‘To succeed you can’t stand still’

Rob Griffin hears how the industry has changed almost beyond recognition in the past decade.
14 October 2014

Matt Macklin has always been passionate about trading — and now he combines work and play through his job as Head of Europe for CMC Markets, one of the established players in the fiercely competitive world of spread betting.

The Tottenham Hotspur fan made the decision to join the fledgling industry while travelling across Australia and South-east Asia, on a career break from banking. That was a decade ago and he hasn’t looked back since.

“I’d always had an interest in betting, trading and market making, so I wanted to pursue a career in that environment,” he recalls. “At that time, I was mainly betting on sports such as football, cricket and tennis.”

The fact that spread betting provided a variety that was difficult to match elsewhere was a big draw for Macklin, who initially went into the dealing side before moving over to manage client-facing teams.

“It was an exciting time to come into the industry because it was still in its infancy and at the start of a phase that saw exponential year-onyear growth,” he recalls. “Also, there weren’t many roles where you had exposure to such a wide range of asset classes and products.”

In his current position he manages sales and marketing teams within Europe and Canada, a role which involves a lot of trips to the company’s numerous offices across the world, including those in Oslo, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Madrid, Paris and Toronto.

Since he became involved in the industry, in 2004, the changes that have taken place have been little short of spectacular, he says.

Low barriers to entry have encouraged competition, costs have fallen substantially, and the rising wave of technology has enabled providers to constantly innovate and share their products and platforms with a wider variety of potential customers.

“The industry is barely recognisable from the one I joined a decade ago,” he says. “To succeed in this area means you can’t stand still. It’s fiercely competitive and the technological changes all the time make it an exciting and dynamic place to work.”

The way people trade has also changed dramatically. “When I started, telephone trading was starting to phase out and even online trading was different to what it is now, with automated execution replacing manual dealer intervention,” he says.”

Traditional desktop trading, meanwhile, is rapidly giving way to mobile and tablet trading, thanks to the phenomenal growth of this area of the market across the world.

“Clients are also increasingly demanding because the competition is so fierce and it’s no longer enough to compete solely on price,” says Macklin. “They want competitive pricing but they are also seeking that flight to quality, and providers have to tick all the boxes.”

As well as a commitment to providing technical innovation, regular platform enhancements and efficient execution, they also need a strong balance sheet to support operations and offer exceptional customer service so that they are able to retain their customers’ loyalty.

“We’re always looking to expand our product suite,” he adds. “However, you can offer all the products in the world but if you haven’t got a slick platform, where there’s efficient execution and pricing, it doesn’t mean a great deal. You need both.”

As far as trends are concerned, Macklin has noticed a shift from equities into index trading of late, and he suggests that this accounts for the vast majority of flows these days. Foreign exchange, meanwhile, has been quiet thanks to a lack of volatility in the market.

So how does he see the future? Well, given the lightning speed at which the industry — and the technology behind it — has developed over the past decade, it would be a very brave man that made predictions with any degree of certainty.

However, he believes the market is approaching saturation point and suggests there could be some consolidation over the coming years. In addition, he’d like to see a more level playing field when it comes to international providers.

“You’ve got non-regulated firms or those operating under a less stringent overseas regulatory regime, trying to win business in the UK,” he says. “That’s something we’d like to see change, but ultimately it’s in the hands of overseas regulation.”

From a client perspective, though, the future looks bright. Not only are they demonstrating an increasing appetite for diversification, they are also far more empowered these days, with enhanced charting, realtime news and market analysis at their disposal.

“We also give them insights into what other clients are doing, while message boards let them share their technical analysis,” he says.

“When you combine that with technology improvements and reduced costs, spread betters have never had it so good.”

For more information on CMC Markets: http://www.cmcmarkets.co.uk/en

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