During the iFXEXPO Cyprus that was held in May, one of the last presentations of the two day event was the Innovation speeches. Multiple representatives of Forex related firms gave 10-15 minute presentations on their products and how they were solving broker needs through the creation of innovating products. Maor Lahav from Panda TS showed the firm’s new index based managed accounts offering to provide an efficient way to handle managed funds. Andrew Ralich of oneZero spoke about the benefits of brokers partnering with technology providers. Erez Shifron from MTE-Media explained how videos could be used to educate clients. Jannick Malling demonstrated the tradable platform and how its apps based system provided a open environment for developers.
Also appearing was Ilan Azbel of Autochartist. Taking a different approach, Azbel didn’t speak about his company’s products but focused on client retention. In what was a well received presentation, Azbel explained that firms were spending too much of their resources on client conversions, and less on retention. Azbel reasoned that by creating stronger relationships with clients, rather than just catching fish, they could find ‘whales’. While not outwardly speaking about Autochartist, at least subliminally he was, as his firm’s products are used for post-sale servicing of clients.
Today, Autochartist has announced that it has integrated its automated technical analysis product for the tradable platform. The news follows a similar announcement between Autochartist and ACT Forex last month. Interestingly, in the prepared statement, Autochartist and tradable referenced the iFXEXPO event by mentioning “Ilan Azbel, CEO of Autochartist and Jannick Malling, CEO of tradable, recently presented their views about innovation in the Forex industry at iFXEXPO in Cyprus. Both highlighted that platform flexibility and client longevity are the key factors in building a long term sustainable Forex broker”.
Commenting on the news, Ilan Azbel stated that “platforms like tradable are going to be the future of online trading because traders are able to choose a set of tools that meet their specific needs and are not limited to the tools that the broker provides.” Jannick Malling added “no Trading Platform would be complete without technical analysis research and we are delighted that Autochartist has chosen to partner with us.”
While the Innovation presentations received positive responses from the crowd, one of the points at the time that was made was that very few broker representatives were actually in attendance. Nonetheless, the points about retention remain valid, as lengthening the average client duration leads to higher volumes which substantially moves the needle in terms of profitability. In terms of retention tools, there is no lack of available products for brokers. However, one area where there is often a gap present among brokers is in regards to employee understanding of available tools. Adding to Azbel’s speech, firms could gain by also ensuring that their sales and support staff become specialists in their product offerings.
