Jan De Schepper, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Swissquote Bank spoke to Best Execution about the challenges and ambitions of a relatively young player in the FX market.
What has been the ongoing impact of Covid-19?
It’s been quite limited in fact. In terms of organisation, once we’d faced and coped with the first wave of Covid-19, and we’d equipped our staff across all offices over the world, it was basically just a work mode to switch on/off when we faced the successive waves. This new way of working, one day at the office, the day after at home for several weeks, is now well understood and accepted by collaborators. Nevertheless, in order to continue to develop the Swissquote values and way of working, I really hope that the Omicron wave will be the last. Some people hired in 2020 and 2021 have barely worked in the office, so they don’t have the real taste of what the firm is like.
Has your client base changed and if so how and why?
Yes…, and no. “No” because the clients who were already with us continued trading with Swissquote. And, “yes” because we’ve ‘inherited’ lots of new traders, mainly from the traditional banks, thanks to the work of our relationship management teams. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the feedback we get from clients is that they really appreciate having someone at the other end of the line that they can talk to, or someone that they can meet whenever they wish. Having a permanent relationship management team on site, at all locations, has helped enormously to build trust and foster long-term client relations.
Due to the pandemic, people have experienced periods of isolation, with periodic lockdowns and limited opportunities to travel or just meet others, but this has proven to be a defining moment in Swissquote’s young history and a reason why growth has reached all-time highs. Our clients now understand that interacting with an online bank doesn’t mean that you have just a platform to deal with, but also a wealth of knowledgeable collaborators who are available and ready to help and support them.
Can you identify other major trends that had an impact in 2021?
Digital Assets and ESG investments have become more important in 2021. People are looking for new types of investment but also showing a growing interest in social and environmentally friendly vehicles. While this is not a new phenomenon, compared to 2020, it is clearly a trend that has multiplied over the past year.
How has liquidity been impacted?
Except for some rare occasions, such as the fall of Turkish lira, liquidity has been consistent and solid over the past year. Our dealing team carefully choose our counterparties and focus on the strengths of each, which means that we have always managed to provide quality liquidity to our partners.
Are you expecting an interest rate hike given that inflation is rising?
I believe it is coming for sure. And it’s welcome as well. We can’t go on indefinitely with negative interest rates on some of the most traded currencies in the world. At one stage, there will be return to ‘normality’, although probably not to prior levels, but at least we will get back to positive territory for all major currencies within the next two to three years.
What technological tools were the most useful during this past 12 months?
I’m borrowing a slogan from the former number one manufacturer of mobile devices’ (even though it was from a long time ago!), but anything to do with “Connecting People”. This applies to all the tools that helped us to continue performing and delivering the best possible service throughout the ups and down of the pandemic. Key for us was the use of all available means to communicate, support and share with our clients on a permanent basis. And I must say a word about our marketing teams who have been very creative and innovative in their approach to the market during these difficult times. They didn’t hold back during the whole pandemic, and this is something that allowed us to grow significantly.
What are your strategic plans for next year?
There is only one direction, and it is a keyword for us: growth. Whether this comes through new acquisitions or opening new offices, or getting new licenses across the globe. We have the financials to support our ambitions and we are eager to continue to develop Swissquote further.
What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities?
Regulations are a permanent challenge. But I must say that we, and our clients, cope very well with them. The financial world is becoming ever more complicated but it is our task to comply with these regulations, and to explain them to our clients. Transparency is needed in our sector for sure, and new regulations usually go in that direction. Also, even though with the multiplication of communication channels it has been enhanced, hiring good, qualified, Swissquote compatible people is a challenge. The local market is ‘dry’, but we have brought in multiple talents from countries beyond the borders of Switzerland and Europe, and this will continue.
The opportunities for Swissquote are many. We are just writing the first pages of our young history, and there are lots more to come. In Switzerland, Europe and all over the world, we have only realised a tiny percentage of our potential. Stay tuned for the next chapters.
©Markets Media Europe 2022
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