What is your name and position?

Ron Brightman, VP Marketing, eToro

What is your professional background?

Internet Marketing

Who are your targeted audience?

eToro’s audience covers a wide spectrum of the trading population, but it is especially appealing to Forex newbies, since it goes a long way to accommodate a beginner trader’s needs. The innovative platform presents trading in a creative and visual way, so that beginner traders need not worry about getting tangled in the traditional trading tools that may at times prove over complicated.

Is your main focus of your business online or offline?

Our main focus is online, seeing as our online software is the core of our operation.

Why should a trader choose eToro over another broker?

eToro combines reliability and professionalism with a web 2.0 approach to trading. We provide traders with a ground breaking interface that makes our platform extremely user friendly and let’s them acquire Forex trading skills in no time. Apart from that we also place a great emphasis on community with features such as chats, forums and championships.

What advice do you have for someone who is just starting to trade the Forex market?

There is one saying that is truer in the Forex market than anywhere else: practice makes perfect. A trader’s experience is invaluable, while a lack of knowledge and understanding can lead to financial ruin. My advice to a beginner trader is to utilize eToro’s demo platform to acquire the basic skills needed to begin trading, and to keep using it even after having started trading for real in order to test out theories and strategies.

How different is the Forex market today from what it was 2 years ago?

During the last few years, the Forex market has gone from being a highly professionalized arena, to being open to all sorts of traders world wide. In other words, as opposed to two years ago, the doors of the Forex market are now wide open for a novice trader to walk in and join the action. I also think that in general there is much more awareness of the market and of the opportunities it presents.

Who are the main competitors of eToro in the on-line Forex market?

Off the top of my head, I’d have to say Easy-Forex, simply because they too place an emphasis on novice traders interested in getting involved in the Forex market. This is however where the similarities end, seeing as our approaches are quite different and the tools we offer are completely unique.

What do you think about Forex scam problem in the on-line Forex brokers market?

Scammers are indeed a serious problem for all legitimate on line brokers, not to mention traders, since they give the whole market a bad name. The relevant bodies must put all their efforts into spotting these offenders and punishing them with a heavy hand

Where do you see eToro 2 years from now?

As accessible as the Forex market is today, eToro has the potential of making it ubiquitous. In two years’ time I honestly see eToro leading the Forex revolution and making the market accessible to ten times more people then now.

Your software is quite unique, do users prefer the new format vs the traditional trading platform?

Absolutely. We get hundreds of emails from thankful traders who can now finally access this lucrative market. The traditional trading platform was tailored to experienced traders who wanted to take their trading online. It did not take into consideration that beginner traders wouldn’t have the slightest clue of what they’re dealing with. The surprising thing is that we also get tremendous responses from seasoned traders, who find our platform more comfortable and user friendly.