The first stage of the plan, according to Skowronski, was expand beyond retail by opening up to institutional clients: “A little over a year and a half ago I approached Andrey about introducing an upscale solution to Alpari’s high-net-worth clients and venturing into an institutional offering, which they ended up launching in January this year. Without any marketing or salespeople, the Alpari Direct and Direct Pro client base has grown surprisingly fast organically. Since joining Alpari in June of this year, I have made strategic hires in Boston, New York and Europe to expand Alpari’s institutional offering and capitalize on the company’s growth.”
He goes on: “We have split our institutional offering into two departments: the Margin group and the Prime Broker give-up model through the Credit group. The margin group focuses on our Alpari Direct and Alpari Direct Pro platforms. The credit group is going head to head with the likes of Hotspot, FXCM Pro and other ECN brokers and technology vendors. We’ve seen quite a bit of growth in this area, which I believe has a lot to do with Alpari’s reputation. People see Alpari as an alternative to other brokers who have become a bit stale when it comes to current technology trends.”