Five months have gone by since Australian retail FX broker FXTG was revitalized by its purchase by energetic retail FX industry figure Aviv Talmor, a period during which a whole host of structural changes have taken the company into a strong position.
The latest development from within the company is a complete redesign of its corporate website, which signifies another stage in the company’s new direction.
Additionally, the company has added gold bullion trading to its range of instruments, a factor which further bolsters the expansion into commodities by many FX firms, especially in financially strong locations such as Australia.
In congruence with LeapRate’s predictions for overall industry priorities this year, of which website design is moving away from overbearing data and long lists of offers and options, FXTG’s new design features large lettering, a striking and modern background, and large, simplified text which provides the most important information only.
LeapRate’s research into the matters which FX firms consider important in new websites shows that In an industry which supposedly is on the cutting edge of client acquisition and retention technology, as well as embracing of change, the GUIs of most forex brokers remain very old-school. We still see the standard ‘real account’ and ‘demo account’ buttons prominent on broker home pages, alongside a small currency rates table and bullet points touting the particular broker’s unique appeal.
We expect that one year from now brokers’ home pages and key landing pages will be a lot more visual, if not video oriented, with a lot less writing which can distract visitors from the key action items of open-an-account or try-us-for-30-days. FXTG’s new site is a perfect example of this, and the first to unveil such a site in 2015.
By conducting a total redesign of the website and changing the URL from FXTG.com.au to FXTGAustralia.com.au, the company has completed the final stage in its establishment as a totally independent entity, and is building its business with a clear view ahead.
In August last year, the company’s former Head of Sales Stavro D’Amore assumed the post of Chief Executive Officer following the purchase of the company from Dealserv by Mr. Talmor.
FXTG came into being in late 2009, initially in London under a license provided by the Financial Services Authority (latterly Financial Conduct Authority). The company was established by, and had shared ownership interest with Israel-based Dealserv, the service provider behind now-defunct unregulated brokerage Forex Place (4XP) which ceased operations last year.
Very shortly after establishing in London, FXTG surrendered its Financial Services Authority license, in favor of Australia’s highly coveted AFS license from the Australian Financial Services Commission, with Melbourne-based CEO Yossi Ashkenazi at the helm, however the demise of 4XP along with the entire former management of FXTG’s Australian operations has led to FXTG taking an entirely new corporate direction with a ground-up restructure, led by Mr. Talmor and Mr. D’Amore.
In August 2014, Mr. D’Amore explained to LeapRate that Mr. Talmor had begun to embark on an entire new vision for the firm. The technology that Dealserv had used before, along with its MetaTrader 4 servers, originally stationed in Caesaria, Israel, was bought alongside the two entities and relocated to Tel Aviv, where it was adapted considerably by adopting LMAX as a liquidity provider, and changing the execution model to provide A-book order flow as well as B-book.
The next apparently necessary but draconian step taken by the company’s new owners was to replace all of the former management, including former CEO Yossi Ashkenazi, with a newly selected management team, under Mr. D’Amore.
With regard to this particular move, Mr. D’Amore explained to LeapRate in August last year that “the replacement of the former management team was an absolute necessity for the survival and future growth of the firm. The redundancies included the entire previous management team and all of the Dealserv managers. Mr. Talmor then appointed new management of his selection.”
Modernity is most certainly on the cards for 2015.