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Despite being one of the world’s most precious metals, there was little interest in trading gold as a commodity for much of the 20th century. Global economies were seen as relatively stable, with many experiencing periods of significant growth. This meant stock markets were flying high. Investors became wrapped up in the excitement of buying shares in companies such as Apple, which were tipped to make them millions, rather than purchasing a commodity that would offer low, albeit consistent, returns.
At the beginning of the 21st century, however, demand for gold skyrocketed, reaching a peak price of more than $1,900 an ounce in late 2011. Unlike cryptocurrencies, gold became known as an investment that is likely to retain its value: it is durable, portable and uniform across the globe, making it a shrewd purchase for any investor.
Since its establishment a decade ago, Acetop Group has focused on gold trading in order to keep the number of non-traditional/high-volatility currency pairs offered to clients as low as possible. Rather than moving towards cryptocurrencies, which are extremely volatile and a huge investment risk, we have chosen to centre our business model on what we believe to be a wise investment that will deliver excellent returns to clients for years to come.
At Acetop, we consider it imperative to keep up to date with all new regulations – even those that don’t directly affect our industry
Staying on top
Our considered approach does not mean we sit on our laurels. Rather, we consider it imperative to keep up to date with all new regulations – even those that don’t directly affect our industry. This is because we believe it is wise to keep abreast of anything affecting the overall business environment.
In terms of forex, the biggest changes the market saw last year were focused on regulation – most notably, those implemented by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which came into force on August 1, 2018. These serve two key purposes: first, they ensure the consistent treatment of investors, protecting them through effective regulation and supervision. Second, they promote equal conditions of competition for financial services providers, while also ensuring the effectiveness and cost efficiency of their supervision.
ESMA’s new regulations, together with the still-unknown economic impact of Brexit, means stakeholders could see significant shifts when trading in the forex market in the coming months. While the changes are much needed and will positively affect retail customers, they may also lead to consolidation in the market and pave the way for more substantial changes in the future.
With this in mind, we have taken numerous steps to minimise the impact on our retail clients. For UK customers, we have advised that they are eligible for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This is the UK’s statutory deposit insurance and investors compensation scheme, which is designed for customers of authorised financial services firms. Customers are eligible for protection under this scheme, provided the value of their funds falls under a certain threshold. This means that the FSCS will pay compensation if a firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it. We are also working on securing further protection for our clients, which will be announced in the coming months.
Putting the customer first
In light of the new ESMA regulations, and in accordance with Acetop Group’s growth plans, we have chosen to continue investing in client-orientated services. Our team works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to all clients’ queries via different communication channels, including telephone, email and various live chat platforms. We aim to provide as many methods of contact as possible to ensure our clients are able to communicate with us easily and directly. Our promise to answer client enquiries in less than a minute sets us apart from competitors.
Our customer service providers undergo rigorous training to ensure they are equipped with all the skills needed to perform their role to the standard we expect. Over a period of three to six months, an internal instruction programme is delivered to all new employees. At the end of this period, they must pass an examination consisting of 6,000 sets of typical questions and answers, and must also have a minimum typing speed of 60 words per minute.
We are also improving our payment services – another way in which we distinguish ourselves from other forex brokers. We believe the traditional way of depositing and withdrawing money via bank transfers is outdated; we are therefore exploring digital solutions to simplify and speed up this process. Our finance department employees are all professionally trained and selected from an international talent pool. Due to the 24-hour nature of global trading, they aim to deal with all deposit and withdrawal requests within just one day.
Furthermore, customers in China should be able to deposit funds in less than 10 minutes and withdraw funds in under two hours. There is also no limit to the number of withdrawal requests customers can make. We understand that forex markets move incredibly quickly and wouldn’t wish to hold up our customers’ crucial investment decisions – that’s why our finance department is on standby 24 hours a day. With the help of world-class technology, we aim to verify and audit transactions compliant with local laws and regulations faster than any of our competitors.
Overall, Acetop Group is striving to provide satisfaction to each and every stakeholder in order to ensure a constant company growth path. The technology revolution has led to greater freedom and mobility for investors, who are now able to monitor price changes from almost anywhere as long as they are connected to the internet. As a result, our IT department works 24 hours a day, every day of the year, alongside our customer service team.
As a company, we understand the importance of every second gained, and always aim to use the best technology to safeguard customers’ money and personal data. This has been our mission over the past decade, and it has resulted in a world-class reputation and the trust of our investors, customers and the overall industry.
A knowledge-based approach
Moreover, we are working to empower our customers with a wealth of knowledge so as to increase the possibility of a greater return on their investment. Trading forex successfully is not easy – it takes a lot of practice and study time. For this reason, we have introduced an educational programme of webinars, seminars and industry gatherings to pass some of the trading knowledge we have amassed over the past decade to our customers. We have also launched a real-time educational streaming service, which is available on weekdays to Chinese clients.
We encourage our customers to continue the education process in their own time. There are many free forex e-books available that provide general information on the basics of trading, money management, trading psychology and strategies, and technical and fundamental analysis. Their accessibility makes them a clear choice for people who want to learn more about forex trading. Another advantage to these resources is that you can select a recently published e-book with timely information, avoiding outdated material. We provide many e-books on our online educational platform, along with crucial industry news.
In our Asia division, we have recently begun a series of seminars, for which we invite experts and well-known industry representatives to share their thoughts on forex issues in Asia and Europe. We aim to provide every customer with up-to-date market news and unique expert opinions on a variety of countries, as we understand that investors may want to explore different markets in their trading choices.
Through these measures, we hope to better serve our forex clients, allowing them to make wiser trading decisions. It is important to remember that the economic outlook for a country is the ultimate determinant of its currency’s value, so knowing which factors and indicators to watch will help traders keep pace in the competitive and fast-moving world of forex. By equipping our customers with the knowledge to ensure their success, as well as investing in our own workforce and technology, we hope to consolidate our already-strong market position.
