opportunities in emerging industries and CMC have seen a large uplift in the volumes for Peloton, Citrix and Zoom Video in recent weeks. As an organisation we pride ourselves on our ability to respond to client demand and as such are excited to be able to allow our clients access to these trending stocks in one trade.”
The Remote Lifestyle basket includes shares in companies such as Amazon, eBay, Dominos Pizza Inc and Peloton Interactive. Constituents in the Collaborative Technology basket range from DocuSign, Slack and Zoom to Microsoft and Apple. Each constituent is given a tiered weighting and in order to efficiently maintain configurations, CMC Markets is working with business information provider IHS Markit, a leading source of independent valuation services for exchange traded products and custom baskets.
A range of 17 share baskets were launched by CMC Markets earlier this year, giving clients the opportunity to gain diversified exposure to an industry with a single trade.
For more information on basket constituents and the index weighting methodology please visit: https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/share-baskets-trading
*- correct as of market close, June 2nd 2020.