OANDA Onboards FXCM’s Jessica Beckstead as MD, North America; CEO, US

OANDA, a top player in the multi-asset retail trading industry, has hired Jessica Beckstead, as its Managing Director for North America and its Chief Executive Officer for the United States.

Until the appointment, Beckstead was FXCM’s Managing Director, Global Head of Sales and Customer Success, and the CEO of Australia.

She worked for FXCM for over 18 years after joining the forex and contract for difference broker as the Vice President of Forex Sales in New York in October 2004.

“Beckstead will be accountable for driving the continued success of the firm’s growth throughout the US and Canada; she will be based in New York,” OANDA said in a statement released on Monday.

Speaking about the appointment, the CEO of OANDA, Gavin Bambury, described Beckstead as "an excellent choice” to push the retail brokerage’s expansion in the Americas.

“Her extensive experience growing a retail business, as well as proven operational and strategic expertise, will enable us to identify and implement new strategies to strengthen our reputation, increase market growth and propel the business forward,” Bambury said.

Also speaking, Beckstead believes that her years of experience across six continents developing and scaling retail brokerages will be greatly beneficial to the new role.

She noted that she was “looking forward to building on the strong foundations of the OANDA brand and to further transforming the firm’s operations in the US and Canada.”

OANDA’s Exec Moves

Since the beginning of 2022, OANDA has made a number of executive rejiggings across its global business teams.

In July, the broker promoted Philip Waters to Head of the Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets.

On top of that, the retail brokerage in the same month promoted Mark Chesterman, who joined the firm in November 2019, to Chief Risk Officer. Chesterman's role is based in the United Kingdom.

Additionally, in February, the global online multi-asset trading services firm appointed Michael Aagaard, a longtime Saxo Bank executive, to Head its forex trading business.

OANDA said it hired Aagaard, who has over 20 years of industry experience, to help expand its forex business.