Russian center for economic analysis Interfax has published the results from its study of the retail Forex market in Russia. While the results are somewhat interesting, some of the findings in the the report are debatable and are surely to stir some controversy amongst the active players in the country.
The study is based on the answers of about 22 foreign exchange brokers and 8,000 traders.
The first and most notable finding claims that the profile of the average trader from Russia is one of a relatively young male (between 25 and 40 years old) living outside of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. He’s a common laborer or a mid-tier manager earning less than the average salary in the country, which is the main driver for his involvement in the foreign exchange market.
Looking at the current averages of salaries in Russia, the figure is close to $480. That said, this figure includes the much higher than average wages in the cities where the average foreign exchange trader from Russia doesn’t come from. Therefore the lower bound of $280 is a more accurate assessment of the average trader on the forex market.
According to the Interfax study the average trading deposit which a client makes with the brokerage amounts to about $1,000, which is somewhere between 2.5 and 4 salaries depending on the region.
Accurate Risk Appraisers Stay Away from Forex Trading
Looking at the professional profile of the average trader on the Russian market, Interfax claims that about 11.8 per cent of the average trader works in sales, while 10 per cent are employed in the IT sector.
Surprisingly, the leading professional profile of the traders is related to the manufacturing and construction sectors of the economy - about 15 and 9 per cent.
Employees in the financial sector are staying away from the foreign exchange market, with the share of the financial sector employees amounting to a below 5 per cent.
Binary Options and PAMM Accounts
Russian traders have not been particularly interested in instruments outside of the core forex trading offering according to the study. With about 8 per cent paying attention to binary options, the proportion of those interested in structured products and spread betting are even less.
According to Interfax a total of 7 per cent are managing PAMM accounts, which have been a tool which was pioneered on the Russian market. While on the surface this number doesn’t seem big, if accurate the figure means that a big chunk of the traders in Russia are interested in this product.
Looking at the satisfaction rates with the services of brokerages about 0.15 per cent are complaining from lack of user friendliness of the platforms that brokers in Russia are offering. Furthermore only 2 per cent are unhappy with their execution, while 1.15 per cent have been worried about the connectivity to their Trading Platform .
The Interfax study also claims that about 2.55 per cent of the Russian clients are unhappy with the terms of their deposits and withdrawals, while an overwhelming majority of 97.9 per cent claims to be happy with customer service.
Looking at the marketing practices of several brokerages, traders are mostly unimpressed with famous people advertising the services of their brokerage of choice (44 per cent). On the other hand, the comments of analysts in the press are more likely to lead to a positive effect on a certain brand.
