CMC’s Retail Business Booming in Scotland
January 31, 2009admin No Comments »Spread betting firms have attracted new clients wanting to bet on the market rather than see it as a longer term investment. CMC Markets has signed up 1,000 clients in Scotland since opening its Edinburgh office 12 months ago.
The company, which is 10 per cent owned by investment bank Goldman Sachs, has a worldwide network of offices. In the UK, Edinburgh is its only branch outside London. Over the next 12 months Mike McCudden, CMC Scotland branch manager, said it aims to increase its number of spread betters north of the border by 100 per cent
In December alone Scottish clients performed around 22,000 trades with CMC, with many ‘going short’ by first selling a share or commodity they think will fall in value and buying it back at a cheaper price
He said the firm had not seen any downturn in trading during the recent Financial Services Authority’s ban on short selling
McCudden said: ‘With the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS having been in the news, we’ve seen more interest from investors.’
He added that 25 per cent of new business had come through referrals from existing clients.
CMC does not plan to open any more UK offices and will instead concentrate on growing its business in Scotland from its Edinburgh base, where it now has six employees.
A major target will be the north-east of the country which the firm considers a lucrative area because of the wealth that has been generated from oil. Investors can sign up to online training seminars rather than attend face-to-face sessions in the Edinburgh office. All new clients are offered a “risk free” day of trading on the FTSE 100 Index where any profits are kept by the clients and losses assumed by CMC.
All clients receive an education pack, including a DVD presented actor by James Nesbitt to explain the basics of spread betting to investors.
Tags: CMC Markets, Goldman Sachs, scotland
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