Unique insights regarding how the FX market today is developing.

Although “volatility events” like the US presidential election, Brexit trade negotiations and a second wave of Covid-19 could provide investors with short-term opportunities to benefit from trends in the currency markets, Marc Chandler from Bannockburn Global Forex argues that they’re unlikely to change the longer-term direction of currency moves. During this episode he also discusses the potential impact of a K-shaped recovery on FX markets, whether or not central banks are running out of room to maneuvre and why a recent decision by authorities in China might prove significant for the RMB.

There’s been a lot of talk about NDF trading shifting towards electronic channels, but is this actually happening? Robbie Sijbrandij from Flow Traders discusses how this product segment is evolving, in addition to delivering his view on the challenges and opportunities around trading FX Futures, Outright Forwards and FX Swaps. Sijbrandij goes on to explain that for firms like Flow Traders credit remains a core concern when it comes to FX trading, but also highlights the steps that the firm is taking to mitigate any potential issues on this front.

The upcoming US presidential election could prove to be a crucial fork in the road when it comes to financial regulation, explains Justin Slaughter, a partner at Mercury Strategies. In this episode he talks about the potential for the politicisation of US regulatory agencies, the extent to which international cooperation on financial rules could be jeopardized and whether or not geopolitical conflicts around trade and technology could be replicated within financial markets.

The local FX market in Mexico is ripe for change, and technology could be the catalyst for it, says Juan Garcia at Banco de México. For example, he highlights that ten years ago less than 20% of FX trading in Mexico was conducted via electronic channels, whereas today that figure is estimated to be around 60%. In this podcast episode Garcia talks about the implications of this trend, as well as anaylsing the growth prospects for the Mexican peso going forwards and discussing the impact of the Global Code of Conduct on the domestic market.

In this episode, Saeed Amen from Cuemacro discusses the practical challenges facing firms as they try to adopt a more data-driven approach to FX trading. These include finding a source of high-quality data for non-spot FX products, overcoming the fragmented nature of the market and having the right technology with which to analyse the data being accumulated. Amen also explains that sourcing the right data is only the first step — to derive the maximum value from it firms need to apply their domain-specific expertise.

This episode opens with MacGillivray talking about her firm’s technology stack for multi-asset dealing, explaining that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution and, therefore, the desk has instead built out a “best-of-breed” model which deploys asset class specific technology to ensure the best execution outcomes. MacGillivray also highlights areas where she sees existing technology being adapted to fit different asset classes, talks about the importance of reducing manual risk from the trading desk and discusses how attitudes towards handling FX exposures are slowly changing amongst the investment management community. The episode ends with MacGillivray expressing optimism that the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic could lead to greater diversity within the financial services industry, reducing the existing culture of presenteeism that she says exists today.

In this episode Christopher Cruden, CEO and Director of the hedge fund Insch Kintore Ltd., reflects on how the FX markets have changed since he launched his first currency trading programme back in 1991 and explains how he has adapted his trading strategy accordingly. Cruden also tackles the question of why trend following strategies have generally yielded poor returns over the past decade and whether or not there is actually such a thing as “sweet spot volatility” when it comes to FX.

Institutional investment portfolios have become increasingly international over the past decade, with one unintentional consequence of this being that FX exposures have similarly increased. As Momtchil Pojarliev, Head of Currencies at BNP Paribas Asset Management, explains, the key question then becomes: how should these investors be managing this risk? In this episode Pojarliev evaluates some of the different currency hedging strategies available to institutional investors and highlights some of the key challenges they face in attempting to implement an effective currency management policy.

In this episode Alejandro Padilla, Executive Director of Economic Research & Financial Markets Strategy at Grupo Financiero Banorte, gives his outlook for emerging market currencies, noting that contagion curves and stimulus policies are likely to be the main drivers of performance this year. Focusing on Latin America in particular, Padilla explains what different factors will determine currency hedging decisions and talks about the impact of the US election on the value of the Mexican peso.