A leading Multi-Asset financial services group that operates in the derivatives sector, AFX Capital, has reported that it has extended its portfolio of services through an investment in social trading portal, TopTradr. The UK regulated entity has invested $260,000 in the portal. The move comes during a sensitive period of social trading portals in the UK as regulatory uncertainty prevails.
TopTradr combines the traditional elements of proprietary trading firms and combines them with social elements. Under the new partnership, the firm is expected to boost its offerings under the Quantic Asset Management brand, a discretionary service provider.
James Olden, co-founder of TopTradr commented about the new investment partnership, he said: "By having Quantic to come on-board as a strategic partner will allow us to take the business to the next level and really start to push the boundaries, ploughing the way for the next generation social trading. Copy trading has been the golden child of social trading but it's now time to shift focus and give up-and-coming traders a real chance to a career in trading. Quantic will play a crucial part in this."
The current move signifies the potential in the growing Fintech sector, the merger of finance in technology since the start of electronic-trading over forty years ago has seen waves of evolution. The latest spree of innovation in the world of social trading highlights the crucial role of technology in enhancing financial services and packaging them in a simple and clear manner for retail participants.
Social trading is a recent entrant to the diverse financial trading environment, since launching in the mid-2000s it has captured a significant proportion of retail investors as it creates a transparent marketplace for traders to connect with investors.
Mario Persichino, founder of Quantic Asset Management said: "With social trading being the future, Quantic is really looking forward to becoming a part of TopTradr and this next chapter. As we know, the internet is breaking down long-standing business models across various well-established industries and with TopTradr disrupting the financial services market recruitment process; we can't wait to play a part in this."
Although TopTradr is classified as a social trading portal it has certain differentiators, the portal has been attracting serious traders and provides them with an opportunity to excel to the next level and become professional prop traders. The solution reviews the trading performance of its users through a unique scoring algorithm, which addresses; risk-reward and consistency of performance. The portal allows users to showcase their skills to the hedge fund and asset management community in a whole new way. Moreover, the most consistent traders are given the opportunity to manage the equivalent of a $75k hedge fund.
Francois Nembrini, co-founder of TopTradr added: "We're very excited to have Quantic on-board. There is a lot of growth left to do for TopTradr, something that Quantic will be part of, as we go from a single broker set-up, to multi brokers. We will use the new financing to continue our growth by developing our technology and hiring skilled staff. More importantly, TopTradr now offers a clear path for talented traders to access significant pools of capital.
Novice traders can educate themselves by communicating with highly ranked traders, while competition winners will step into the institutional trading world by trading our capital in a professional prop shop environment, including receiving pay-outs on their performance. "
TopTradr is registered with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority under the umbrella rgeualtion of FXCM, the uncertainty surrounding the future regulations of social trading has put providers on the back seat, TopTradr's partnership with AFX Capital means the portal could be authorised under the firm's discretionary trading license.