CMC Invest, the stock trading platform launched last October, has jumped into the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) bandwagon and is displaying ESG data in its mobile investing app, for shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and investment trusts.
For funds like ETFs and investment trusts, the platform displays an overall sustainability rating, ESG risk scores, and the contentious product areas where the funds are involved. For shares, the data include ESG risk score, a controversy category rating, and the contentious product areas where the company is and is not involved.
The new feature added by the platform earlier this month is aimed at providing ESG information to customers who consider ethical concerns along with profits. It has added two versions of the feature based on customer feedback and has a further enhancement due to go out in the next year.
“By bringing actionable data and insights to our customers, we can deliver a more personalized experience. We want everyone to achieve their long-term goals knowing their investments will continue to support their beliefs and principles,” Head of CMC Invest UK, Albert Soleiman, told Finance Magnates.
Growing Demand for ESG Data
The platform added the ESG features following growing demand for such information among retail and institutional investors. BlackRock, which oversees $8 trillion in investments, announced major ESG-centric investment plans. Although the investment manager is facing backlash from a few major investors, it is still continuing the ESG stance.
Another survey in the UK by Finder found that 77 percent of Brits are now considering ethical investing. “This echoes our internal research, with customers telling us they want greater transparency around the impact companies have on the world and society. Clearly, awareness around sustainability, social responsibility, and ethics is continuing to grow,” said Alister Sneddon, Head of Product at CMC Invest.
CMC is not the only retail trading platform
Trading Platform
In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real-time updates on quotes, charts and is the main frontend which customers are facing.Brokers either use existing trading platforms and sometimes customize them, or develop their own platform from scratch. Since the beginning of the retail FX trading business MetaQuotes and its platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) have been the industry standard, especially when it comes to automated trading.MT4 Shows Resiliency While MT4 has long been seen as ubiquitous amongst brokers’ offerings, a targeted push by MetaQuotes themselves has led to broader adoption of MT5 in recent years. Advanced trading platforms such as MT4 or MT5 also allow access to a wide range of asset classes available for trading.The development of trading platforms over the past decade has failed to successfully dethrone MT4 or MT5, notably in the retail market. However, in institutional markets, brokerage companies and banking entities also construct and utilize proprietary currency trading platforms to help satisfy internal needs with trades executed through institutional trading channels.By far the most important parameter for many retail clients is the optionality and pairs available on trading platforms. Additionally, demand by traders has led to a greater emphasis on newer features such as advanced charting and other tools.
In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real-time updates on quotes, charts and is the main frontend which customers are facing.Brokers either use existing trading platforms and sometimes customize them, or develop their own platform from scratch. Since the beginning of the retail FX trading business MetaQuotes and its platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) have been the industry standard, especially when it comes to automated trading.MT4 Shows Resiliency While MT4 has long been seen as ubiquitous amongst brokers’ offerings, a targeted push by MetaQuotes themselves has led to broader adoption of MT5 in recent years. Advanced trading platforms such as MT4 or MT5 also allow access to a wide range of asset classes available for trading.The development of trading platforms over the past decade has failed to successfully dethrone MT4 or MT5, notably in the retail market. However, in institutional markets, brokerage companies and banking entities also construct and utilize proprietary currency trading platforms to help satisfy internal needs with trades executed through institutional trading channels.By far the most important parameter for many retail clients is the optionality and pairs available on trading platforms. Additionally, demand by traders has led to a greater emphasis on newer features such as advanced charting and other tools. Read this Term to bring ESG data to investors. Recently, Swissquote also started to show such ESG data on many stocks offered by the platform. Other brokers also agree with the growing demand around ESG when it comes to retail investing.
“It’s no longer purely about maximizing a return; investors want to achieve long-term goals and help to deliver good outcomes that they are proud of. As such, investments are becoming a reflection of people’s own values and principles,” Sneddon said, adding that a growing female investor base has also pushed up the demand for ethical investing.
“Even in the advisor and fund manufacturing sector of the investment industry, we are witnessing a growing trend and pressure to deliver greater transparency to help customers have a positive impact. With 83% of consumers saying their personal ethics influence their buying decisions at least some of the time, we couldn’t ignore the demand. Our mission is to always provide customers with the support and data to make informed decisions,” Sneddon added.
Check out the recent London Summit session on “Social Impact & Innovation in Fintech
Fintech
Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to supply a technological service that not only simplifies but also aids consumers, business operators, and networks.This is done by optimizing business processes and financial operations through the implementation of specialized software, algorithms, and automated computing processes. Transitioning from the roots of the financial sector, fintech providers can be found through a multitude of industries such as retail banking, education, cryptocurrencies, insurance, nonprofit, and more. While fintechs cover a vast array of business sectors, it can be broken down into four classifications which are as followed: Business-to-business for banks, Business-to-business for banking business clients, business-to-consumers for small businesses, and consumers. More recently, fintechs presence has become increasingly apparent within the trading sector, primarily for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.The creation and use of Bitcoin can also be contributed to innovations brought upon by fintechs while smart contracts through blockchain technology have simplified and automated contracts between buyers and sellers. As a whole, fintechs applications are growing more diverse with a consumer-centric focus while its applications continue to innovate the trading and cryptocurrency sectors through automated technologies and business practices.
Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to supply a technological service that not only simplifies but also aids consumers, business operators, and networks.This is done by optimizing business processes and financial operations through the implementation of specialized software, algorithms, and automated computing processes. Transitioning from the roots of the financial sector, fintech providers can be found through a multitude of industries such as retail banking, education, cryptocurrencies, insurance, nonprofit, and more. While fintechs cover a vast array of business sectors, it can be broken down into four classifications which are as followed: Business-to-business for banks, Business-to-business for banking business clients, business-to-consumers for small businesses, and consumers. More recently, fintechs presence has become increasingly apparent within the trading sector, primarily for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.The creation and use of Bitcoin can also be contributed to innovations brought upon by fintechs while smart contracts through blockchain technology have simplified and automated contracts between buyers and sellers. As a whole, fintechs applications are growing more diverse with a consumer-centric focus while its applications continue to innovate the trading and cryptocurrency sectors through automated technologies and business practices. Read this Term.”
More Features to Come
The London-headquartered group launched CMC Invest to offer US and UK-listed stocks. It also has plans to expand its services by adding mutual funds, a US dollar currency wallet, and a few other features. Though the CMC, as the group made, made strides into the ESG space, the latest move was the first major EGS initiative of the CMC Invest UK.
“We are looking to expand how we use this insightful data to drive more features and personalization for customers on the Invest platform, as well as for any of our B2B partners,” Sneddon detailed.
Soleiman added: “We believe sustainability and ESG investing are the beginnings of a bigger trend… Over time, we expect to see an increase in impact investments, where not doing harm will no longer be the acceptable ‘highest standard.’ Instead, we’ll see consumers pushing to proactively do good in the world and their communities through investing.”
CMC Invest, the stock trading platform launched last October, has jumped into the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) bandwagon and is displaying ESG data in its mobile investing app, for shares, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and investment trusts.
For funds like ETFs and investment trusts, the platform displays an overall sustainability rating, ESG risk scores, and the contentious product areas where the funds are involved. For shares, the data include ESG risk score, a controversy category rating, and the contentious product areas where the company is and is not involved.
The new feature added by the platform earlier this month is aimed at providing ESG information to customers who consider ethical concerns along with profits. It has added two versions of the feature based on customer feedback and has a further enhancement due to go out in the next year.
“By bringing actionable data and insights to our customers, we can deliver a more personalized experience. We want everyone to achieve their long-term goals knowing their investments will continue to support their beliefs and principles,” Head of CMC Invest UK, Albert Soleiman, told Finance Magnates.
Growing Demand for ESG Data
The platform added the ESG features following growing demand for such information among retail and institutional investors. BlackRock, which oversees $8 trillion in investments, announced major ESG-centric investment plans. Although the investment manager is facing backlash from a few major investors, it is still continuing the ESG stance.
Another survey in the UK by Finder found that 77 percent of Brits are now considering ethical investing. “This echoes our internal research, with customers telling us they want greater transparency around the impact companies have on the world and society. Clearly, awareness around sustainability, social responsibility, and ethics is continuing to grow,” said Alister Sneddon, Head of Product at CMC Invest.
CMC is not the only retail trading platform
Trading Platform
In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real-time updates on quotes, charts and is the main frontend which customers are facing.Brokers either use existing trading platforms and sometimes customize them, or develop their own platform from scratch. Since the beginning of the retail FX trading business MetaQuotes and its platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) have been the industry standard, especially when it comes to automated trading.MT4 Shows Resiliency While MT4 has long been seen as ubiquitous amongst brokers’ offerings, a targeted push by MetaQuotes themselves has led to broader adoption of MT5 in recent years. Advanced trading platforms such as MT4 or MT5 also allow access to a wide range of asset classes available for trading.The development of trading platforms over the past decade has failed to successfully dethrone MT4 or MT5, notably in the retail market. However, in institutional markets, brokerage companies and banking entities also construct and utilize proprietary currency trading platforms to help satisfy internal needs with trades executed through institutional trading channels.By far the most important parameter for many retail clients is the optionality and pairs available on trading platforms. Additionally, demand by traders has led to a greater emphasis on newer features such as advanced charting and other tools.
In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real-time updates on quotes, charts and is the main frontend which customers are facing.Brokers either use existing trading platforms and sometimes customize them, or develop their own platform from scratch. Since the beginning of the retail FX trading business MetaQuotes and its platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) have been the industry standard, especially when it comes to automated trading.MT4 Shows Resiliency While MT4 has long been seen as ubiquitous amongst brokers’ offerings, a targeted push by MetaQuotes themselves has led to broader adoption of MT5 in recent years. Advanced trading platforms such as MT4 or MT5 also allow access to a wide range of asset classes available for trading.The development of trading platforms over the past decade has failed to successfully dethrone MT4 or MT5, notably in the retail market. However, in institutional markets, brokerage companies and banking entities also construct and utilize proprietary currency trading platforms to help satisfy internal needs with trades executed through institutional trading channels.By far the most important parameter for many retail clients is the optionality and pairs available on trading platforms. Additionally, demand by traders has led to a greater emphasis on newer features such as advanced charting and other tools. Read this Term to bring ESG data to investors. Recently, Swissquote also started to show such ESG data on many stocks offered by the platform. Other brokers also agree with the growing demand around ESG when it comes to retail investing.
“It’s no longer purely about maximizing a return; investors want to achieve long-term goals and help to deliver good outcomes that they are proud of. As such, investments are becoming a reflection of people’s own values and principles,” Sneddon said, adding that a growing female investor base has also pushed up the demand for ethical investing.
“Even in the advisor and fund manufacturing sector of the investment industry, we are witnessing a growing trend and pressure to deliver greater transparency to help customers have a positive impact. With 83% of consumers saying their personal ethics influence their buying decisions at least some of the time, we couldn’t ignore the demand. Our mission is to always provide customers with the support and data to make informed decisions,” Sneddon added.
Check out the recent London Summit session on “Social Impact & Innovation in Fintech
Fintech
Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to supply a technological service that not only simplifies but also aids consumers, business operators, and networks.This is done by optimizing business processes and financial operations through the implementation of specialized software, algorithms, and automated computing processes. Transitioning from the roots of the financial sector, fintech providers can be found through a multitude of industries such as retail banking, education, cryptocurrencies, insurance, nonprofit, and more. While fintechs cover a vast array of business sectors, it can be broken down into four classifications which are as followed: Business-to-business for banks, Business-to-business for banking business clients, business-to-consumers for small businesses, and consumers. More recently, fintechs presence has become increasingly apparent within the trading sector, primarily for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.The creation and use of Bitcoin can also be contributed to innovations brought upon by fintechs while smart contracts through blockchain technology have simplified and automated contracts between buyers and sellers. As a whole, fintechs applications are growing more diverse with a consumer-centric focus while its applications continue to innovate the trading and cryptocurrency sectors through automated technologies and business practices.
Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to supply a technological service that not only simplifies but also aids consumers, business operators, and networks.This is done by optimizing business processes and financial operations through the implementation of specialized software, algorithms, and automated computing processes. Transitioning from the roots of the financial sector, fintech providers can be found through a multitude of industries such as retail banking, education, cryptocurrencies, insurance, nonprofit, and more. While fintechs cover a vast array of business sectors, it can be broken down into four classifications which are as followed: Business-to-business for banks, Business-to-business for banking business clients, business-to-consumers for small businesses, and consumers. More recently, fintechs presence has become increasingly apparent within the trading sector, primarily for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.The creation and use of Bitcoin can also be contributed to innovations brought upon by fintechs while smart contracts through blockchain technology have simplified and automated contracts between buyers and sellers. As a whole, fintechs applications are growing more diverse with a consumer-centric focus while its applications continue to innovate the trading and cryptocurrency sectors through automated technologies and business practices. Read this Term.”
More Features to Come
The London-headquartered group launched CMC Invest to offer US and UK-listed stocks. It also has plans to expand its services by adding mutual funds, a US dollar currency wallet, and a few other features. Though the CMC, as the group made, made strides into the ESG space, the latest move was the first major EGS initiative of the CMC Invest UK.
“We are looking to expand how we use this insightful data to drive more features and personalization for customers on the Invest platform, as well as for any of our B2B partners,” Sneddon detailed.
Soleiman added: “We believe sustainability and ESG investing are the beginnings of a bigger trend… Over time, we expect to see an increase in impact investments, where not doing harm will no longer be the acceptable ‘highest standard.’ Instead, we’ll see consumers pushing to proactively do good in the world and their communities through investing.”
