Finance Magnates spoke with Stavros Lambouris, CEO at HYCM International for his perspective on traders heading into 2023. This includes HYCM’s place in the industry and how it plans to evolve and thrive in the New Year.
The last couple of years have been quite eventful in all areas; how has this affected retail trading?
Certainly, nobody could have predicted how the last couple of years were going to pan out, but one thing became apparent. The retail trader had been a force in the global markets for a while and really came to the forefront during this time.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have seen the general public using that downtime to educate themselves about the financial markets and really put that knowledge to use. Lockdowns gave people an opportunity to spend more time on areas they’re truly interested in, and this has led to a large number of new traders coming online. The boom we saw in a variety of markets after the March lows of 2020 was driven by a lot of retail activity, and this has continued even after reopening.
To keep the pace with the changes in the market, the industry as a whole needs to adopt new technologies and methodologies, meaning more assets, better mobile apps, and a focus on quality education and analysis.
How do you envision HYCM’s position in the industry moving forward?
Our history and reputation are very important to us, and we plan on maintaining those tenets of trust, security, and longevity. With over four decades of rich heritage and culture we have created a solid base to build upon.
Our main goal now is to become a one-stop solution for easy access to traditional and new markets. So, we are building new structures for the modern age that are focused on innovation, nurturing new traders and being up-to-date with what’s newest in the markets. We’re dedicated to offering new technologies and tools in a trusted, secure environment, regulated by the FCA, CySEC, DFSA, and CIMA.
What actions has HYCM taken in terms of the above direction?
Education has always been high on our list of priorities, and we remain dedicated to supporting our investors by running our blog, HYCM Lab, with market news and analysis and a popular series of weekly webinars and workshops, among other activities.
We’ve also been very proactive in offering high-quality third-party tools that we believe will be beneficial to our clients. These currently include Financial Source’s real-time indicators, Seasonax’s seasonal pattern analytics, and Trading Central’s Market Buzz and News.
Moreover, HYCM has been expanding and curating its selection of asset classes and individual symbols. Our cryptocurrency offering is a good example; we have been selective in adding crypto symbols to ensure an offering that’s useful to our investors, allowing them to trade cryptocurrencies with leverage according to their individual risk appetite.
Last, but not least, mobile trading is considered a must for the new trader and our goal in 2022 was to cater to them with no compromise in service. We took big steps in this direction by developing and releasing our own proprietary mobile trading app, HYCM Trader. It allows users to trade, manage their accounts, and deposit and withdraw funds, all from the same application on their smartphone.
Why is it important to have a proprietary trading app in your opinion?
For the brokerage it is essential to stand out among the competition. So, having a unique proprietary app is a great way to differentiate yourself from the common third-party apps.
New traders are also very demanding when it comes to user interface and experience. Creating our own app from scratch gave us the flexibility and the ability to create a modern and user-friendly application, as well as offer more functionality to our clients. For example, the HYCM Trader app combines our client portal and trading platform, whereas other apps require the user to use both the brokers’ client portal website and the app.
Another important point is that without a proprietary app your business is beholden to a provider. You are not in charge of the development roadmap, and it can also be the root of potential failure that’s entirely out of your control. As we recently saw, the brokers who were relying on the third-party solutions have experienced severe difficulties when Apple pulled down MT4 and MT5 trading apps from the App Store.
Finally, what does HYCM have in store for 2023?
In the past year, we’ve seen a growing interest in stocks. It has taken some time for our industry to generate a buzz around this asset because cryptocurrencies had undeniably stolen some of its limelight. But the performance of this asset class throughout the pandemic, as well as the increasing correlation between crypto and US equity markets, has caused many traders to show renewed interest in stocks.
Aside from FX, the US stock market is the largest market on earth, with names like Apple and Meta, that are instantly recognisable to the public and many of us are customers of.
The sheer size of it, as well as the ability to expose one’s portfolio to a large number of individual names, also offers a level of diversification that’s difficult to find elsewhere. For instance, even throughout 2022, which has been a pretty bad year for US equities, there are individual stocks from sectors, such as energy, that traders could have allocated capital to, which would not just have protected their portfolios, but also been profitable for them.
At HYCM, we want to ensure that our investors have access to this market too. Our current offering already includes a number of stock CFDs from the most well-known companies, such as Amazon, Tesla and Twitter, and we plan exciting news on this subject due to be announced early in 2023. So, stay tuned!
Trade with HYCM
Note: Cryptocurrencies are not available for trading under HYCM (Europe) Ltd and HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited.
About: HYCM is the global brand name of HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited, HYCM (Europe) Ltd, HYCM Capital Markets (DIFC) Ltd, HYCM Ltd, and HYCM Limited, all individual entities under HYCM Capital Markets Group, a global corporation operating in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
High-Risk Investment Warning: Contracts for Difference (‘CFDs’) are complex financial products that are traded on margin. Trading CFDs carries a high degree of risk. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent expert advice if necessary and speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Please think carefully whether such trading suits you, taking into consideration all the relevant circumstances as well as your personal resources. We do not recommend clients posting their entire account balance to meet margin requirements. Clients can minimise their level of exposure by requesting a change in leverage limit. For more information please refer to HYCM’s Risk Disclosure.
*This material is considered a marketing communication and should not be construed as containing investment advice or an investment recommendation, or an offer of or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments. Past performance is not a guarantee of or prediction of future performance. HYCM does not take into account your personal investment objectives or financial situation. HYCM makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, nor any loss arising from any investment based on a recommendation, forecast, or other information supplied by an employee of HYCM, a third party, or otherwise.
Finance Magnates spoke with Stavros Lambouris, CEO at HYCM International for his perspective on traders heading into 2023. This includes HYCM’s place in the industry and how it plans to evolve and thrive in the New Year.
The last couple of years have been quite eventful in all areas; how has this affected retail trading?
Certainly, nobody could have predicted how the last couple of years were going to pan out, but one thing became apparent. The retail trader had been a force in the global markets for a while and really came to the forefront during this time.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have seen the general public using that downtime to educate themselves about the financial markets and really put that knowledge to use. Lockdowns gave people an opportunity to spend more time on areas they’re truly interested in, and this has led to a large number of new traders coming online. The boom we saw in a variety of markets after the March lows of 2020 was driven by a lot of retail activity, and this has continued even after reopening.
To keep the pace with the changes in the market, the industry as a whole needs to adopt new technologies and methodologies, meaning more assets, better mobile apps, and a focus on quality education and analysis.
How do you envision HYCM’s position in the industry moving forward?
Our history and reputation are very important to us, and we plan on maintaining those tenets of trust, security, and longevity. With over four decades of rich heritage and culture we have created a solid base to build upon.
Our main goal now is to become a one-stop solution for easy access to traditional and new markets. So, we are building new structures for the modern age that are focused on innovation, nurturing new traders and being up-to-date with what’s newest in the markets. We’re dedicated to offering new technologies and tools in a trusted, secure environment, regulated by the FCA, CySEC, DFSA, and CIMA.
What actions has HYCM taken in terms of the above direction?
Education has always been high on our list of priorities, and we remain dedicated to supporting our investors by running our blog, HYCM Lab, with market news and analysis and a popular series of weekly webinars and workshops, among other activities.
We’ve also been very proactive in offering high-quality third-party tools that we believe will be beneficial to our clients. These currently include Financial Source’s real-time indicators, Seasonax’s seasonal pattern analytics, and Trading Central’s Market Buzz and News.
Moreover, HYCM has been expanding and curating its selection of asset classes and individual symbols. Our cryptocurrency offering is a good example; we have been selective in adding crypto symbols to ensure an offering that’s useful to our investors, allowing them to trade cryptocurrencies with leverage according to their individual risk appetite.
Last, but not least, mobile trading is considered a must for the new trader and our goal in 2022 was to cater to them with no compromise in service. We took big steps in this direction by developing and releasing our own proprietary mobile trading app, HYCM Trader. It allows users to trade, manage their accounts, and deposit and withdraw funds, all from the same application on their smartphone.
Why is it important to have a proprietary trading app in your opinion?
For the brokerage it is essential to stand out among the competition. So, having a unique proprietary app is a great way to differentiate yourself from the common third-party apps.
New traders are also very demanding when it comes to user interface and experience. Creating our own app from scratch gave us the flexibility and the ability to create a modern and user-friendly application, as well as offer more functionality to our clients. For example, the HYCM Trader app combines our client portal and trading platform, whereas other apps require the user to use both the brokers’ client portal website and the app.
Another important point is that without a proprietary app your business is beholden to a provider. You are not in charge of the development roadmap, and it can also be the root of potential failure that’s entirely out of your control. As we recently saw, the brokers who were relying on the third-party solutions have experienced severe difficulties when Apple pulled down MT4 and MT5 trading apps from the App Store.
Finally, what does HYCM have in store for 2023?
In the past year, we’ve seen a growing interest in stocks. It has taken some time for our industry to generate a buzz around this asset because cryptocurrencies had undeniably stolen some of its limelight. But the performance of this asset class throughout the pandemic, as well as the increasing correlation between crypto and US equity markets, has caused many traders to show renewed interest in stocks.
Aside from FX, the US stock market is the largest market on earth, with names like Apple and Meta, that are instantly recognisable to the public and many of us are customers of.
The sheer size of it, as well as the ability to expose one’s portfolio to a large number of individual names, also offers a level of diversification that’s difficult to find elsewhere. For instance, even throughout 2022, which has been a pretty bad year for US equities, there are individual stocks from sectors, such as energy, that traders could have allocated capital to, which would not just have protected their portfolios, but also been profitable for them.
At HYCM, we want to ensure that our investors have access to this market too. Our current offering already includes a number of stock CFDs from the most well-known companies, such as Amazon, Tesla and Twitter, and we plan exciting news on this subject due to be announced early in 2023. So, stay tuned!
Trade with HYCM
Note: Cryptocurrencies are not available for trading under HYCM (Europe) Ltd and HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited.
About: HYCM is the global brand name of HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited, HYCM (Europe) Ltd, HYCM Capital Markets (DIFC) Ltd, HYCM Ltd, and HYCM Limited, all individual entities under HYCM Capital Markets Group, a global corporation operating in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
High-Risk Investment Warning: Contracts for Difference (‘CFDs’) are complex financial products that are traded on margin. Trading CFDs carries a high degree of risk. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent expert advice if necessary and speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Please think carefully whether such trading suits you, taking into consideration all the relevant circumstances as well as your personal resources. We do not recommend clients posting their entire account balance to meet margin requirements. Clients can minimise their level of exposure by requesting a change in leverage limit. For more information please refer to HYCM’s Risk Disclosure.
*This material is considered a marketing communication and should not be construed as containing investment advice or an investment recommendation, or an offer of or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments. Past performance is not a guarantee of or prediction of future performance. HYCM does not take into account your personal investment objectives or financial situation. HYCM makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, nor any loss arising from any investment based on a recommendation, forecast, or other information supplied by an employee of HYCM, a third party, or otherwise.
