Saxo Capital Markets Agente de Valores S.A. has been named “Best Forex Platform Latin America 2014”, Best Multi-Asset Liquidity Provider Latin America 2014” and “Best Mobile Trading Platform Latin America 2014”. Today Global Banking & Finance Review speak with Luis Simões Pereira, Director of Saxo Capital Markets Agente de Valores S.A.

Hi Luis, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.  What distinguishes Saxo Capital Markets from other financial trading companies in Latin America?

Saxo Capital Markets brings to Latin America investors the possibility to invest in over 30.000 products across a multi asset offering that has no parallel in the region. Our clients are able to trade stocks, bonds, ETF’s, FX, futures and options in all major markets from Sydney to Sao Paulo in an account denominated in a currency of their choice and with a consolidated view of their assets.

What is the technology behind your platforms?

The technology behind our platform is proprietary. More than 15 years of development have been invested to achieve our current state and our commitment is to stay in the cutting edge of trading technology. It is with this in mind that we keep on having a large portion of our staff employed in IT functions.

Over the past few years, Saxo Bank has strengthened its offering across multiple asset classes. , most recently with the launch of equity options. Can you tell us more about the multi-asset trading platform and the benefits for clients?

It is all about Opportunity. By providing our clients with a solution that is broad both in asset classes as well as geographical reach, we empower them to trade smarter and react faster to the ever changing conditions in the market place.

How easy is SaxoTrader to use? 

We believe Saxo Trader has the right balance between usability and functionality. It is suited for the client that just wants to place his/her trades but also for the one that wants to use it to follow the Market and do some technical analysis. In short it is quite easy to use without conceding to over simplicity.

Saxo Capital Markets is a leader in on the go trading. Why are traders choosing Saxo Capital Markets mobile platform over others?

Mobile devices are becoming an extension of ourselves and we basically go everywhere with some kind of smartphone or tablet. Add to this the growing speed at which events unfold and markets react to them and you have, more than a need, a requirement for financial institutions like ours to offer mobile access to trading accounts.

What are the most common pitfalls that traders tend to fall into?

I would say that the most common errors when trading are: acting on emotions, selling profit positions to early and hold negative to long and the overconfidence that can lead to underestimate risk.

Acting on emotions, this is a very common error on investors, as they let their emotions control the investment. Before you press the button to enter your investment, it’s fundamental to have your investment goals decided, and stick to them. This mean knowing the profit we are willing to get from this investment but also be prepared to assume a potential loss and assume the bad investment made.

Selling to early and holding too long. Just as the investor shouldn’t leave a winning position to early (we recommend the investor to keep rising his stop order with the rise in value of his investment), he also shouldn’t hold on to a losing position too long. If the investor made the wrong decision, he must be able as said before to assume the loss and leave that investment. Both the investor and his portfolio will recover faster.

Having a few straight good decisions doesn’t make the investor invincible, and sometimes he might think so. Always remember that financial markets always has some risk associated with it. Remain objective and don’t be overconfident.

What is the best practice for a trader to follow in order to be prepared?

I believe all traders should have the capacity to think for themselves and not let all news, information, or world events change his trading decisions. I should also recommend the capacity to be a strong analyst, knowing how to interpret technical or fundamental analysis. Investors should also be active learners as the financial market industry is able nowadays to bring new features and products to their clients. In the end, but not less important, is having a full knowledge of the platform we are trading.

Do you feel that beginning and on-going training and education is important for traders? In what ways do you assist traders in this area?

Yes of course, Education has always been really important in our business, and that’s why we have several guides and videos explaining each product and how to use the platform in our site. We also support the financial news portal Saladeinversion.com where you can also get educational articles and trading ideas.

Having opened your Latin American office in Uruguay two years ago, what are your plans for the future?

Following a period where we made strong investments in the region, we are now focused on obtaining the results from them. Over the past years, besides the opening of Saxo Capital Markets In Uruguay, Saxo Bank has established Representative Offices in Sao Paulo and Panamá with the latter two focused on Institutional business. Now it is time to concentrate all our efforts on execution and expand our business in the region.