What is your name and position?
Larry Schneider. I am the director of business development for Zaner Group.  We are a Chicago-based independent Introducing Broker; and one of the oldest family-owned futures brokerage firms in the U.S

What is your professional background?
I spent my “formative years”, 1973 to 1980, working on the trading floor at the Chicago Mercantile  Exchange; first as a floor broker/trader and then as an assistant floor manager. I left the trading floor in 1981 and worked in several senior management positions within the retail futures department of a major wirehouse. I served for several decades on the CME’s Education Committee and the NFA’s advisory committee on Training and Education and have taught courses for CME and Northwestern University.

Who are your targeted audience? / Is your main focus of your business online or offline?
Our business model includes both the self-directed trader as well as broker-assisted and managed accounts. Right now it’s probably 50/50.  But anyone looking to trade futures or forex must understand that trading is speculative in nature and involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.

Why should a trader choose YOU over another broker?
Do you know the name of your doctor? Your tax accountant? Of course you do. Well at Zaner, each client knows the name of his or her broker. Even our 100% self-directed traders have a personal licensed broker they can go to with any questions, help, platform set-ups, etc. So in this sense we still offer the traditional broker-client relationship that’s sadly absent at too many firms. We also offer our clients free subscriptions to Markethead.com. For our off-exchange forex clients, we are the only firm that offers access to RedFish Trading – an MT4 graybox plug-in.  

What advice do you have for someone who is just starting to trade the Forex market?
My advice would be to first decide why you are trading. Is it going to be your full-time business? In that case, you need a business model just as you would if you were opening a restaurant. If trading is a part-time, sometimes thing, then have you focused on a trading timeframe commensurate with the time you can devote to your trading? Can you be a day-trader if your fulltime occupation keeps you away from the markets and the screen? Perhaps that person ‘s trading needs a longer time focus and an appropriate risk/reward ratio. A scalper can risk 2 or 3 pips to try and make 4 or 5. A swing trader needs a wider risk/reward. New traders should also gain an appreciation and understanding of the market fundamentals – what supply and demand factors drive prices higher and lower – and not focus exclusively on one or two technical indicators. Novice and experienced traders must always recognize that trading in the retail off-exchange forex marketplace involves substantial risk of loss.

How different is the Forex market today from what it was 2 years ago?
Regulation and leverage have been the largest changes. Forex clearing firms must now be members of the NFA and demonstrate much larger capitalization than ever before and individual brokers (Associated Persons) must either pass the NFA’s Series 34 or be grandfathered. Firms may no longer offer extreme leverage to their clients but must adhere to the  CFTC’s new rules on leverage, which went into effect last October. What hasn’t changed is the opportunity for all manner of  traders – scalpers to long term position traders.  But regardless, trading futures and forex is not suitable for all investors.


Do you also offer Fund management services?
We offer a wide-array of CTA individually managed accounts as well as letter-of-direction trading programs like Trade Leaders.

Who are the main competitors of YOU in the on-line Forex market?
I’d rather not point to specific brokerage firms as my competitor. Rather, I’d like to point to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as a serious competitor to forex and futures. While ETFs have some advantages for the long-term investor, I believe forex,  futures and futures options hold distinct advantages, especially in the areas of execution, transparency and near 24-hour trading. Of course there are risks with trading futures and forex, including substantial risk of loss. Trading is not suitable for all investors.

What do you think about Forex scam problem in the on-line Forex brokers market?
This is of major concern, because it gives all legitimate brokerage firms, and the entire forex marketplace, a very bad name and undeserved reputation.  We have always urged retail clients to use the National Futures Association’s website, not only for general investor education, but to read their articles on identifying frauds and scams, as well as using their BASIC service to ensure that a broker and brokerage firm are members of the NFA. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been very aggressive in pursuing firms that market themselves to the public but are not members of the NFA and have no registration with the CFTC.

Where do you see YOURSELF 2 years from now?
Still working for Matthew Zaner, at Zaner Group, servicing an ever-growing pool of clients.