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ActivTrades

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ActivTrades
IndustryFinancial Services
Founded2001 (2001)
FounderAlex Pusco
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Websitehide

ActivTrades is a UK-based online broker providing trading in Forex, Contracts for Difference (CFDs), and Spread Betting. It provides services to retail and institutional traders via the electronic trading platforms MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

The company's client base is primarily based in Europe, especially in Italy and Germany as well as in South America, the Middle East and South East Asia.[1]

History

Founder and Chairman Alex Pusco established ActivTrades as an online trading company in Switzerland in 2001 and moved to London in 2005.[2]

The Forex broker expanded its product range offering MetaTrader 4 in 2007 and adding CFDs on indices and commodities to its offer in 2008. 

ActivTrades expanded its presence in the UK, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and strengthened its position across Central Europe in 2012. The company also became a regular sponsor of the World of Trade Conference and has supported the conference for several years.[3]

The first independent World of Trading Awards occurred in Germany in 2013, for which ActivTrades was recognised for as the top Forex Broker in relation to the MetaTrader platform.[4]

In March 2012, the company offered MetaTrader 5 to its users and included financial spread betting to its portfolio for UK-based clients.

In 2013, ActivTrades implemented its Negative Balance Protection Policy and a separate insurance protection as excess to the FSCS insurance. This policy is underwritten by QBE Underwriting Limited and other participating syndicates at Lloyd’s of London.[5]

The launch of the Smart Tools, a series of add-ins for its trading platforms, followed later that year.

In 2015, ActivTrades launched their own Prepaid Master Card, then in 2016 the company launched its proprietary trading platform ActivTrader.[6]

In 2017, ActivTrades strengthened its client insurance protection to £1.0 million, making it one of the highest levels in the industry.[7]

Operations

ActivTrades is headquartered in London. The company employs more than 200 individuals, covering key areas of the business such as customer service (a multilingual team serving over 14 different languages), marketing, compliance, finance, risk management and IT among others.  

They operate three branches outside the UK – in Milan, Sofia and Dubai.[8] The Milan office was opened in 2011 to better support clients in this area. The company’s larger branch in Sofia, Bulgaria,[9] opened in 2012 and now employs more than 100 people and handles the programming and technical development aspects of the company. The Dubai office opened in 2016. The remainder of ActivTrades’ employees are in its UK headquarters.

The Middle Eastern expansion has resulted in the organisation’s recognition as the Best Retail FX Provider from the Investment Opportunities and Wealth Management Conference, as well as Fastest Growing FX Provider in the Middle East.

CEO Alex Pusco has spoken about this expansion when he said, “The Middle East market has seen undeniable growth in the last 10 years, and to meet the growing demand we have opened this new office (in Dubai), situated in the International Financial Centre, from where we can offer a bespoke service to these clients.”[10]

Platforms and Mobile Trading

ActivTrades offers MetaTrader 4 and 5, which are also available for mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Android. They also provide swap free accounts as well as access to the markets via ActivTrader, a web and mobile platform to buy and sell instruments on the go.

Regulation

The Company is authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and by CONSOB in Italy, and is also a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.[11] The firm was fined £85,750 in 2011 for failure to segregate customer funds.[12] Since, the broker has increased its client funds protection insurance from £500,000 to £1 million as excess of the FSCS threshold. In 2017, ActivTrades became also regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

Achievements

ActivTrades has won various awards since its inception in 2001. In 2013, ActivTrades` was chosen as Best Forex Customer Service[13] during the Jordan Forex Awards and were shortlisted as “Company of the Year” in the prestigious UK Growing Business Awards.[14] They were also selected as One of the UK’s 100 fastest growing companies and were the highest rated broker in the Investec Hot 100.[15]

In 2016, they were awarded the UK Forex Broker of the Year Award in the Le Fonti IAIR Awards. In 2017, ActivTrades won the ADVFN International Financial awards 2017 in the category of Best Online Trading services.[16][17] The award panel commented that “The company places customer service at the core of its operation and continues to win globally recognised accolades for its commitment to meeting its customers’ needs.”[18]

Most recently, the company won Best Execution Broker prize at the Agence IAT Grand Prize Excellence awards and Best Online Trading Services in the Shares Magazine Awards last November 2017.

2013 - One of the UK’s 100 fastest growing companies voted for by the Investec Hot 100.

2013 - Shortlisted as "Company of the Year" in the prestigious UK Growing Business Award.

2013 – Best Forex Customer Service.

2016 - Corporate visions' CEO of the month.

2016 - IAIR Best Forex Broker of the Year UK.

2017 - ADVFN International Financial Awards 2017 in the category of Best Online Trading Services.

2017 - Online Personal Wealth Awards' Best Non-Dealing Desk Broker.

2017 – Shares magazine awards as Best Online Trading Services.

The Swiss Franc Case

ActivTrades is dedicated to providing a secure trading environment for its clients. This was evident with the Swiss-Franc decision in 2015. As a broker offering balance protection, ActivTrades took early precautions and increased margin requirements. This avoided the negative effects caused by the extreme market volatility.[19][20] 

References

  1. ^ Pusco, Alex. "The online boom will continue". Real Business.
  2. ^ Pusco, Alex. "The online boom will continue". Real Business.
  3. ^ "Alex Pusco: 'The online boom will continue'". Real Business.
  4. ^ "World of Trading Award: ActivTrades belegt Platz 1 als Forex Broker des Jahres 2013". OnlineBroker-Portal.de.
  5. ^ Forexagone. "Les clients d". Forexagone.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  6. ^ "Exclusive: ActivTrades CEO Alex Pusco Sees Massive Growth in Mobile | Finance Magnates". Finance Magnates | Financial and business news. 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  7. ^ "ActivTrades Strengthens Client Protection Insurance to £1m | Finance Magnates". Finance Magnates | Financial and business news. 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  8. ^ "ActivTrades 2016 Revenues up 11% to £34.9 million as international growth continues". LeapRate. 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  9. ^ "My Week: Alex Pusco of ActivTrades". Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  10. ^ "Exclusive: ActivTrades CEO Alex Pusco Sees Massive Growth in Mobile | Finance Magnates". Finance Magnates | Financial and business news. 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  11. ^ "The Financial Services Register". Financial Conduct Authority.
  12. ^ "Activtrades". Financial Conduct Authority. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  13. ^ "`ActivTrades` has been chosen as Best Forex Customer Service in 2013 during the Jordan Forex Awards". 2015-01-19. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  14. ^ "Growing Business Awards 2013 – the winners - Real Business". Real Business. 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  15. ^ Bow, Michael (2013-06-07). "London on top in race for growth". Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  16. ^ "ADVFN International Financial Awards 2017 – Company Announcement - FT.com". markets.ft.com. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  17. ^ "ADVFN International Financial Awards 2017 | SWNS". stories.swns.com. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  18. ^ "ADVFN Awards 2017". uk.advfn.com. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  19. ^ "Exclusive: Saxo Bank Wins Swiss Franc Dispute Case in Danish Commercial Court | Finance Magnates". Finance Magnates | Financial and business news. 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  20. ^ CFA, Stephen D. Simpson, (2011-06-28). "The Swiss Franc: What Every Forex Trader Needs To Know". Investopedia. Retrieved 2017-11-14.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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