CEO Monthly August 2017

30 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 , they don’t want to be left behind. By contrast, the contrarian trader, a much rarer breed, is confident in their understanding of market movements and tends to know when the markets are at extremes in terms of pricing as well as positioning. “The primary reason for setting up Mercury in 1993 was to step away from the corporate world and to focus purely on trading, as well as investing my own money alongside a small core group of clients, many of whom are still with us today. My desire was to create an environment and culture that I wanted to work in and that drew heavily on my past experiences, both positive and negative. Importantly, I wanted the independence to indulge my love of trading and developing successful as well as often contrarian trading strategies.” Mercury Forex AG (Mercury) are in the business of currency trading, whichmeans different things to different people. The firmwas pleased to receive two awards: AssetManagement CEO of the Year – Switzerland and the Best in FXTrade Solutions – Switzerland awards. To celebrate, we invited CEO, John F.C. Birkins to discuss his firm’s success and his role as a senior leader. For the Love of Trading Mercury Forex AG (Mercury) are in the business of currency trading - whether it’s the central banker, corporate treasurer, international investor, hedge fund manager, personal trader or holidaymaker - and all who are affected by movement in exchange rates. CEO, John F.C. Birkins explains how it feels to win these two prestigious awards and the factors that make the firm successful. “Firstly, let me say that any award nomination is always appreciated and to be the actual recipient is truly an honour, so thank you. Over the past 20 years, Mercury Forex (Mercury) has grown to become a very well respected asset manager with a broad range of investors, significant assets under management, representatives in Europe and the United States, as well as a strong support team based primarily in Switzerland. “Mercury’s success is attributable to many factors, but it’s our trading approach and long-held core values that have enabled us to produce consistent returns for our clients from day one. As to the impact of these awards on our future business, that remains to be seen, but I will be sure to keep you posted!” John then tell us about your firm, the work they do and the nature of their client base. “As a product, Foreign Exchange (FX), is not an asset like equities or bonds, or a money market instrument such as a deposit or loan but has characteristics of both. It is therefore critical to the effective functioning of global commerce. “Being a relative price of one currency against another - and used by people for their transactional needs, hedging needs and speculative aspirations - the FX market creates opportunities for those who embrace the breadth of the market and search diligently for opportunities. “Mercury was originally set-up in London back in 1994 but relocated to Switzerland, in Pfäffikon close to the Lake of Zurich, in 2005. It was a move designed to escape the sometimes-unproductive market ‘noise’ in the UK’s capital. The relative quiet of the Swiss mountains gave both me and the business huge impetus. It helped us avoid those unwanted distractions and frequent ‘group- think’, thus allowing a much greater clarity of thought. “In terms of clients, we certainly don’t try to be ‘all things to all people’, since our product offering and trading approach will not suit everyone. For example, we have never engaged with retail investors. Rather, our target clients are significant institutional investors, effectively the principal holder of the funds as opposed to other asset managers and ultra high-net-worth individuals (HNWI).” John then talks through his previous roles, how he became a CEO and how today, he draws on his past career experiences. “l started my career in 1977 as a trainee with the Scandinavian Bank in London, so the world of FX has fascinated me ever since. I had some great mentors in my early career, that enabled me to progress through increasingly responsible trading positions at Berliner Bank AG and UBS London, culminating in the Chief Dealer role at Credit Suisse London. “During this time, I observed that traders tended to fall into two categories; the followers and the contrarians. The followers, being seen by some as the largest group as people, generally like to be part of the crowd. They may lack the confidence or have a fear of missing out traits - that can result in people engaging in trades that they may not fully understand - but GCE17037