An award-winning, regulated broker, providing an unparalleled trading experience and access to global markets: Vantage International Group Limited

Globally there are various firms delivering excellent Forex broker services, but Vantage International Group Limited stands out from the rest. Vantage is a global, multi-asset broker offering its clients access to a powerful trading ecosystem for trading CFDs on Forex, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, and Shares. Having been in the market for more than ten years, Vantage takes pride in providing its traders with lightning-fast execution and razor-thin spreads. Traders can access Vantage’s range of markets through the powerful MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms, including WebTrader and mobile app.

In conversation with Marc Despallieres, the Chief Strategy & Trading Officer of Vantage International Group Limited

Q. What was the motivation behind the rebrand from VantageFX to Vantage?

Vantage has been a largely FX-focused business since our inception in 2009, finding success in providing traders with the tools they need to trade more effectively. In recent years, however, we’ve seen a growing number of young investors, particularly in emerging markets, choosing to trade on their own, omitting the need for a middleman or an introducing broker, either due to cost considerations or savviness. At the same time, we saw a clear shift in demand among traders towards other asset classes such as indices and shares and saw the need to expand our portfolio to cater to their changing needs.

In November 2021, we made the conscious decision to remove FX from our name, repositioning our company to reflect our expanded range of trading products and instruments while meeting the growing latent demand for direct access to trading markets. We took that opportunity to strengthen and enhance our trading ecosystem - including our proprietary Vantage app - to provide traders with access to a global network of connections, markets, tools, platforms, educational materials, and a world-class customer service team. Our rebranding effort did not go unnoticed, and Vantage was recognized at Transform Awards Asia for the categories of ‘Best brand development project to reflect the changed mission, values or positioning’ and the ‘Best visual identity from the financial services sector.’

Q. It’s hard to remain objective when huge amounts of capital are at stake, especially in volatile conditions. How does online trading help people make objective decisions?

One of the great advantages that online trading offers is the use of Automated Trading Systems to eliminate emotions throughout the trading process. We are all driven by emotion, yet one of the secrets to trading successfully lies in the removal of emotional bias. The key to being objective for small or large positions is to follow a clear plan or strategy. This can be done by setting predetermined parameters for trade entry and exit, something that can be done easily with automatic trading. Discretionary traders can and should take the same approach with a strict set of rules and manually placing pending orders (like take profit and stop loss) in the system.

Q. Although it would be great to turn on the computer and leave for the day, online trading systems do require monitoring. How can we prevent potential technological failures?

One of the biggest mistakes that investors can make when using an online trading system is to believe that the trading system will work by itself. Proper risk management should be applied as online trading systems do require a high level of monitoring. The risk of faulty algorithms, computer crashing, losing internet connection or power issues has the potential for terrible loss for the investors. The use of a VPS (virtual private server) can reduce these issues and can facilitate uninterrupted trading. Even so, incidents can happen; last year, one of the largest hosting providers in Europe was destroyed by fire resulting in losses for traders using automated trading. Traders/investors should understand that risks can be managed but not fully eliminated when using an online trading system. Unexpected events (like black swan events) will continue to happen. Staying connected is key, and having mobile access can be a great help for traders to constantly supervise the market. Setting alerts is another way of being alerted to extreme volatility and any other unexpected event. That way, traders are always able to react quickly.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

We are constantly adding new trading products and instruments for our clients, and in recent months, we have increased our cryptocurrencies available for trade to 30 while adjusting our maximum leverage for several different trading products where possible. In the next few months, we will be announcing many more new trading products and instruments. On top of that, we are working on a few partnerships with world-class technology providers to enhance our trading solutions for traders, and we are working on adding social trading capabilities to our award-winning Vantage app.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

At Vantage, we are never content to rest on our laurels. We are always looking at ways to grow and improve our business while looking at ways to help our clients, our staff, and our communities. Indeed, we believe we can be a driving force for change in areas like gender equality, diversity, inclusion, and positive climate action. Our partnership with McLaren Racing’s Extreme E team is just the start. Stay tuned for our next exciting announcement.

About the leader behind the success of Vantage International Group Limited in his own words

I am Marc Despallieres, the Chief Strategy & Trading Officer at Vantage. I joined Vantage in August 2019. I have been involved in the trading industry since the mid-1980s, formerly as an independent trader on the French Futures exchange, trading on the floor until the end of the open outcry market. I moved into electronic trading in 1999, where I was among the first independent traders using a revolutionary technology for online trading. My role as the CSO is to understand how the market is changing, how our clients’ needs are changing, and adapting Vantage’s short- and long-term strategic expansion initiatives to the new business landscape, in both emerging and developed markets. Trading is a new portfolio that was recently added, and which is near and dear to my heart. This new role allows me to oversee and support our global trading teams, tapping into my 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.

“With Vantage, you will experience super-fast trade execution, as well as interbank grade, RAW ECN spreads. When combined, these elements offer clients a true institutional trading experience, across a wide range of trading instruments.”