11/04/16
Last week was a very busy one for us as we hosted our 4th annual Trading Asia Symposium at the Blackstone Hotel during FIA in Chicago. We were quite pleased with how smooth things ran, and we had a good turn-out of about 170 attendees. The exchanges who participated were: SGX, HKEX, ICE SG, TFEX, Bursa Malaysia, DGCX, TOCOM and JPX.
There were many firsts for us at this conference. We developed our own logo to stronger brand Trading Asia. We held the event at The Blackstone for the first time. We had our first speed networking session. It was David Klotz’s first time moderating the panel, and we employed technology to encourage audience questions and participation with live polls. I think for many it was also the first time they heard a speaker sing during the opening speech at a serious conference like this. One of my colleagues was supposed to record the speech, but was too shell-shocked! To read the script and learn more details of the event, please click here.
Many people came up to me later to “congratulate” me on how brave I was to sing in public among industry participants, and some even kindly said I had a nice voice. I thanked them and kind of smiled to myself because I am hardly a brave person, and I can think of other things that require far greater courage, such as flying a plane or even the act of trading. Doesn’t trading require more courage when you could potentially lose all your money and more? It requires more bravery than embarrassing yourself for 30 seconds, doesn’t it?
I am not making light of the fear of public speaking, and I know there are people out there for whom it is a real fear. But upon further reflection, I realize that as human beings, we are fearful mainly of what we do not know or experience. If you are a seasoned trader, making one more trade is hardly going to raise your heartrate. It is what you do. And for me, I have sang in public on different occasions, and have often embarrassed myself so it wasn’t a big deal anymore. I could channel my inner Ella Fitzgerald and belt out a tune. And once you do it, the fear, while still there, loses its grip.
So back to my original point of my speech. If Asia is still the growth story today, why aren’t more traders trading it? Why aren’t you trading Asia? They are the same reasons why you don’t sing in public or fly a plane aren’t they? They are new and unfamiliar experiences to you. One of the questions we asked the audience via online polling was “What is preventing you from trading Asian markets today? The results were as follows:
- Lack of Knowledge (63%)
- Exchange fees (17%)
- Lack of liquidity (17%)
- Time zone issues (4%)
The overwhelming majority said they had a lack of knowledge, which really surprised me. Hence, Phillip Capital and the Asian exchanges still have a lot to do to equip you with enough information on the products, and provide you the tools to trade them. Stay tuned as we make improvements, but don’t let that stop you from doing it. Let us help you learn about the opportunities available by trading Asia.
If you would like to learn more about trading Asia, please contact sales@phillipusa.com.
RISK DISCLAIMER: Trading in futures products entails significant risks of loss which must be understood prior to trading and may not be appropriate for all investors. Past performance of actual trades or strategies cited herein is not necessarily indicative of future performance. The information contained herein is provided to you for information only and believed to be drawn from reliable sources but cannot be guaranteed; Phillip Capital Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. The views and opinions expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Phillip Capital Inc. or its staff.
