PIA firstcapital has identified two financial markets in which we can apply our financial investments expertise to greatest effect: The first market is the financial futures market. A futures contract is simply a commitment to buy or sell (deliver) a quantity of a good at a specific date in the future. In this instance, the ‘goods’ are government bonds and equities. The second is the spot foreign exchange (or currency, forex, FX) market, where the world’s currencies are exchanged. Forex is priced and traded as pairs because each country’s currency is valued relative to another e.g. UK Sterling versus US Dollars.

Despite the size and liquidity of these financial markets, both are poorly represented in funds and the investment portfolios of individual investors. And there is a reason for this – both these financial markets require large amounts of investment capital to trade safely without excessive leverage, and require considerable trading and investment skill in order to achieve a positive outcome for your financial investments.

Financial Futures, Foreign Exchange Markets & Financial Investments

The futures contacts we trade are a combination of Fixed Income (European & US Government bonds) and Equity Indices (UK, European and US). When you choose to open a Futures Managed Account, we will advise you of the futures contracts we will trade in your account according to the managed account programme.

PIA first provide analysis on 14 currency pairs comprised of the world’s major currencies – US, Canadian and Australian Dollars, Euro, Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen. From this research, PIA firstcapital selects a balanced group of 5 – 8 currency pairs to trade in your Managed Forex Account to avoid concentration of risk in any one currency.

Liquidity

The global futures market has an average daily turnover of USD 555 trillion according to the September 2010 Review by the Bank for International Settlements. The global foreign exchange market sees $3.2 trillion average daily turnover (source: BOE JCSC) which is 3 times the average daily turnover of the major global bond markets and 10 times that of the world’s stock markets.

Both these financial markets are favourites with hedge funds because they are large and liquid. Liquid markets allow us to trade large amounts of money without affecting the market price and enter and exit our trades with relative ease.