Q&A Sessions with Mario Singh, CEO of retail FX brokerage Fullerton Markets
Mario Singh, CEO of retail FX brokerage Fullerton Markets, sits down for a Q&A session to discuss his personal journey into the industry and his views on where the industry is headed.
Welcome to an exciting and cutting edge new series on FinanceFeeds. “Industry Influencers” takes a look at the entrepreneurs and companies which are making great steps in the FX and electronic trading industry in terms of innovation, creativity and leadership.
In the first part, FinanceFeeds sits down with the CEOs of this industry to find out more about them, how they got where they are today and what their thoughts are on the way that this business will move forward.
Full name: Mario Singh
Company: Fullerton Markets
Time with company: One year
Years in the industry: 10 years
City of residence: Singapore
Tell us a little about yourself
I’m the CEO of Fullerton Markets, Asia Pacific’s fastest growing brokerage firm. Personally, I have been trading the Forex market for the last 10 years and I’ve had the privilege to train over 20,000 retail traders and investors all over the world. I’ve also written 2 best-selling books which are available in 4 languages:
- 17 Proven Currency Trading Strategies
- Unlocking the World’s Largest Financial Secret
My work has been endorsed by billion dollar fund managers like Dr Mark Mobius from Templeton Emerging Markets Group and Dr David Kotok from Cumberland Advisors.
What was your journey like to get to where you are today?
Challenging. When I first started teaching Forex education, many people thought it was a scam. Most retail investors had heard of equities but trading Forex was almost unheard of. Thankfully, as more and more people understood its importance and its rightful position in the financial world, my work became easier. It also helped my cause when I was featured regularly on financial media like CNBC and Bloomberg.
What are some of the things you enjoy outside of work?
I’m married with 2 wonderful kids Chantelle and Elliot. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with the family. I used to love playing snooker but as age starts to get the better of me, I’ve switched to pool because of the smaller table and bigger pockets. I also enjoy a good book when I have some “me time.”
One word that describes you?
Passion.
What was your biggest challenge to date that you’ve had to overcome?
Self-doubt. It’s always easy to get things done when momentum is flowing. However, when things don’t go your way or things take a turn for the worse, you almost always have to look inside and conquer your own fears and limiting beliefs.
What are your thoughts on where the industry is heading?
Technology is always evolving. What may seem as cutting-edge today may become obsolete tomorrow. Hence, we always strive to push the boundaries of innovation. Technology plays a big part in our Fullerton Markets. For example, we invest heavily on infrastructure and servers which allow us to connect directly to data centres in London, the world’s largest financial centre. This direct connectivity allows us to drop execution speeds from “acceptable” industry levels of about 400 milliseconds to 200 milliseconds.
Additionally, with the Fintech explosion, many firms are frantically trying to come up with their own proprietary platform to try and differentiate from the rest. While commendable, this should not be the only focus. Having a proprietary platform does not guarantee client retention nor the tag of being a world shaker. Other factors like management competence, product innovation, client experience, infrastructure and marketing are equally important.
