OANDA, a global online multi-asset trading services firm headquartered in the US, has announced the appointment of Michael Aagaard, a longtime Saxo Bank executive, today to head the company’s foreign exchange trading business.
In his new role, Aagaard will serve as a Digital Assets Consultant, working to assist OANDA in expanding its digital assets offerings.
After graduating from university, Aagaard joined Saxo Bank in 2002 to work on developing new Back Office systems. Since then he has been working with the bank for over 20 years. In 2008, Aagaard was moved to the Front Office to serve as a Senior Business Analyst in FX Market Making for the bank. In 2012, Saxo promoted him to work as the Chief Operating Officer, responsible for executing and coordinating Saxo’s business development strategy, reporting to the Global Head of Foreign Exchange.
In 2019, Saxo promoted Aagaard as the Head of Foreign Exchange , to be in charge of the FX products (Spot, Forwards, Swaps, Options and Cryptos) throughout the value chain.
Improving Business Effectiveness
The new hiring echoes OANDA’s efforts to strengthen its leadership team. Last year, the group witnessed a lot of changes in its top management, with several new appointments made and a few departures observed.
In July, Oanda hired Philip Holemans as the new Chief Financial Officer. This followed after the retail broker appointed Marcin Niewiadomski and John Murphy as the Head of Europe and the Head of the United Kingdom, respectively.
In November, David Hodge, the broker’s long-running executive, resigned as the Global Chief Revenue Officer.
In December, OANDA appointed Lucian Lauerman as the Head of Digital Assets. Lauerman’s promotion confirmed that the retail broker was focusing on its digital asset products. With Aagaard’s appointment, OANDA seems to focus on increasing the firm’s revenues through its forex business and customer acquisitions.
