Retail brokerage firm Valutrades told Finance Magnates on Thursday that two of its non-executive directors will be stepping down from their roles.
John Thwaytes and Gavin Foster will not, however, be leaving the company. Instead, the two industry veterans will focus on building Valutrades’ new institutional trading desk.
Until now, Valutrades has only targeted retail clients. But, after regulatory changes in Europe, the company appears also to be targeting higher-end clientele and branching out into the prime brokerage space.
Foster and Thwaytes will be driving this change in business strategy by heading up the new institutional business. That means taking on full-time roles at Valutrades and bringing in sales staff to support them in their efforts at the firm's London headquarters.
"Valutrades is in an exciting position to grow out the institutional piece due to the technical infrastructure and Liquidity relationships it holds,” said Thwaytes.
“The firm is one of the most dynamic and agile that I have had the pleasure of working with, the on-boarding is streamlined and the management team has spent time creating the right infrastructure and identifying the sweet spot it has to bring on institutional business.”
Valutrades in experienced hands
Thwaytes and Foster should be well-placed to help Valutrades expand into the institutional trading market.
Back in 2004, Thwaytes founded ODL Securities - a broker that was eventually sold to FXCM in 2010.
Foster also has an array of experience in the Retail Trading world having notably launched London Capital Group’s prime of prime desk in 2005.
"Since receiving a 730k license from the FCA a year ago, combined with additional share capital and strategic hires, the firm has gone from strength to strength in terms of its corporate governance and excellent staff from the ground up,” said Foster.
“We have one of the best operational teams in the business and we look forward to building the institutional sales desk."
