IG GROUP Archives - The Industry Spread

Key Personnel Appointments at Maybank Kim Eng, Gain Capital and BGC Partners

March 21, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Andrew Gee, Anja Hinds, APAC region, BGC Partners, CFD and FX Broker, CMC Markets, Gain Capital, Gerard Melia, Hybrid IDB eSales, IG GROUP, Maybank Kim Eng

Maybank Kim Eng Promotes Andrew Gee to the Role of Head of Prime Services Sales

Maybank Kim Eng

London-based Investment banking and brokerage division of Malaysian Bank, Maybank Kim Eng has announced that it has promoted Andrew Gee to the role of Head of Prime Services Sales.

Andrew’s promotion of higher management level comes barely four years after he joined the firm when he was appointed as Head of Institutional sales. He has served in various roles across CFD and prime execution services.

Mr Gee’s has been given the responsibility within MayBank’s prime brokerage business which serves client securities financing, fixed income, equities and leveraged forex. Gee has over 15 years of experience in the forex sales services and has joined Maybank from IG Markets, where he served as Institutional Sales Manager for nearly four years.

Gain Capital Promotes Gerard Melia to Vice President, Head of Institutional Partnership

GAIN Capital

Retail FX broker, GAIN Capital on Wednesday promoted Gerard Melia to the role of Vice President, Head of Institutional Partnership. Before being promoted, Melia was Director, Head of Institutional Partnership.

Melia was promoted to the role of VP, earlier this month and remained based in the company’s London office. He joined the firm in July 2016 as Director, Head of Institutional Relationship Management until October 2018, when he was promoted to the position of Director.

Throughout his career spanning over two decades, Melia has worked with some of the leading forex brokerages including IG Group and CMC Markets. Prior to GAIN, Melia was Director at Firmbridge Solutions; a privately held consultancy firm which started in 2012.

BGC Partners Appoints Anja Hinds as its Newest Director of Hybrid IDB eSales

BGC Partners

BGC Partners, the global brokerage company has appointed its newest Director of Hybrid IDB eSales, Anja Hinds, according to the information made public on her LinkedIn profile. Her new role will be based out of Singapore.

In her new role, Anja will manage sales strategy across BGC Partners mainly focusing around the APAC region. She has lengthy experience in the banking and financial services industry, and prior to joining BGC, she was working at RBS Markets as its head of FX Prime Brokerage sales for over five years. In her 13 years of career in banking and financial services, she has worked at UBS and Accenture at various capacities.

IG Group Releases Q3 Financial Report for Fiscal 2019, Revenue Declined by 12% to £108 million

March 21, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: APAC, brokerage, Capital Markets, derivatives trading, ESMA regulation, EU, financial institutions, IG GROUP, Q3 figures, trading platform

IG Group

IG Group, the London-listed world leader in derivatives trading, has reported its Q3 financials for fiscal 2019 that ended on February 28th. The latest Q3 figures indicate large scale impact of ESMA’s new regulation on revenue and low volatility has impacted the overall business of the retail broker.

During the third quarter, the revenues declined by almost 12 per cent to £108 million, with the most impact coming in from the UK and EU region, where income decline has 15 per cent to £56.9 million. The revenue from the APAC region also witnesses a double-digit decline of 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter to £35 million. The only increase in revenue has been reported from EMEA region, that is outside ESMA jurisdiction, where the group posted a 6 per cent increase in revenue to £11.3 million.

During the quarter, the total number of active clients with IG Group rose slightly by 1 per cent to 125,600 compared to the previous quarter. Clients in the UK and EU region also increased by 1 per cent to 51,800. The total number of new customers signed up during the quarter increased to 7,742 from 7,553, maintaining stable client growth.

Low volatility across global financial market during the quarter took a heavy toll on the company’s profitability, and a shift to professional clients also didn’t help much with the segment, reporting a decline of 20 per cent. During the quarter, only 14 per cent of 1425 applications for professional clients got approved by the broker. The professional clients’ segment accounted for the major part of the revenue from the EU and the UK region at £37.1 million, whereas retail clients contributed £19.8 million to the revenue.

The year-to-date revenue for IG Group declines by a good 27 per cent from the ESMA region with 39 per cent from EU and 22 per cent from the UK region to £202.4 million from £278.4 million a year ago. The EMEA ex EU and APAC recorded an increase of 22 and 7 per cent respectively.

Following the release of the result, IG shares tumbled, breaking below the 500 pence per share. The 52 weeks high for the stock in 920 pence, reached in August last year before the new ESMA regulation kicked in.

SafeCharge Adds Susanne Chishti as Non-Executive Director to its Board of Directors

March 6, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Arman Tahmassebi, Capital Markets, Christian Faes, Financial markets, IG GROUP, LeadInvest, pre-IPO funding, risk management, SafeCharge, Susanne Chishti

London-listed innovative payment solution provider to online and mobile merchant, SafeCharge has added Susanne Chishti as a non-executive director to its board of directors.

Ms Chishti has over two decades of experience in the banking and payments sector with 10 plus years of board level experience. She also has extensive knowledge of workings of FinTech start-ups and is currently the CEO and Founder of FINTECH Circle.

FINTECH Circle is an angel network that enables emerging fintech firms to execute their vision and expand their business. At present, she is also serving as non-executive director at Kompli Holdings plc, Crown Agents Bank Ltd and JLG Group Plc.

SafeCharge’s majority share is owned by Israeli investor Teddy Sagi and is witnessing strong growth across verticals. The company reported 24 per cent growth in 2018 revenue compared to 2017 and 45 per cent year-on-year growth in deal turnover from its customers.

Commenting on the new addition to the Board, SafeCharge’s chairman Roger Withers, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Susanne to SafeCharge. Her background and extensive experience in the banking and FinTech sectors will further strengthen the Board and will be invaluable as we continue to grow the business.”

Former ETX Capital CEO Arman Tahmassebi Joins FinTech Player LeadInvest

Former ETX Capital’s CEO Arman Tahmassebi has now joined a Fintech player, LeadInvest as its Chief Operating Officer. It marks the transition for Mr Tahnassebi, who has been working in the retail forex broker industry for the last two decades.

He started with IG Group, where he spent almost 15 years in various roles and then moved to London Capital Group as its COO. From there he moved to ETX Capital, where he was initially appointed as COO and CEO of the company.

LeadInvest’s move to appoint Arman Tahmassebi as its COO comes at a time when the whole fintech sector is going through toughened regulatory pressure. LeadInvest is a peer-to-peer lending platform and has raised near to £30 million in a pre-IPO funding round. Tahmassebi is joining the firm as the company is in the run-up to a prospective IPO, which it announced later last year.

But, CEO and Cofounder of LeadInvest, Christian Faes gave hints that the company’s IPO plans have been delayed for almost one to two years, as it wants to look for the effects of Brexit before taking next step.

IG Group Enters US Market with Forest Park FX, Expects US Average Client Value of $11,000

February 28, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Brokers, ESMA, financial services, Forest Park FX, FX trading, IG, IG GROUP, Justin Hertzberg, Rupert Osborne, US Forex market

Forest Park FX has become the IG Group’s first introducing broker in the US, marking the London-based broker launch of its US operations. With this, it becomes the first new entrant to the American market in several years.

Working alongside, Forest Park will provide clients with market access through IG Group, provide cashback rebates for retail traders, trading algorithms, support for money managers and liquidity solution to hedge funds.

Speaking on the occasion, IG US CEO Rupert Osborne said:

“Entering the US Forex market represents a great opportunity for IG. In addition to our own marketing outreach, we wanted to work with top introducing brokers to both spread the word about our offering. Given Forest Park FX’s reputation for adding value to clients and our prior experience with them in Europe, they were always at the top of our list.

IG has been eyeing to enter the US markets for a long time and also has bought FX news and research portal, FXDaily for $40 million in 2016.

Forest Park’s CEO, Justin Hertzberg while speaking to Finance Magnates, said:

“In the wake of ESMA, I think we will see more European-based brokers considering the US market for new, regulated operations given the potential upside. Over the long-term, I think we’ll see a general conversion toward multi-asset brokers with regulation falling in line.”

“Despite regulatory changes brought on by the Dodd-Frank bill and the subsequent contraction of the industry, the US market has remained one of the largest and most sophisticated audiences in the world. The barrier to entry as an RFED is high with the net capital and regulatory obligations, but the business is there. I believe the average US account size is around $6,000. For [our] clients, it is around $11,000.”

IG Group Suffers Revenue Declines by 6% Y-o-Y in the H1-FY 19 on Account of Strict ESMA Regulations

December 5, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: brokerage, ESMA regulations, financial results, IG GROUP, Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer, trading services

IG Group, the UK trading major has reported the financial results of the first half of fiscal 2019. IG Group Holdings (LON: IGG) has reported a 6 per cent year-on-year revenue decline due to strict ESMA regulations. The drop in revenue and profitability comes after the record-setting fiscal 2018.

In the wake of new European regulatory measures limiting leverage for retail class traders, the brokerage has reported 10 per cent year-on-year decline in global revenue for the four months between August and November.

Regional wise, the revenue in the four month period in the UK and EU region is projected to be 20 per cent lower while APAC and non-ESMA region countries expecting a 9 per cent higher revenue, thus offsetting the impact of ESMA regulations. The figures mentioned are adjusted for the 1200 clients who previously contracted with the UK entity and have chosen to move outside of the ESMA regulation.

In a statement, IG Group said:

“The number of clients in the UK and EU who have elected to be classified as professional continued to increase during the period. Around 70% of UK and EU revenue in the four months since all the measures were introduced has been generated by professional clients.”

During the first half, new clients from APAC and non-ESMA regions have remained constant with very little variation compared to the last year which is 6,400 vs 6,361 last year. In the ESMA regulated region, only 8,200 new clients signed up which 20 per cent lower from 11,666 clients added last year in the same period.

For the Brexit event, the company has secured BaFin license in Germany which will help to continue offering its services in the EU. IG Group is now also planning its expansion to offer trading services in the USA, where its subsidiary has also been approved as the member of National Futures Association (NFA) and is now registered to operate as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED).

The next performance announcement from IG Group will be the financial results for the six months ended 30 November 2018 on 22 January 2019.

Jefferies Appoints Fred Jallot to Lead European Fixed Income Division and IG Group Promotes Kevin Algeo to Head of Asia Pacific and Africa Division

November 20, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: brokerage, emerging markets, fixed income, Fred Jallot, Fred Orlan, IG GROUP, Investment banking, Jefferies, Kevin Algeo, Retail Fx

Fred Orlan, Global Head of Fixed Income at Jefferies

Jefferies Appoints Former Nomura Executive Fred Jallot as Head of European Fixed Income Division

American multinational investment banking company, Jefferies Group has confirmed that former Nomura global head of emerging markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Fred Jallot, is joining the firm.

Fred Jallot will be heading the firm’s European fixed income in London and start his role with Jefferies on January 2, 2019. He will be reporting to Fred Orlan, the Global Head of Fixed Income at Jefferies, in New York.

Fred Jallot’s professional career spans over two decades in the financial industry and has managed several senior level management roles. He joined Nomura in 2017 but left the organisation in mid of 2018. Before working for Nomura, he had worked with Citi where was responsible for Global Securitised Markets and Global Credit Markets.

Fred Orlan, commenting on the appointment:

“We are very excited to have Fred Jallot join Jefferies’ leading global fixed income platform. As a broadly experienced professional in global fixed income, his relationships and leadership will further enhance Jefferies’ growth in this market.”

“This senior hire is an example of Jefferies’ emphasis on enhancing our firm’s European capabilities to serve our regional and global client base.”

Kevin Algeo, IG Group Head of Asia Pacific and Africa operations

IG Group Promotes Kevin Algeo to Head of Asia Pacific and Africa operations

The UK-based online retail fx brokerage company, IG Group has promoted Kevin Algeo, CEO of Australia operations as Head of the Asia Pacific and Africa. Kevin is associated with IG Group since 2013 and has started his tenure as Managing Director in South Africa. Kevin spent almost four years in the position before moving to lead the Australia operations.

In Australia, Kevin Algeo started as Deputy CEO in Melbourne and was promoted to CEO in June last year. IG Group has been handling clients support system across the globe via different regional entities. IG’s London office is used to be the home for global users in most of the cases.

IG Group Appoints June Felix as its New CEO and Executive Director of the Board with Immediate Effect

October 30, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Andy Green, derivatives, financial services, IG GROUP, June Felix, Peter Hetherington, Russell Reynolds, spread betting

The UK-based provider of online trading in derivatives, CFD and spread betting firm, IG Group has announced the appointment of June Felix as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Group and Executive Director on the Board of IG with immediate effect.

June Felix is replacing Peter Hetherington as CEO who stepped down from the position last month. The appointment was following extensive search and succession planning process that included both external and internal candidates supported by Russell Reynolds and Korn Ferry. June Felix is not new to IG Group as she has served as a non-executive director of the Group since 2015.

June Felix joins IG Group from Verifone, where she was the President of Europe and Russia division until its recent sale. As a president, she was responsible for the operation of the business throughout these territories. Prior to her role in Verifone, she has held various senior executive roles at a large number of MNCs that include Citi, IBM and other leading financial institutes

At Citibank, she was Managing Director of Global Healthcare Citi Enterprise Payments, Global General Manager for the Global Banking and Financial Markets at IBM Corporation. She has also held strategic roles at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Chase Manhattan Bank and as CEO of Certco.

Andy Green, Chairman of IG, said:

Andy Green, IG’s Chairman

“The Board is delighted to appoint June Felix as CEO of the Group. She brings to the role over 25 years’ experience in both the finance and digital technology sectors, and she has a deep understanding of our business.”

“June has a strong track record in strategy and product innovation and has successfully developed businesses of varying scales in the USA, Asia and Europe. Her broad experience makes her ideally suited to take IG forward.”

June Felix commented:

“I am honored to be asked to lead a business with such tremendous people and technology and with such a strong client-centric culture. The Group’s business is well positioned to continue to successfully navigate the impact of regulatory change and I am excited about working closely with the highly experienced executive team at IG in the continued delivery of that programme.”

“Drawing on my experience of financial services firms globally, I look forward to leading the evolution of the Group’s strategy to deliver sustainable growth and attractive shareholder returns.”

OANDA Appoints Former IG Group CEO As Chairman of the Board

October 29, 2018 by Ricardo Esteves Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: CFD industry, CVC Capital Partners, FX, FX trading, IG GROUP, OANDA, OANDA Appoints, Tim Howkins, Vatsa Narasimha, Warren Faleiro

Tim Howkins, Chairman, Board of Directors at Oanda

OANDA has appointed industry veteran Tim Howkins as Chairman to its Board of Directors. The appointment follows the successful completion of CVC Capital Partners’ acquisition of OANDA, which was completed on 15 October 2018.

Tim Howkins is likely to add a wealth of industry-specific expertise to OANDA’s advisory team, having worked with entrepreneurial high-growth businesses for close to 35 years.

Best known for his 16-year career with IG Group, Tim Howkins initially joined the firm as CFO before assuming the role of CEO, which he played for nine years. There, he steered the business through an unprecedented period of global transformation, driving significant growth in shareholder value and quadrupling earnings per share.

Tim Howkins, Chairman of the Board of Directors at OANDA, commented:

“I am delighted to be joining OANDA at such an exciting time in the company’s 22-year history. Throughout my career in the FX and CFD industry, I have long admired OANDA as one of the most ethical firms in the industry, with a proven track record in treating clients fairly and placing their interests first. I am excited at the prospect of helping OANDA grow to be one of the largest global firms in the sector.”

Vatsa Narasimha, Chief Executive Officer of OANDA, added:

Vatsa Narasimha, President and Chief Executive Officer, OANDA Corporation

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Tim to the OANDA Board. A seasoned professional, his in-depth knowledge and unparalleled expertise in the market will be a tremendous asset to the firm as we look for new growth opportunities in the future.”

CVC Capital Partners, a leading private equity and investment advisory firm founded in 1981, completed the acquisition of OANDA on 15 October 2018. CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) founded in 1981, CVC today has a network of 23 offices and approximately 450 employees throughout Asia, Europe and the U.S. In total, CVC currently manages circa $70 billion of assets.

OANDA was the first company to share exchange rate data free of charge on the Internet, launching an FX trading platform that helped pioneer the development of web-based currency trading five years later. In April, the broker appointed a new Chief Technology Officer, Warren Faleiro. The company’s operation in Europe reported increased profitability for the year ending December 31st, 2017.

IG Group Receives Regulatory Approval from National Futures Association for US Operations

October 16, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: CMC Markets, Futures Dealer, Head of Trading Services, IG GROUP, Matthew Macklin, National Futures Association, NFA, regulatory approval, Rupert Osborne

IG Group’s dream of opening a US subsidiary got a major boost this Tuesday after it received regulatory approval from the National Futures Association (NFA), a self-regulatory organisation that governs the American derivative market.

With Today’s approval from NFA, IG Group has received all regulatory approvals it applied for in last October. IG Group was signalling about opening up of US office over the past 12 months and now it is estimated that it would open in the middle of 2019 fiscal, that means in the next couple of months.

According to NFA’s release and IG has also previously announced, the US office will be located in Chicago on W Jackson Boulevard in the heart of the Windy City’s financial district. IG is working on to build its US team for some time now and has made all the hires it needs for US operation. At the senior management level, the US CEO positions will be handled by Rupert Osborne, formerly IG’s Deputy Head of FX and Futures.

Matthew Macklin, IG Group Head of UK operations

IG Appoints Matthew Macklin as the firm’s Head of UK Operations

IG has also made an important hire in the UK region by appointing Matthew Macklin as the firm’s Head of UK operations. The information made public through his LinkedIn profile. Macklin has stepped down as Head of Europe from CMC Markets back in August where he was working since 2012.

Matthew Macklin’s return to IG Group marks the end of speculation about his next stint since he left CMC. Macklin started his career with IG in 2004, and worked for almost eight years, His first position at IG was as a Futures Dealer and in 2010, he was promoted to the Group Head of Sales Trading and again promoted after a period of one year as Group Head of Trading Services.

Peter Hetherington Resigns As CEO of IG Group

September 29, 2018 by Ricardo Esteves Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Andy Green, CFD broker, ESMA regulation, IG GROUP, Peter Hetherington, product innovation, Special Advisor

Peter Hetherington, Chief Executive Officer of IG Group Holdings, is stepping down both from his management role and the Board, effective immediately. The company made the announcement as the search for a new CEO is “well advanced”.

Hetherington, however, will continue in IG’s employment and will help with the transition to his successor until the end of the financial year. Over his 3-year tenure as CEO, IG’s PBT and EPS were up by more than 65%. He now holds the title of Special Advisor at IG Group.

Peter Hetherington commented: “When I joined IG in 1994 the Company employed fewer than 25 people and had revenues of £16 million and profits before tax of £0.8 million. There are today over 1,700 people working in 15 countries with revenues of over £550 million and profits before tax of over £280 million.”

Hetherington works at the organization for over 24 years, having joined as a graduate trainee in January 1994. He became the CEO in late 2015 and led the company through a period of significant regulatory uncertainty. The UK-based CFD broker was a leader in the opposition to the recent ESMA regulation, having even created the website replytoesma.trading as a response.

Andy Green, IG’s Chairman, said: “I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Peter for his tremendous contribution to the Group. Peter has been pivotal to the success of IG during his many years of service, particularly during the last three years during which he has successfully steered the Company through an unprecedented period of regulatory uncertainty whilst delivering strong earnings and profits growth. I particularly commend Peter for his strong ethical leadership of IG and his management of its recent performance. The Company will continue to focus on the delivery of its immediate priorities that Peter has set which the Board believes are successfully positioning IG for its next stage of development.”

Andy Green, IG’s Chairman

“Finally, I would like to thank all of IG’s employees, past and present, for their friendship, hard work and dedication which has make the last 24 years such an enjoyable and rewarding experience. I would also like to thank our hundreds of thousands of clients from all over the world who have put their trust in IG over the years. To our many loyal shareholders, I want to thank them for the faith they show in the Company”, Hetherington added.

The Board will now search for a CEO with wide global experience of the broader financial sector who can develop the business using its platform, geographic presence and product innovation as a base.