JFD Brokers CEO: We Will Focus More on Prime Brokerage

JFD Brokers, a multi-asset broker, has announced a series of changes over the past few months. As Finance Magnates reported, the company recently launched commission-free stock trading conditions for its clients, joining a small group of brokers who offer commission-free trading.

At present this group consists of Trading 212, a London-headquartered brokerage who launched commission free trading in the Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and CFD brokerage space in September 2018 and BUX, a trading application.

Furthermore, the company also revealed that it would be focusing more on its prime brokerage operations. To find out more on the recent changes and what's next, Finance Magnates spoke with Lars Gottwik, the Chief Executive Officer of the company.

Following your recent announcement about zero-commission stock trading, what are the typical spreads for EU and US shares?

As JFD is offering Cash Equities via a SOR (Smart Order Router), best execution and pricing is always available to our clients as all reference exchanges like NYSE, Deutsche Börse, Nasdaq, etc. are included.

Did you change the spreads ahead or after the announcement?

No, we trade via SOR on-exchange.

Do you view this move as a marketing tool to attract new clients and then upsell them to CFDs, or is it part of an effort to onboard more long-term investors?

JFD was from the beginning more than a classic FX Broker. We have been the first broker globally that packaged into an MT4 in total 9 asset classes, as well as a game changer by introducing Post Trade Transparency for all clients. Beyond this, we had since inception a strong Portfolio management division. Since almost 1,5 years we have on the brokerage side a Multi Asset Offering, including Cash Equities. Generally speaking, we see ourselves a full-service provider in finance, spanning execution services, investment solutions, and soon banking. Cash Equities have been and will be a key product and much more than simply an acquisition tool.

With the recent regulatory changes in the European market, has JFD Brokers been successful in retaining clients?

Yes, 2018 has been a record year for us in Europe. We see all regulatory changes very positive. As we never did misleading marketing in terms of Leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders Read this Term (as many others did), our clients are not leverage sensitive. Our volumes did increase in 2018 as our market share did further grow in the EU.

How have the leverage restrictions affected your business model?

No, absolutely not. We believe that nobody really needs leverages beyond 1:40. That’s more than enough for any serious trader.

Can you please tell us more about your recent acquisition of Acon Bank?

JFD is a full-service provider with a 360-degree vision. We are building a financial control center for retail clients from where they can manage banking, trading and investing. That’s why we will shortly rebrand as JFD Bank.

What's next in the pipeline for JFD Brokers?

We will launch within JFD Invest Cash Equities trading strategies, increase significantly our Cash Equities offering, launch a native app in Q3 as well as prepare for offering banking services in 2020. Besides all this we will also become again more active as a Prime Broker, serving B2B clients with a full multi-asset product suite.