The grey-suited world of financial technology is not usually notorious for its flamboyance. High-profile sports sponsorship and involvement in the entertainment industry is relatively uncommon among FX circles.
Malaysian entertainment and leisure conglomerate Tune Group, a name responsible for bringing an array of travel, sports and motor racing ventures within reach of the masses, intends to change this and has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Abu Dhabi based broker ADS Securities in order for the company to branch into the Online Trading sector with a new brand which will be launched in September under the designation of Tune FX. Further high-profile connotations are visible when bearing in mind that the signing of the MOU took place in Monte Carlo, a city steeped in motorsport history.
The intention is to pave the way for a proposed collaboration to develop a number of business opportunities in relation to innovative FX brokerage services.
Performance Cars, Soccer and Forex
Tune Group was established in 2007 with the aim of breaking down affordability barriers in various aspects of daily life via Tune Hotels, Tune Talk, Tune Money and Tune Insurance. Tune Group’s portfolio today also includes the automotive technology company Caterham Group and the English soccer team Queens Park Rangers (QPR).
Soccer in Britain is a very high profile business, and although Tune Group owns QPR, other FX companies have certainly displayed an interest in having their names displayed at stadiums of prominent Premier League teams. In February this year, Alpari became the sponsor of West Ham United, further putting paid to the grey-suit theory when members of West Ham United visited Alpari’s trading floor. For those with a sporting interest, this represents very high kudos indeed.
From left to right: Nael Salam, Head of the Front Office, Ali Rafi CEO of Tune Middle East; Philippe Ghanem, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of ADS Securities; Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham Test Driver and Tony Fernandes, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Tune Group
The Tune Group is co-owned by Malaysian entrepreneurs Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, the team behind Asia’s leading and largest low-cost carrier AirAsia and the Caterham F1 Team. Fernandes and Meranun are helming AirAsia as its Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively.
ADS Securities and Tune Group will be working together to explore how the global brokerage services of ADS Securities can be used to provide mutually beneficial investment and business opportunities.
In Tune With Prospective New Clients
Subject to regulatory and legal approvals, the first initiative under the MOU will be the launch in September of a new Tune Group brand, Tune FX. The objective will be to use Tune FX’s marketing reach to introduce prospective customers to the FX trading services platform powered and licensed by ADS Securities.
Marketing and the increase of the company's footprint appears to be on the agenda for ADS Securities, further bolstered by the appointment of ex FX-Pro senior executive Andreas Lazarou as Marketing Director.
Present at the MOU signing were both Tune Group’s founding members as well as ADS Securities Chairman, Mahmood Ebraheem Al Mahmood and Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Philippe Ghanem.
In a statement released by ADS Securities, Mr Ghanem said: “Both ADS Securities and Tune Group share a lot of synergies, including a successful entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to continue developing our service offerings to meet customer needs. The signing of this agreement is the start of a successful linking of our world class brokerage services with the portfolio of financial services offered under the Tune Group.”
Tony Fernandes, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Tune Group issued the following statement: “Tune Group is extremely pleased to be collaborating with ADS Securities. The Tune Group has continued to demonstrate that its philosophy of offering accessible world class and innovative services which cater to the communities in Asia and beyond is a winning formula. Whether it is in hospitality, sport or finance Tune Group offers high quality products and by partnering with ADS Securities we can extend exceptional services and opportunities to the Asia region. We look forward to an innovative and exciting partnership with ADS Securities.”
Ali Rafi, Tune Middle East’s CEO, who introduced the two companies, made a public statement aswll: “We are delighted that ADS Securities and Tune Group will be working together to explore business opportunities. This is an innovative and exciting partnership which brings together world class brokerage services with unique access to Asian consumers. It is a new commercial model which we think will provide benefits for both companies.”
As bold as it may seem, targeting purchasers of leisure items and sports enthusiasts is a different path than that taken of many companies wishing to attract retail FX customers. The result of this venture will certainly be of interest.
