BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 28. UTrader trading platform launched by Azerbaijan’s Unicapital investment company in 2022 provides investors with access to more than 15,000 local and 17,000 foreign financial tools, the Director of Digital Business and Projects at Unicapital Vugar Namazov told Trend on October 28.
According to Namazov, an important indicator of investment business in Azerbaijan is access to the client base, resources of financial capital, corporate resources, including the human resources base, application of technology and brand awareness.
"Today, Unicapital provides all kinds of investment services, available in Azerbaijan, including brokerage, underwriting, portfolio management, and margin trading. As in all types of services, the user occupies an important place in the investment business. It's important to determine who the user is and what expectations and needs this group of users has. It's interesting that these expectations can be hidden or sublimated in other manifestations and actions," he said.
“In addition to traditional activity, the emphasis is also placed on the creation of well-structured products such as UTrader, UForex, UTrust, and others. Clients have been trusting our expertise in the financial markets, attracting funds and investment for long years,” the company’s representative noted. “In this context, I want to highlight the main trends in the development of the global capital market: access to capital, execution of transactions, post-trading services, data, analytical and information services, operations and technology.”
Namazov also informed that digital transformation became an important element in the evolution of business.
"I believe that Azerbaijan's capital market is currently undergoing a period of transition when it has the opportunity to adapt to digital trends and technologies, as well as to introduce new business models and innovative products and services,” he further said. “The implementation of innovations and the opportunities they create depend first of all on the company's sound digital strategy.”
“The opportunities created by innovations at this level for the sector include online customer recognition, remote customer account opening, mobile commerce, electronic payments, and other contactless services, providing customers with a limitless market and a set of tools," he pointed out.
The technological solutions of Unicapital, according to Namazov, allow clients to trade and follow the market on global exchanges at the lowest available rates compared to companies in their group.
"UTrader is the first multi-instrumental trade platform developed in the Azerbaijani language. It is available to the bank's clients both on web platforms and in a mobile application," the company’s representative stated.
He emphasized that the features of trading on the platform are the actual ownership of real shares (without CFDs or other synthetic assets), which gives investors real ownership in addition to receiving dividends.
Namazov noted that the Azerbaijani people's interest in investments is growing rapidly.
“The citizens are aware that investment is a way to make money work for them, and the Azerbaijani consumers of financial services are paying more and more attention to this sector. In the context of investments, our consumers turn into investors. They begin understanding that investing in traditional financial institutions is less profitable,” he said. “Furthermore, the citizens can purchase shares of a particular company in order to earn money through various financial instruments. Thus, Azerbaijani investors realize the advantage of investing in financial institutions and the capital market, rather than in traditional markets.”
He reminded that the investment ecosystem of Azerbaijan has developed in three stages: the introduction of privatization in 1997, the establishment of the Baku Stock Exchange (BSE), and the current development stage.
"In 1997, Azerbaijan adopted the first state privatization program and established the National Depository Center, which kept records of shares of privatized companies. Later, the BSE was set up in 2020. Our investors hold active investment positions in foreign markets, and Unicapital is making efforts to facilitate their impact on the local market," Namazov stated.
"Market analysis demonstrates that the retail business is the major driver of financial and investment markets," the company’s representative added.
Besides, according to him, Unicapital Investment Company is leading the Azerbaijani capital market with an annual growth of financial assets by 33 percent.
“Azerbaijan has 13 licensed investment organizations, out of which 11 are members of the Baku Stock Exchange. As part of Unibank, Unicapital has long been a stock market participant. Our one-third dependence on the parent company is a good indicator for the local market. There are very many investment companies that depend on parent business, but our strategy is aimed to reduce this dependence," Namazov said.
“Our assets amounted to 10 million manat ($5.88 million). Our company managed to enter the Top 5 investment Azerbaijani companies by assets due to the funds. The company's profitability increased by 72 percent in 2021 compared to 2020 and doubled compared to 2019. Apart from positive financial indicators, recognition constitutes another essential factor. Following this factor, we are included in the Top 3 investment companies of Azerbaijan," he added.
