Interview with Saxo Bank expert Feliks Indenbaum
-What trading and investment opportunities are available for investors in Azerbaijan?
-Azerbaijan's economy is mostly based on exports of oil, gas and cotton. These commodities are widely discussed in financial media and most of the population follows their dynamics on the financial markets. With the help of online trading platforms every Azeri investor can become an oil or cotton trader. Different types of instruments are available to traders such as oil and cotton futures or the corresponding CFDs, stocks or ETFs that are based on them.
In countries that are dependent on the oil industry, such as Azerbaijan, one can also benefit from the FX currency fluctuations. Another alternative which traders may explore is investing in companies whose business is based on oil and gas.
-What is the importance of investing/trading in current economic circumstances?
-Current economic circumstances provide a wide range of opportunities for all traders, whether novice or expert, pursuing either bullish or bearish strategies and exploring different markets. These conditions give traders the ability to benefit from increased volatility assuming they take adequate risk-management of positions.
-How has the financial crisis influenced Saxo Bank's clients? Has it stimulated people to start trading/investing?
-As a fully licensed and regulated Danish bank, we're subject to stringent EU directives and regulations regarding client handling and financial stability. Due to the financial crisis, the number of clients choosing transparency and reliability and switching from small brokerage houses to financial institutions such as Saxo Bank has increased significantly. Multi-asset offering, best execution policies and innovative, intuitive platforms provide a quick and easy way for investors to realize their market ideas and strategies, both in bullish and in bearish markets.
-What is the main way of drawing people into investing in emerging countries?
-The best way to make investing more attractive is through education. Tradingfloor.com, the revolutionary social trading portal Saxo Bank launched last year, is the first multi-asset social trading platform that allows investors to interact with each other, exchange views and ideas, see what others are trading and even copy their trades. Investors can also watch videos on Saxo TV and access various educational material including tutorials.
The population in developed countries like the USA, Western Europe, and Asian "tigers" like Singapore or Hong Kong is very active in financial markets; however, emerging countries have been slow to adopt online trading. Having said that, over the past year we have seen interest increasing and more people enquiring about our services or signing up.
-How can both private and institutional investors benefit from volatilities, especially those happening in commodity markets?
-Volatility brings opportunities. Significant moves in the markets may result in significant profits in the very short-term horizon but they can also result in losses. That's why risk management and loss limitations are extremely important during high volatility periods. Another important factor to consider is leverage that should be wisely managed in order to be able to carry out the adverse market movements. Volatility itself is also an asset which may be traded via relevant futures and ETFs; in this case, traders don't have to think about bullish or bearish trends, but can profit by making correct forecasts in the volatility of the instrument.