At the end of October, Adam Saward joined EC Markets as UK Managing Director.
Saward will be a familiar face to readers, as he’s spent time at a couple of larger brokers and worked in the financial services industry for two decades.
But it was also – on the face of it – an odd move.
The UK is a market that lots of executives are pessimistic about, so why take up a role focused on the country? We spoke to EC Markets’ newest hire to find out.
A lot of firms are pulling away from the UK, given how difficult it is to face retail clients here. It looks like EC Markets plans on doing the opposite. Why?
This is the first question I get asked at the minute, and I understand why. On the face of it, it may not be a conventional place to find growth so companies look elsewhere, but I like the UK for exactly that reason.
I also have a firm belief that the UK is underserviced and without giving away the entire business plan, we have ideas on how to service UK clients with what they want, or what they didn’t realise they wanted.
There are only a handful of firms covering the UK in any great capacity and as long as you have a grasp on the current regulatory landscape in the UK, I think there is a great opportunity.
Your background is not just in CFDs but also in setting up trading in equities and other securities. Do you have plans to add other products, beyond the FX/CFD products?
Yes, some of the most fun I’ve had has been when setting up new products and services. There’s something about bringing people together when creating that can really unify the team, especially when they can all share in its success.
So yes, I think almost everyone is looking at what else they can add other than FX and CFDs and we have a firm idea on what we think the clients are after in the UK, so will be building out our technology stack to support these in the coming months. I think a broker’s own technology is going to be a key focus over the next few years, it will be as important to a client as pricing is today.
Beyond retail, will EC Markets have some kind of LP or B2B offering?
Yes, it is important to vary your revenue streams and being in the UK it certainly makes sense to cater to institutional business and complement the core retail offering. There is plenty for us to get into regarding our core service but this is on our future product list.
What made you decide to join EC Markets?
I was actually quite content running my own business as I’ve worked in the city for a fairly long time now and welcomed, for a year at least, that I got a break from the usual 5.15 wake up to commute.
It was a chance encounter with Group CEO Matt Smith that brought me back into the City. I was invited to EC Markets’ brand new office, coincidentally just a few buildings down from where I used to work at Penson Financial, where a talk about technology and their trading platform options turned into a deeper discussion about the current industry, where it was going and what it might look like for brokers if they embraced the technological wave we are currently seeing.
Matt and myself shared a similar career path and he agreed with my thoughts on what a successful broker in the UK would look like if built today. After further talks, EC Markets offered me the opportunity to lead the UK division and from speaking to key staff and ownership I got a sense of stability and the desire to build but to build correctly. So when I realised I felt comfortable with the team around me and its owners it was an easy decision, and when so much work is expected of you, it is imperative that you feel the confidence of being backed and supported in your decisions.
Your partnership with Judd Trump is an interesting one. I was not aware of how big snooker is in China. Has that been successful for that market specifically?
Unfortunately for me I am yet to meet him in person (although he’s set to be joining us on our FMLS stand in a few weeks) but I’ve been told Judd is great, very down to earth and easy to work with and EC Markets have seen great coverage due to his dominance over the past year. Snooker is most popular in China, the UK and most recently the UAE, which aligns well with the financial hubs of our own industry.
Tournaments are watched by over 250m people in China so engagement of those numbers is always helpful, especially when he is so accommodating. But with a global client base we have seen increased interest across all of his international following. EC Markets have been extremely pleased with the partnership with Judd and wish him continued success. I am looking forward to what this next year brings for us, strengthening our technology, developing our products and focusing on an exemplary client service whilst cultivating a culture for people to be as successful as they possibly can.