iGB Affiliate iGB Affiliate 59 | Page 40

INSIGHT pressure on binary and CFDs, which are being questioned as to whether they really are financial trading, this I think will continue. However, a move away from boiler room sales would help to soften the hardliners. My real forecast is that we will see more a move like those we have seen from AAMS and ARJEL, in that EU regulators will start blocking non-regulated operators. In short - start punishing the bad boys and stop punishing the good boys. A proliferation of trading bots means many clients don’t even see the broker’s website, also bypassing traditional marketing and advice channels such as financial portals and affiliates. Is this the right path for the market to be going in, and how sustainable is this in the longer term? an effect on the market like Bookings. com has on travel. As a retailer in any industry, you need to offer value and brand reputation to a wide range of consumers. If you answer the demands of the bots as clients you will also generate an opportunity to generate more income. FX and binary are seen as largely niche products. Is broadening their appeal among other and emerging demographics such as Millennials needed for their continued, sustainable growth, and if so, how should the industry be going about this? OG: Technology is a cornerstone for Millennials who conduct much of their lives online. They expect intuitive and easy to use products and if the industry wants to attract significant numbers of this demographic they need to bear this “Social trading is essential and so is ‘lite trading’ with a more simplistic interface. Our sector has seen slow mobile take-up,which we will need to address if we hope to shift its attractiveness to the younger demographic” Nicc Lewis, Leverate OG: This is not the case with all companies, certainly not with ours. I think this statement may be relevant for companies which offer the same product on the same off-the-shelf platform, and have little or no brand stickiness. It may be due to an overload of small companies and I think the market will correct this oversupply in the future. NL: If you follow global market trends, we are seeing more and more that consumers both aggregate their buys and also use multiple brands. Bots have 36 iGB Affiliate Issue 59 OCT/NOV 2016 in mind. I think the best way to go about this is fairly straightforward, we need to engage with the emerging demographics and understand their needs, wants and expectations and then nurture that relationship. This will help us create products and marketing strategies which are relevant, engaging and bring ongoing value into their lives. The relationship has to be continuous and will involve improving and renewing products and marketing strategies to meet new and changing needs and wants. NL: Your offering needs to be wide to cater for a wide group of customers. Social trading is essential and so is “lite trading” with a more simplistic interface. Our sector has seen a slow take-up on mobile and we will need to address this if we hope to shift its attractiveness to the younger demographic. But the key factor is to look at this market and be able to answer one simple question they have: what’s in it for me? OPHIR GERTNER, co-founder of invest.com, has extensive experience in online investments and financial markets. An entrepreneur at heart, Ophir has a strong track record of developing market-leading products and services, including technology start-ups and real estate development. His wealth of international experience includes leadership roles in companies in the UK, Cyprus, Hungry, Middle East Georgia and Thailand. NICC LEWIS is the Chief Marketing Officer at Leverate. He is responsible for the company’s marketing endeavors including product launches, strategy, campaigns, online and offline marketing and branding. Nicc brings more than 10 years of executive-level marketing experience in the digital marketing industry. Prior to joining Leverate, he worked for several years in the field of retail management, including positions with Body Shop and Morgan Fashions. NAME: OPHIR GERTNER AND NICC LEWIS DATE: 21 OCTOBER WHEN: 12:00