"I would personally choose a US or European broker with a good credit rating," - Igor Dombrovann, Saxo Bank

Igor Dombrovan, Managing Director of Saxo Bank Russia, is a guest of ForTrader.org magazine.

- Hello, Igor. Let's start our conversation with a question about how you became acquainted with stock trading?

- Hello, Julia. I became interested in stock trading in the nineties. It was a time when it had only just appeared in our country. Very few people in Russia knew about the international Forex market, as well as the world stock and futures exchanges. Orders were given over the phone, the costs of trading financial instruments were dozens, if not hundreds, of times higher than the current level. It is all the more amazing to what extent the market has been able to develop by now.

Thanks to the Internet today for online trading Russian investors have access to almost all foreign exchanges (here and shares, and indices, and exchange-traded mutual funds, or eft), more than one and a half hundred currency pairs on the , a huge number of derivatives - futures, options, contracts for difference... Transactions are made in a fraction of a second through brokers' trading platforms, of which, by the way, there is a large enough choice on the market. Costs on commissions have significantly decreased. Brokerage accounts are opened free of charge and in a matter of hours. The level of service and investor protection is incomparably higher, especially in serious brokerage companies....

- Which exchanges are of interest to you and why? Which exchanges does Saxo Bank plan to develop cooperation with?

- The main thing in exchange trading is transparency, liquidity and prompt availability of information. Based on these criteria, I am most interested in American and European exchanges. There are quite a few interesting issuers here, for example, Volkswagen, Beiersdorf AG, Facebook, Apple, as well as many companies that are not so well known to a wide range of investors, but have good potential for investment.

If we talk about Saxo Bank, today we provide access to more than 30 exchanges around the world - almost all of them with sufficient liquidity and significant trading volumes. These include the U.S. exchanges (NYSENasdaq), European (London, Paris, Frankfurt, etc.), and Asian (Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo...) exchanges. A few foreign exchanges with relatively small volumes and the Moscow Exchange remained uncovered.

As for the latter, although it is currently more expensive to trade on it than on other global platforms, nevertheless, we are working on opportunities for cooperation. But, unfortunately, for a number of organizational reasons (primarily related to the lack of clear regulation of the derivatives market in Russia), the prospects for cooperation are not very clear yet. Of course, Russian and foreign clients can trade shares of Russian companies through SaxoTrader using depositary receipts of these issuers on American and European exchanges (and almost all Russian blue chips - Rosneft, VimpelCom, and Sberbank - have depositary receipts).

In addition to the Russian exchange, we plan to expand the list of futures exchanges and, moreover, to develop the OTC market, primarily in the area of binary currency options. For example, starting from August, we will add to the current 40 currency binars euro-ruble, dollar-ruble options. And we don't plan on stopping there.

- What do you dislike about the structure of exchange or OTC trading, are there things you would like to change?

- I believe that the most important thing in the structure of exchange and over-the-counter trading is the transparency and clarity. First of all, it concerns issues of regulation, protection of client funds. In America and Europe, these issues have been resolved. For example, in Europe everything is regulated by a single directive MIFID - and , and other markets. The relationship between broker and client is as transparent as possible. In Denmark, for example, where Saxo Bank clients' accounts are opened, these things are monitored by the DFSA. In addition, all bank accounts (including investment brokerage accounts) are insured. In Russia, unfortunately, there is no such clarity yet, and I must say that a number of unscrupulous companies take advantage of this. Although it is pleasant to realize that the movement towards greater regulation of the market and derivatives is now taking place. Not so long ago, a bill was introduced proposing regulation of the entire derivatives market (as opposed to the previous ones, which were too narrowly focused on regulation only). If such an analog of MIFID is adopted in Russia, it will make life much easier for bona fide brokers and, first of all, for their clients.

In addition, you need statistics on completed customer transactionsIn order to know what the trend is now, what is being sold, and what is preferred to buy. Publication of such information would definitely help not only novice traders, but would also make professionals with experience think. Saxo Bank is working in this direction, trying to provide its clients with maximum information in an aggregated form.

ForTrader.org: Many people think that trading on the stock exchange is either a frivolous endeavor or a scam. What do you have to say about it?

- This is a very interesting question. I think, as one of the factors, it was facilitated, again, by the incorrect behavior of a number of companies that have used and are using the "holes" in the law and tempting, but unfortunately untrue, promises attract inexperienced clients.

The second factor is, of course, Lack of investment culture and rather low level of financial literacy as a whole.

Thirdly, for some reason many people think that trading is something that everyone can do. Although it also requires certain knowledge and skills, like any profession. Need to know the basics of financial managementIn addition, you need to understand the market you are trading in and constantly monitor information on the selected instrument.

Yes, on the one hand, trading on the stock exchange has become very easy now, thanks to the Internet and professional trading platforms that give access to virtually any market. But on the other hand, the importance of the human factor and client service has grown tremendously. Professional support from a personal manager in the native language is a great help both for a beginner and an experienced trader. A consultant helps to orient in some market trends and financial instruments, and will answer specific questions of the client. This is what we try to emphasize in our work.

- Exchange trading is, in general, already a familiar phenomenon in Russia. It is hard to find a person who does not know what a Forex. Many are holders of securities. And almost all investors who have developed serious competence in trading, at some stage face the question of choosing a broker. Tell me honestly, as a private trader, which broker would you choose?

- I personally would choose American or European broker with good credit. Ideally, with a banking license. First of all, because this is reliability and financial transparency. For example, the operational activities of any European bank are strictly regulated: a brokerage bank registered in the EU must report to the regulator on every transaction, and this information is publicly available. In addition, any Danish bank guarantees clients the safety of funds, as all client accounts, including trading accounts, are insured for up to 100 thousand euros. This is a requirement of the Danish FSA.

The second point that is important for the private trader is. access to a wide range of financial instruments and, accordingly, tactical diversity of techniques in the investment policy: the opportunity to experiment with interesting trading strategies to choose the optimal trading system.

The third is. convenient trading platform with a full range of financial instruments for trading. It is important to be able to collect diversified a portfolio of stocks, bonds, indices, exchange-traded funds, commodity futures, as well as being able to hedge, for example, currency risks with options.

The big plus is. Availability of applications for popular mobile devicesIt is obvious that one of the main requirements of a modern investor is the ability to monitor his positions online, wherever he is. Everything is changing very quickly in the market.

Another important point is that quality analytical support.

Finally - customer serviceideally in Russian.

In general, if I were choosing a broker, Saxo Bank would be, if not the first, then in the top three in the selection list.

ForTrader.org: What qualities should a trader possess to become a professional?

– A trader must have a certain mindsetA professional trader must be able to analyze a huge amount of information, absorb it, keep in mind and process large amounts of data, as well as be able to identify the main thing and discard information noise, and not drown in this flow, but, having organized it, build his strategy and then implement it. Besides, a professional trader must have psychological stability. Online trading is a constant stressful situation, so a trader must be able to choose the most successful decision from all the decisions at the moment - this, of course, is not easy. This, of course, applies first of all to active traders practicing intraday or daily trading.

On the other hand, there is another strategy, which, in my opinion, may be interesting for people who would like to invest their funds in financial markets, but are not ready to devote all their free time to trading. This is a variant of the so-called "perpetual portfolio"which is formed for a medium- and long-term perspective. Investments are diversified, in a certain proportion invested in various instruments - shares, indices, exchange funds. Perhaps, some percentage will be invested in marginal products such as futures, options or currency pairs. Anyway, after the portfolio is formed and the necessary positions are opened through the trading platform, the investor checks the portfolio not more than once a month or even once a quarter. He can make some adjustments, and after that he closes the trading platform again - until the next month or quarter.

The following are very well suited for the implementation of such a strategy exchange-traded mutual funds (or ETFs). These instruments were initially formed taking into account the need to diversify assets - they include securities of companies from different sectors, different capitalization, etc.

- Why traders should work with your company?

- Saxo Bank can offer clients everything that can be expected from a serious broker: a wide range of financial instruments, a convenient trading platform, high-quality client service, and a unique experience in online trading. We have been on the market for more than 20 years. In fact, we were among the first brokerage companies to introduce the very concept of online trading and launch the first trading terminals. Saxo Bank is present in more than 20 countries: Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, etc. Client accounts are opened in Denmark, Singapore, Switzerland - economically stable countries with well-developed protection of client rights.

Covering such a large number of jurisdictions, each of which has its own specifics, we have developed competencies in our field and very serious experience - both in terms of building honest and open relationships with clients and in terms of technological innovation. The SaxoTrader platform was launched in 1998, and since then it has not only remained relevant, but has been constantly evolving to meet the demands of the times. Today it is a serious trading terminal with a full range of modern tools for convenient online trading. Here you can find more than 160 currency currencies crosses There are 15,000 shares on 30 world exchanges, several hundred of the most liquid futures (both commodity and, for example, currency futures), contracts for difference, currency and exchange-traded options, exchange-traded funds, and bonds. Someone at Saxo Bank has calculated that in total this is about 35 thousand financial instruments, which can be traded from one terminal, from one brokerage account. First of all, CFDs on stocks and CFDs on indices are particularly popular: shares of trending Western issuers such as Apple, Google, Facebook, depositary receipts for shares of Russian "blue chips" (Sberbank, Rosneft, Megafon, etc.). The second most popular, of course, is currency pairs (both traditional euro-dollar and "exotics"), -options, currency futures.

Our Moscow office has been operating in Russia for almost two years now, and we can say that Russian clients come to Saxo Bank because it is a European bank operating within the framework of European law, unlike some companies on the Russian market which are registered offshore. As a bank registered in Denmark, we can provide our clients with guarantees of the safety of their funds. In addition, we are loved in Russia for our high-quality Russian-language service. Not all foreign brokers operating on the Russian market provide clients with the opportunity to communicate with the service team virtually 24x7 in their native language. And this is important: it is always easier for a client to call, ask questions and immediately receive answers from qualified specialists.

- Surely you have had some funny situations with clients during your time at Saxo Bank?

- Yeah, I guess there were no funny stories. Our Russian clients are serious people and organizations. These are mainly entrepreneurs who have decided to invest profits from their main business, to diversify their assets, or financial market professionals. Another category of clients are investors who have already had experience of trading on the Russian market, but due to the fact that opportunities on it are still limited, decided to include in their investment portfolio shares of large foreign issuers and derivative financial instruments on them. Our institutional clients include many banks, corporations and brokerage companies.

What is characteristic of Russian investors is that they are characterized by thoroughness and a desire to understand everything on their own experience. For example, one of our clients opened a position on a real account in order to test the operation of a margin call and held it until this mechanism was triggered, in order to see exactly how things would work in practice. In no other country do clients test our mechanisms and procedures so thoroughly.

- What advice would you give to newcomers to the exchange?

- For newcomers to the stock market, I would suggest trade very responsibly. In order to minimize your risks, you need to study markets, instruments, understand the economic situation both in Russia and in the world, forecast possible developments - in general, spare neither time nor effort to broaden your horizons. At the same time, if you have decided to trade, you need to properly think through your strategy and calculate the risks - for example, it is better to diversify your portfolio to include stocks and bonds, commodity futures and other instruments.

Of course, the more experience a trader gains, the more advice he or she will need, but for a successful start, you should pay attention to these basic parameters.