Yesterday, we reported about the launch of the Multi-Asset Trader, a new CFD trading platform from IronFX. The platform marks a new business unit as it targets higher net worth accounts as well as favoring stocks over CFDs. The focus on shares and CFDs of other assets by IronFX follows an existing trend in which many brokers have been launching new CFD offerings due to the product becoming a greater percentage of their volumes when forex volatilities declined in 2014.
Learning more about the Multi-Asset platform, Forex Magnates connected with IronFX, whose company representive provided several answers to questions about the product.
Why offer CFDs on a separate platform than MT4?
Where MT4 was primarily developed as a forex Trading Platform , our new Multi-Asset trader provides access to the widest range of instruments other than forex.
How does this offering compare with the existing CFDs being offered on MT4? And are their plans to add more CFD products on MT4 now?
Whilst we already offer the most popular CFD products, the IronFX Multi-Asset Trader can provide our traders with access to new markets and to more than 3,000 CFD instruments, through a dedicated trading platform connected to a Liquidity provider.
Why the large minimum deposit size of $10,000?
Historically, traders of CFDs are more experienced and more high net-worth traders who seek to trade on platforms exclusively designed for this purpose, other than the MT4 platform, which is not very popular for CFD trading.
What percentage of volumes are currently from CFDs?
Around 5% of volumes are currently on CFD products, and with the launch of the IronFX Multi-Asset trader, we aim to diversify our volumes further.
IronFX withheld from answering who the liquidity provider is. But, it is believed to be GAIN Capital, which may also be providing technology along with liquidity to IronFX. If true, it would mark an extension of GAIN Capital's CFD liquidity business which was also tapped by Spotware Systems to provide straight-through processing of CFDs on their cTrader platform. GAIN's CFD liquidity was boosted by their 2013 acquisition of GFT, with that broker's Sales Trader institutional liquidity division becoming one of the fastest growing segments of business for GAIN Capital in 2014.
