Major forex players gear up for Invest Fair 2009

(SINGAPORE) Amid the growing popularity of foreign exchange (FX) trading, leading providers chasing a bigger slice of the cake will make their presence felt - in a big way - at Invest Fair 2009.

For instance, third-time participant CMC Markets is unfazed by the economic slowdown and has signed up for a 'platinum' booth of 36 square metres.

According to general manager Geoffrey Sawyer: 'The market volatility underscores the importance of knowledge and skills to ensure traders capitalise on opportunities and challenges.

'Invest Fair is an event that brings together those who are serious about trading and investing. CMC Markets believes the event provides a great platform for traders to access new information and products. Participants can also hear from the industry experts and gain a better understanding of the themes that will shape the market over the next year.'

Besides a line-up of interesting and educational seminars at the event, CMC Markets is offering new customers a Risk Free Trading Day - the trader can keep any profits, while CMC Markets will cover any losses, during a day of real trading.

Another forex player at Invest Fair, to be held from Aug 22-23, will be Phillip Capital. Its director of business development (consumer services), Lisa Lee, says that retail players are looking for ways to ride the market volatility.

Christopher Lee, CEO of ShareInvestor, agrees. 'Based on the significant increase in the number of subscribers who attended our forex-related seminars over the past six months, we believe the FX industry in Singapore will continue to grow at a fast pace.

'Hence, we are very excited that all the major foreign exchange providers will make their presence felt at the fair as they seek to educate the public about their latest product offerings.'

The FX market is the world's largest financial market, with average daily trade exceeding US$3.2 trillion.

Industry players expect the market to become even more popular. 'We are seeing an increasing number of clients trade a multitude of asset classes including FX, shares, treasuries and commodities, all from one trading account and platform,' says CMC's Mr Sawyer.

'The ability to easily access these markets at low or zero commissions - in the case of all our other products - only means we will see greater interest and therefore higher trade activity in asset classes such as FX.'

Phillip's Ms Lee says: 'Our new FX trading platform Phillip FX 365 has seen more than 100 per cent growth in users in a short time, as all the information traders require is available to investors on a single platform.'

However, it is important that investors find out more about the forex products before jumping on to the bandwagon, she says. 'A good understanding on the workings of the product is essential before you start trading.'

Besides CMC Markets and PhillipCapital, other major FX providers such as City Index Asia, IG Markets, MF Global Singapore and Saxo Capital Markets will participate in Invest Fair 2009, which is jointly organised by ShareInvestor and The Business Times.