Plus500, a leading technology platform for trading Contracts for Difference (“CFDs”) internationally, is pleased to announce that it is establishing a new research & development (R&D) centre in Tel Aviv.
The new Tel Aviv site is part of Plus500’s previously announced plans to invest approximately $50 million over the next three years to boost its R&D capabilities as it continues to invest in future growth and expansion through innovative solutions for participants in the financial markets.
Alongside this organic investment, Plus500 is also targeting M&A opportunities.
Over the past five years, the financial industry has been disrupted by fintechs utilising innovative technologies to democratise trading, and this R&D centre will further allow Plus500 to provide traders with exciting new capabilities and technologies.
With the rise of internet-based technologies allowing people to trade from anywhere, Plus500 has distinguished itself from its competitors through its user-centric, innovative technology solutions that drive faster market execution while simultaneously enabling its clients to make informed trading decisions.
The planned investments will focus on developing new products and services, in line with Plus500’s commitment to provide clients with continuous high-quality services.
The investment will be aimed at strengthening and scaling Plus500’s unique platform, which has been key to attracting and retaining clients and building its reputation as a provider of cutting-edge technology solutions for trading, risk management, payment management infrastructure and back-office operations, to name a few.
Through its innovative technology platform, Plus500 offers real-time news and analysis to help clients make informed trading decisions.
The Group’s focus on innovation has enabled the company to be the first to launch new products and services in the market, providing proactive trading solutions for its customers.
Why Tel Aviv?
Tel Aviv has long been a hub for technological innovation and favoured among top brokers for its highly educated and technologically skilled workforce. This is coupled with the strong presence of foreign tech firms and refined locally based research centres. With over 6,000 startups and an economy dominated by high-tech innovation, Israel certainly earned its nickname ‘The Startup Nation’. Plus500 will join businesses such as Microsoft, Google, Motorola, Apple, Facebook, Berkshire-Hathaway, Intel, HP, Siemens and Toshiba, who all have a presence in Tel Aviv.
A Globally Recognised Brand Name
Plus500, which operates through several subsidiaries around the world, has been providing intuitive technology-based trading solutions, with low trading costs, since 2008.
The group offers CFD trading services to over 50 countries and in 32 languages through regulatory licenses from some of the leading regulatory bodies globally, including the UK FCA, ASIC of Australia and FMA of New Zealand.
Plus500 takes pride in being an innovative and pioneering fintech company. In 2013, the company was the first international broker to launch a Bitcoin CFD, and in 2019, the company added a wide range of advanced charting features for technical analysis to its platform, including several indicators and drawing tools helping traders make more informed trading decisions.
In 2020, the company signed sponsorship deals with three major football clubs – the Swiss Super League champions BSC Young Boys, Poland’s champions Legia Warsaw and Atalanta BC, a rising star on the Italian and international scene.
These partnerships have helped Plus500 to establish a foothold in strategic regions and cement its global brand recognition.
Rapid adjustment to the changing regulatory landscape worldwide has been one of the strong points of the Plus500 technology. This includes rigorous compliance procedures, flexible risk management approach and presence of high calibre talent and expertise within the company.
All these factors are key drivers of the technology’s competitive advantage and commercial value.
Advanced Plus500 Proprietary Technology: A Platform for the New Era in Trading
Stricter regulatory landscapes, changing market structures and inaccessible liquidity pools are some challenges that the trading community has faced for years. Technological solutions such as the Plus500 proprietary platform provide streamlined trading processes, with reduced costs, enhancing the overall trading experience.
The platform provides multi-device accessibility and an easy-to-use interface, allowing users to create watch lists, monitor trades and perform comprehensive technical analysis.
Over 100 technical indicators can be applied to charts in multiple timeframes. Traders can configure alerts in the form of real-time email, SMS and push notifications, to stay updated on the latest developments in asset prices and market sentiment.
Clients are able to trade CFDs in over 2,500 different underlying global financial instruments, comprising of equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies.
Plus500 has always worked in its client’s interest, providing negative balance protection and maintenance margin levels to its customers worldwide.
In this new era of financial technologies, leading fintech brands are no longer considering their platforms as rigid structures; but rather looking forward to creating technology “ecosystems.”
A high degree of adaptability and flexibility is propagated through these systems, which can assist in research, portfolio management, compliance, administration and budgeting, in addition to various other capabilities.
Such ecosystems not only support core processes but also enhance the agility to include new functionalities quickly, with minimal disruptions.
Plus500’s enviable technology remains the key differentiator and enabler between Plus500 and its peer group, helping it scale its business across new products and markets. The platform can also efficiently manage the company’s back-office operations.
Continuous investments of time and funds will help Plus500 drive its marketing technology to acquire new customers in a cost-effective manner.
This will include concentrated efforts in targeted online marketing activities, driven by data analytics provided by the proprietary platform. To further push brand recognition locally and globally, the company will continue to make investments in offline marketing as well.
Navigating Uncertain Market Trajectories
The company’s proprietary technology has continued to demonstrate excellence, with an unrivalled ability to respond rapidly to fast emerging market developments and news events.
The platform’s strength has helped the company and its clients to smoothly sail through unprecedented, uncertain market conditions in 2020. In fact, Plus500 recorded a six-fold increase in profits in Q1, 2020, due to heightened volatility in the markets, triggered by global lockdowns.
Its Q3 EBIDTA surged 91% YoY to $134.2 million, with margin of 62%.
The year was also significant due to the substantial increase in the number of active clients, compared to 2019. Innovations in financial technologies continue to shape interactions between financial firms, regulators and consumers.
The future will belong to emerging digital technologies that will help in the creation of cost-effective business models and enable efficient and better compliance.
Through this strategic plan for R&D investment, Plus500 aims to leverage these emerging technologies, helping it build a loyal and engaged customer base.
About Plus500
Plus500 operates a proprietary technology platform for individual customers to trade CFDs internationally.
The Group offers more than 2,500 different underlying global financial instruments, comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies. Customers of Plus500 can trade CFDs in more than 50 countries and in 32 languages.
The trading platform is accessible from multiple operating systems (Windows, iOS, Android and Surface) and web browsers. The Group retains operating licences and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and the Seychelles.
Customer care is and has always been integral to Plus500, as such, customers cannot be subject to negative balances.
A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leveraged exposure, and stop losses to help customers protect profits, while limiting capital losses.
Plus500 does not utilise cold calling techniques and does not offer binary options. Plus500 has a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PLUS) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. www.plus500.com.
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