“Fractional Shares Trading is Already a Trend and Will Continue” Skilling CEO Speaks

Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and Seychelles Financial Service Authority (FSA) licensed FX broker Skilling​ has recently announced the addition of access to fractional shares​ due to popular client demand.

Michael Kamerman, CEO of Skilling, joined Fazzaco today to let us know more details about its latest product and talks about the FX industry changes.

---

Fazzaco: Hi, Michael. Thanks for joining Fazzaco. You are now almost half year into your new role​. What attracted you to take up the position as CEO of Skilling?

Michael: I was introduced to Skilling a few years back and the more I came to know them, the more I was drawn in. The fact that they had been developing their own platform and back office told me they were serious. There is this almost palpable buzz from employees who feel like they are involved in the “early days” of the next major brokerage. It’s exciting and easy to get caught up in. I’m happy to have found a new home.

Fazzaco: Skilling recently announced the addition of access to fractional shares, please let us know more about it.

Michael: With over 700 stocks on its platform and nearly 120 of them tradeable from one-tenth per share, Skilling is strengthening its offer for active traders. Traders on any budget can now trade strategies on a wide range of global companies where they have previously been priced out.

Fazzaco: Why have you decided to support fractional shares trading?

Michael: Fractional shares have huge potential and we anticipate that traders will be seeking out platforms that are primed to grasp this opportunity in the coming months. This latest product offering expansion marks the next phase of Skilling’s growth in our response to this high-in-demand asset class. By providing greater access to fractional shares alongside an extension of our zero rollover fees in March, we are accelerating our platform’s roadmap to better cater for the traders of today.

Fazzaco: In your opinion, will fractional shares trading be a trend in the near future?

Michael: Appetite for trading fractional shares has been on the rise for traders seeking out more control over their exposure in the markets. With fractional shares, traders can scale in or out of positions, allowing them to better capitalize on opportunities whilst mitigating risk. I think it is already a trend in the markets and will continue. Investing and trading has now become en vogue with a younger generation who will demand access to instruments at affordable price points.

Fazzaco: Apart from shares, Skilling also offers FX products. How do you see the FX industry changing under tightened regulation?

Michael: Striking the healthy balance between regulation and free markets is good for everyone. Skilling is and will continue to be a benefactor of regulation. We view ourselves as a long-term brand and our actions support this. We have some of the brightest minds in the industry which has taken time and energy to recruit. We have invested in our growth by developing proprietary systems and platforms. Tightened regulation will sweep out brokers only looking to capitalize on the frenzy in online trading during 2020/2021. That won’t be the case with us.

Fazzaco: Holding Multiple licenses has become a routine for brokers, how about Skilling?

Michael: For European clients we are proud to say we are regulated under CySEC in Cyprus, where we are a CIF (Cypriot Investment Firm). CySEC is a long established and robust regulator, who officiates over a broad range of brokerage and investment companies, including some of the world’s largest online trading firms.

As a global company we also cater to clients around the globe who reside outside of Europe. For those clients, we have been granted a Securities Dealer License by the Financial Services Authority of the Seychelles, or the FSA. The FSA is one of the most widely trusted and widely used regulators for our industry outside of Europe.

Fazzaco: In your opinion, besides regulatory framework, what upcoming trends do you see emerging in the FX industry?

Michael: I believe we are still seeing the beginning of a burgeoning small business-to-business side of online trading. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated our digital lives and bred a new class of podcasters, youtubers, and other influencers. I believe this will continue to grow and these content creators will demand good homes with high-end tools to support them.

Fazzaco: What plans do you have for rolling out new products and widening Skilling's global footprint in 2021?

Michael: Skilling is unquestionably one of the best brokerages for monitoring and responding to customer feedback on tradeable instruments. We have sophisticated methods in place to monitor what products our customers want to trade and we are usually able to act upon those requests in just days. In the past month we have launched significant numbers of new trending stocks, cryptos, ETFs, and proprietary products like a new “MiniBitcoin'' product. On our product roadmap we have even more cryptos coming and will offer possibly more crypto CFDs than any other CFD broker.

Our two top priorities right now are making it easier for both B2C and B2B customers to work with us. There’s been a boom in online trading and it’s drawn in a lot of new individual traders and a lot of trading-related businesses. We want Skilling to be a valuable partner to those new entrants. To the B2B crowd, that means delivering a market-leading affiliate and IB portal. Learn more than ever before about your customers as a business owner. Receive payments as quickly as business. If you are an affiliate or introducing broker, we hope Skilling is a option.

For the individual trader, we want to ensure the experience when opening an account is as effortless, but just as compliant, as possible. We’re realists here at Skilling. We know we are a new brand. We realise a significant portion of our account holders probably have accounts elsewhere and are testing us. Because of that, we’re onboarding the latest technology to make the account opening process smooth so that when customers want to get trading, we’re there to help them through the process.