WATCH: AMarkets’ Alexander Melkumyants on mobile trading, FX regulation

As one of iFX EXPO Dubai’s media partners, FinanceFeeds had interviewed an incredible lineup of industry leaders to get updated on the latest developments in the industry and also had face-to-face talks with the major brokers’ representatives. 

As part of our coverage, we caught up with Alexander Melkumyants, Head of Partnerships at Amarkets Ltd. 

Asked about his impressions of the event, Alexander said that with this massive interest from retail and corporate traders, his company managed to cope with multiple partnership offers, questions, and requests. Moreover, he apparently found time to give a couple of interviews.

Speaking of the products, Melkumyants said their unique offerings had made the AMarkets booth a show-stopper. Their recent cryptocurrency offering has also got its share of public attention, and for a reason!

“Actually, I was impressed as we didn’t expect that so many people would come to see us here at this expo, including different service providers, partners, and potential clients. Also, they wanted to learn more about the factual situation with cryptocurrencies and other assets. We were glad to be presented here this year. And in my opinion, the prospects of these expos are very high, so we expect to acquire new clients and partners who will join us soon.”

 The AMarkets’ expo slogan, “15 years of trust,” prompted us to ask Mr Melkumyants about his company’s history and what it exactly offers.

Stepping into the 15th year in business, Alexander highlighted that AMarkets has been providing brokerage services since 2007. The brokerage firm focuses on offering high-quality services and comprehensive support to its clients and partners. He also notes that the company’s experts take an active part in various industry conferences and events, discussing trends and prospects of financial markets.

“Actually, we have made significant progress in this direction. About 40% of our clients, if we’re talking about the long term, are successful traders. In my opinion, it’s a win-win situation and an amazing result.”

Alexander also shared his insights about the mobile trading apps that have recently seen a surge in activity. He believes that the pandemic was a contributing factor, as it keeps more people at home. That’s why these models have gained traction. The turbulent financial markets also caused more people to see opportunities. 

Alexander further explains that brokers can use their mobile apps to reach new customers as growing financial literacy is boosting retail engagement.

Developing a convenient mobile app for Android and iOS was also one of AMarkets’ top priorities in 2022. Thanks to recent upgrades, their traders can efficiently perform trading transactions, verify accounts, deposit and withdraw funds, get in-depth market analysis and up-to-date company news using a smartphone.

“We recently launched our own mobile application. It provides our clients not only with the opportunity to trade or to invest their money, but also they have access to different services focused on improving their results in the financial markets. Mobile trading is becoming a huge trend, and we want to follow it for sure.”

AMarkets has recently expanded its cryptocurrency contracts-for-difference (CFDs) offering with the addition of three new Crypto FX pairs to the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms.

Alexander says the company has the aspiration to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and traditional asset classes, boasting features including leverage, advanced order types, and charting tools. He also believes that it’s getting harder to imagine a future without cryptocurrencies.

“As you can see, the demand for cryptocurrencies is growing extremely fast. For sure, we want to follow this trend and provide our clients with more opportunities. That’s why recently decreased commission on cryptocurrency trades and extended the range of pairs, so there are currently 15 cryptocurrencies available for trading. And the most important step, in my opinion, was to allow our clients to trade around the clock, including on the weekends.”

Thus far, the common conclusion among Europe’s regulated forex brokers was ‎that ESMA’s restriction on CFDs trading has set up an anti-competitive environment as the current leverage ‎is an arbitrary, low number. And despite its stated aim to protect individual investors from losing money, some brokers say that the restricted  leverage increases the traders’ risks because they need to deposit more capital upfront that they could potentially lose.

Reflecting on these trends, Alexander opted to focus on how leverage is often viewed as the key to trading success. It can really “up the stakes.” And while leverage should always be used with caution, he notes, it’s a tool many traders use in order to increase returns. He also reminds traders, whether they are a newbie or pro, that all forms of trading require careful risk management.

“That’s why we just provide them the opportunity to use the leverage ratio they need. But we don’t force them to use all the possibilities that we have. It’s up to them to use the max or not.”

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where AMarkets is regulated, is a jurisdiction that comes to mind when somebody talks about FX regulation. There is a growing trend where a number of FX platforms are being established there.

Further elaborating on their regulatory profile, Alexander explained that AMarkets is a member of The Financial Commission, which settles disputes between financial market participants, and provides protection for each client with up to €20 000 per case. AMarkets’ execution quality is also confirmed by Verify My Trade (VMT) and complies with best execution standards. The assessment depends on a post-trade solution that has developed capabilities to accurately measure the execution quality of positions across the retail FX market.

“You know, sometimes brokers claim that their trading conditions are excellent, but they have no evidence. So auditing our execution quality means a lot for our clients and for us. When our clients and partners ask why they should choose us? I answer, just test us, and you will see everything with your own eyes. It is obvious and you will feel the difference.”

Finally, Alexander spoke about their recently-upgraded affiliate program, which allows partners to leverage the capabilities of a world leading forex broker to give their clients the performance they demand. He also highlights how their trading conditions make for more profitable traders and induce volume from partners’ referrals in a win-win business model. Clients win from better trading conditions, affiliates and AMarkets win from happier clients producing more trading volume.

To fit with their partners and add extra value, Alexander says AMarkets has two partnership models that were born from the realization that the FX market is highly saturated. The first is the CPA, or cost per action, which allows partners to earn generous, fixed remuneration for every qualified client they refer to AMarkets. Within the frameworks of this program, they can receive affiliate commissions for qualified registrations – up to 20 USD and for activated accounts – up to 500 USD depending on a client’s Net Deposit. 

The second model is called “Agent” it is based on the revenue share method, which ensures stable commission based on referred clients’ trading volume but doesn’t depend on trading results.

“It’s safe to say that both offers work appropriately and bring us target partners who are referring clients to our company. We pay high commissions to our partners because we can afford it. We are not interested in a fly-by-night business. Any partner can find the best solution he is looking for because we simply have over ten years of expertise running affiliate programs.”