Capital.com’s CEO Ivan Gowan talks triathlons, tech and trading

In Capital.com’s London office, not far from Victoria, London Fintech Podcast presenter Mike Baliman meets with our CEO Ivan Gowan to talk triathlons, tech and trading.

By Capital.com11:42 (UTC), 17 July 2018 Updated

In Capital.com’s London office, not far from Victoria, London Fintech Podcast presenter Mike Baliman meets with our CEO Ivan Gowan to talk triathlons, tech and trading.

You can find a full recording of the podcast here, but in this post we’ll cover the key highlights, hear what it’s like to be the CEO of an award-winning fintech company, discover why education is so important in trading and what’s in the future for Capital.com.

Capital.com’s CEO on… triathlons

CEO Ivan Gowan is not only crazy about finance, he’s also a huge fan of staying healthy. After running marathons, he finally got into the triathlon game – a test of strength, endurance and skill. So, what do the trading and triathlons have in common? Dedication, scheduling and passion.

As Ivan says, he keeps a busy schedule and fits in his exercise routine around his family and working hours, this means he needs all these skills to push for success.

And it’s these skills that not only drive him to succeed, but that also drive our Capital.com team to reach new heights as our 125-strong team brings fintech to an ever-growing audience.

Capital.com’s CEO on…tech

Unlike many CEOs who come from corporate management backgrounds, Ivan came to the role with a history in tech. This gives him a unique insight to the way he manages the work behind the scenes at Capital.com.

He states, most companies have “difficulty understanding stakeholders,” as a solution, he recommends “listening to what they do rather than what they say.” When applied to clients, this means looking into what our clients really need in a platform and this lies, not in words, but in how our clients use it.

Take Google Maps for example. When asking someone how many features it has, they typically reply, “I don’t know, five?” What it comes down to it, it isn’t the exact number of features, but, in fact, satisfying the client’s needs that’s important.

Google Maps is a sophisticated piece of technology, but performs its job simply – open the map, type in your destination, select your mode of transport and go. That’s it!

However, in the background, the app is calculating the best route, the fastest one and a million other factors. What’s most important is that it does this simply and effectively, condensing a complex world into something so straight-forward and simple.

This is one of the leading ideas behind Capital.com.

We want our clients to feel at ease with our platform.

Trading should not be a chore, it should be accessible, engaging and useful.

Capital.com’s CEO on…education

“People come to trading from different degrees of understanding,” states Ivan, they all have different needs, abilities, risk appetites, knowledge and skills. It’s Capital.com role to meet the clients’ needs and one of the primary needs for traders (aside from an easy-to-use platform) is education.

With increasing regulations in Europe (more on that later) it has become expensive for would-be traders to gain the knowledge they need to trade with any level of success.

Capital.com is dedicated to helping provide this education. We deliver financial news, articles and videos for free to our clients to help them trade smarter.

Ivan goes on to tell about Capital.com’s other app – Investmate. Focusing on education, it’s a free app that helps traders from the very basics of trading to learn about more complex topics.

So far, proving popular, the app allows traders to show their existing knowledge and skills and build on them with a starting point – new trader or improving your skills – daily goals, free lessons and more.

With 100 downloads a day, the app highlights the real needs traders have for education.

Another key focus is trading bias and how to avoid them. Our platform features SmartFeed, a bias detection tool that helps traders recognise and target ineffective trading behaviours.

“When you have money in the markets you need to make sure you’re continuing to make rational decisions,” says Ivan. SmartFeed analyses a client’s trading behaviour and provides them with tailored content to help avoid falling victim to the bias in future.

Capital.com’s CEO on…regulations

Next on the discussion list was regulations – a hot topic in the world of trading. This year, the European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA, is set to introduce new market regulations that will affect how companies like Capital.com do business.

These changes include negative balance protection, forbid financial incentives and introduce a close-out rule. They apply to retail traders are set to make the trading industry safer for traders by offering greater protection.

Capital.com has been compliant with these changes for some time. Since its beginning the platform has implemented negative balance protection, close-out rules, and has never offered financial incentives.

Ivan highlights the importance of these regulations for ensuring not only the legitimacy of the financial industry, protecting it from cowboy firms, but also empowering clients by ensuring they are trading with a reputable firm.

He draws attention to the risks associated with off-shore trading, including the lack of protection offered to clients and emphasises the importance of appropriate regulation for the industry.

Capital.com’s CEO on…Capital.com

Currently, Capital.com is available in 53 countries worldwide, with its main user-base in Europe. Our support team speaks 13 languages and we have offices in four European countries. As the company grows, what’s next for our innovative fintech platform?

Hot new releases are set to include our new web platform due to be released this coming week, making the platform more user friendly and adding much sought after new markets.

We’ve also introduced a new Facebook live event each week with our in-house Chief Market Strategist David Jones. An industry expert who helps our clients understand what’s really going on in the market.

Ivan also let us into the secret of Capital.com’s plans to go beyond the world of trading and make the world of finance itself more accessible, engaging and useful. And who knows what could be next, will Capital.com extend their offerings beyond CFDs… stay tuned.