Rate hikes locked on and an end to lock downs?
With 2022 now well underway, markets are eyeing the prospect of a series of rate hikes from many major central banks, accompanied by a degree of optimism that the worst of the COVID pandemic may now be behind us. The exact pace of policy tightening does however remain the subject of much debate and with so many external factors up for consideration – from geopolitical challenges to the continued run of high energy prices and what this means for inflation – this is a story which appears likely to run right through the year. Attempting to normalise monetary policy was never going to be an easy task to accomplish, so tackling this as the world continues to navigate its way out of a global health pandemic only serves to exacerbate both the challenge for economists and the potential for underlying volatility to remain elevated, too.
Corporate Update
Last month, CMC Markets published its Q3 trading update. At the end of January, CMC Markets published the Q3 trading update, noting that financial performance had been in line with the previously stated guidance. Monthly client numbers remain at similar levels to those seen in the first half of the financial year and the company confirmed that it remains on track to launch the new UK Investment platform in the first half of the calendar year.
Events
The latter part of 2021 saw the CMC Markets Connect team attending a number of industry events, as in-person meetings and networking sessions moved back onto the agenda. This included the Finance Magnates London Summit, which returned to its usual Old Billingsgate venue having been conducted virtually in 2020. This overlapped with the Hedgeweek European Emerging Managers Summit, which was hosted in the Reform Club on Pall Mall, again with CMC Markets Connect providing support through its sponsorship of the event.
Looking ahead, we will be sending a team out to this month’s iFX Expo, which will be taking place in Dubai on February 23rd & 24th. If you’re attending the show and want to arrange a meeting, let the team know by emailing institutional@cmcmarkets.com
Following the great response to the webinar and workshop we coordinated as part of 2021’s International Women’s Day, we are already planning to host another session in early March 2022. The plan is to run this as a hybrid event, facilitating both virtual and physical participation, which we hope can foster some great networking opportunities as well as making this accessible to the widest possible audience. Following on from the success of our last topic – “Blockchain and the Future of Digital Settlement”, we are currently lining up a panel of renowned speakers who will answer the question “Cryptocurrencies: the new “digital gold” or a weak inflation hedge? For more details or to attend the event, please contact v.paling@cmcmarkets.com
Awards
CMC Markets Connect was heralded as “Best FX Trading Platform” in the annual awards, voted for by attendees at the Finance Magnates London Summit. We’re also delighted to announce that our in-house analyst, Michael Hewson, was recognised as “Best In-House Analyst” at the Professional Trader Awards, which were held in December 2021.
Publications
The team have again been busy providing their thoughts and opinions on a range of subjects impacting the FX and CFD industries, plus the wider market for liquidity over the last quarter. Highlights here included a ‘review of the year’ by Richard Elston with FX News Group https://fxnewsgroup.com/forex-news/institutional/conversation-with-cmc-connects-richard-elston/, whilst Artur Deliergiev, our quantitative trading manager, spoke to TraderTV on why diverse order flow delivers better FX pricing https://tradertv.net/better-fx-pricing-through-diverse-order-flow.
From our Sydney office, APAC Head of Institutional Sales Andrew Wood updated Fazzaco on the company’s recently launched initiatives to use volatility indicators to help both prop trading and B2B2C clients, whilst London based quant trader Scott Scrase discussed the challenges faced by regulated brokers when building out a digital asset offering with Finance Magnates. https://www.financemagnates.com/thought-leadership/building-a-digital-asset-offering-an-institutional-take-on-crypto/
Keeping in touch
In addition to this quarterly bulletin, we also provide regular updates on our dedicated CMC Markets Institutional LinkedIn page. Please feel free to follow us at https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/cmc-markets-connect/ for the most up to date news of all our latest developments.
