Latest news with #riskManagement
Entrepreneur
8 hours ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How to Stop Overthinking and Start Taking Action
Business success requires quick decision-making — not long, drawn-out consensus-building. The risk isn't as great as you think, so make a decision and get moving. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Are you a doctor? Me neither. So why do we spend so much time obsessing over business decisions like we're performing open-heart surgery? If I had to make a medical decision, I would really be in trouble. And that's why I don't. But guess what? A lot of medical decisions are made quickly. I've worked in both giant corporations and scrappy startups. You know what sets them apart? In large companies, 99% of the time is spent worrying about the 1% of things that might go wrong. In small ones, 99% of the time is spent sprinting forward — because there's no time to sweat the small stuff. Get moving or start dying (metaphorically). It's that simple. In essence, what I'm talking about is the difference between paralyzing risk management and bold risk acceptance. One keeps the wheels spinning; the other keeps the business moving. I once wrote a LinkedIn post that simply said: "The biggest mistake you can make is being afraid to make one." It's something I remind myself of on tough days. Because no matter how chaotic it gets, what we do isn't life or death — it's business. And business requires momentum. It doesn't require months of groupthink. Related: Entrepreneurs Don't Overthink Things. They Make a Decision and Go With It. How do you keep the business moving? 1. Be ruthless, but thoughtful, about hiring I worked at a company where closing a deal required six levels of approval. Six. Levels. Of. Approval. That's not process — it's pure bureaucracy and pain. As you grow, be intentional. Every hire should have a clear purpose and deliver real value. If you can't answer these questions in a positive manner: What does this role do ? How does it help us grow? Is it really a full-time position? Would it be better to outsource it than keep it in-house? …then don't hire. You're building a team, not a padded org chart. 2. Make the call at 51% You don't need 100% certainty to act. You don't even need 60%. If you're 51% sure — leaning ever so slightly toward one direction — that's enough. It has to be. Waiting for perfection leads to paralysis. Move. Decide. Adjust later if needed. Deal with the fallout, if it comes. In my experience, the big scary "what-ifs" rarely happen. What does happen? Nothing — because no decision gets made. 3. Two days max If it's a decision that keeps your business running, it shouldn't take more than a day or two. That includes tough calls like terminations. Sure, major events like acquisitions or IPOs deserve more deliberation. This isn't a one-size-fits-all prophecy. But day-to-day? You're stalling if it drags on. Every extra day adds uncertainty — and that's a cost you don't want. Let me tell you a secret: The decision you come to on day 30 is likely the same one you came to on day two. Try it sometime and see ... or don't, because that means you're seriously delaying. 4. If you're wrong? The world won't end. In most cases, the worst-case scenario is a loss of revenue. Not good — but not fatal either. As long as your decisions are ethical, you'll live to fight another day. Don't let fear of failure keep you frozen. Action beats inaction. Every time. Related: Time to Stop Overanalyzing and Start Making Decisions! How to think less and do more 1. Build smart consensus Get input from your team, but don't let collaboration become a boomerang. Bounce ideas around, align direction, and then execute. Note, this does not mean that everyone has to agree. Quite the opposite. Use smart consensus to inform your decision. This isn't picking curtains — it's about moving the business forward. Stop polishing decisions and just ship them. 2. Get expert advice (but don't marinate in it) Need a legal opinion or some financial expertise? Great — get it. Find a lawyer. Hire an accountant. Use experts like a compass, not a crutch. Their guidance should help you move faster, not slow you down. You should get additional warm fuzzies relying on information provided by an expert who has seen the problem before. That should give you even less incentive to delay. 3. Trust your gut Seriously. Your gut's smarter than you think. I once ignored mine and joined a hot startup that felt "off." Turns out, it was. The founders ended up under federal indictment. Your instincts are data, too. Learn to listen. When your gut is screaming, pay attention. Your first impression is often the correct one. Related: Overcome This Common Entrepreneurial Struggle and Stop Sabotaging Your Progress Time is the real currency Time isn't just money; it's everything. You only get so much of it. Long, drawn-out decisions not only stall your business — they eat into your life. When you take forever to make a call, you're not just delaying growth — you're delaying freedom, balance and personal progress. So don't waste time trying to perfect every move. Businesses aren't built on perfection. They're built on momentum. Ask yourself: What feels better — crawling or driving a Ferrari? Start the engine. Let's go.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why waiting to invest could cost you more than you think
You can catch Trader Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Think you're too late to start investing? Think again. In this episode of Trader Talk, Kenny Polcari sits down with Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, to discuss strategies for investors who are getting a late start. Sosnick emphasizes the importance of risk management, advocating for a disciplined approach focused on capital preservation and high-quality dividend stocks rather than speculative, high-risk trades. They also explore the responsible use of options to enhance income, how AI and algorithmic trading are reshaping the markets, and why understanding your personal risk tolerance is crucial for successful investing. Watch more episodes of Trader Talk here. Trader Talk with Kenny Polcari on Yahoo Finance delivers expert analysis and actionable insights, empowering you to navigate market volatility and secure your financial future. Welcome to Trader Talk where we dish out the latest Wall Street buzz to keep your portfolio sizzling. I'm Kenny Polcari coming to you live from Yahoo Finance's headquarters in the heart of New York City, a global trade hub where deals are made, fortunes are built, and the next market just around the corner. Coming up, we'll dive into why it's never too late to get started investing. We'll chat with Interactive Brokers's chief strategist Steve Soznick, and we'll be sure to stick around for my pork chop pizzaiola at the end of the show. Now, let's jump into my big just bust the myth. Starting to invest late in life is not a lost cause. In fact, it's more common than you think. Maybe you were focused on family or a career or simply didn't have the means. But here's the truth. While time is a powerful ally, discipline and strategy matter even more when you're playing catch up. The biggest mistake, uh, late starters make is trying to gamble their way to make up for lost time. They chase the risky stocks, so they speculate on the next big a recipe for sleepless nights and potential disaster. If you're coming in late, your number one job is to protect what you have even as you aim for growth. So what works? Prioritize stability and cash flow. Think high quality dividend stocks, blue chip companies and dividend, uh, diversified ETFs, defensive sectors like health care, staples. Think Johnson and Johnson, Procter and Gamble, the XLP or VOO should be core Holdings. These names provide steady income and tend to weather volatility better than the growth fads. Keep your time horizon realistic. If you're planning to retire soon, do not go all in on the riskiest ideas. Focus on capital preservation and onlyTake calculated risks with money you can truly afford to lose. Don't overlook bonds or fixed income. They're not flashy, but they add stability, especially as you approach retirement. Laddering maturities can give you flexibility and steady income and above all, get a plan. Don't just wing it. That means budgeting, working with a financial advisor if you can, and investments where possible. The power of consistency can still work wonders even if you're starting from a smaller base. The bottom line, it's never too late to start investing, but your approach has to match your reality play defense first, avoid the lottery ticket mindset and let discipline, not desperation, be your guide. There's still time to build wealth, just do it with well, joining us today is Steve Soznick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. With a career spanning over three decades in the financial markets, Steve has been at the forefront of trading, innovation, and strategy. He began his journey at Timber Hill in 1995, where he served as an equity risk manager and options market maker, eventually leading the firm's Canada. Steve's expertise in algorithmic and electronic trading has been instrumental in shaping modern trading practices. Beyond his strategic roles, he is a respected voice in the financial media, frequently sharing insights on market dynamics and risk management. Please join me in welcoming Steve Sozy to the show. Steve, it's such a pleasure to have you and thank you for joining me today. My pleasure, Kenny. This, this promises to be great. Yes, I hope so. So listen, I know I gave you that a little introduction, but talk just a little bit about kind of your history and where you are today and how you ended up where you are. Sure. Well, I mean,before, actually, by the time I joined what was then Timber Hill, the predecessor firm to Interactive Brokers, I'd already been on the street for several years. I started, um, in the Solomon Brothers training program, um, in, in January of 1987. I actually finished school in 1986, but I managed to postpone them for six months. It was a raging bull market, so they were doing two training classes a year, so I said, all right, here's my opportunity toTo venture out a little bit, so I went, you know, put on a backpack and then joined and finished pretty much just in time for the stock market to crash. So, um, that was, uh, that was quite an adventure. And, you know, one of the things that, that's fascinating about that whole period, and I was reminded of it just, you know, just last week, um, I, I spent some time at the NASDAQ, um, Thursday morning. I was privileged to bePart of the bell ringing. Um, and it was to celebrate 25 years of the ISE, which doesn't exist anymore, but that was, that was the first all-electronic, um, options exchange. We were very involved in that and I had my ISE, uh, polo shirt from back in the day. Somehow I still had it, much to my wife's chagrin, I was able to find it and still had but it's amazing cause we, you know, some of the talk, because, you know, everybody who'd been there from the 25 year mark was of a certain age, and, you know, it was a time to look back on how the business changed, on how, uh, trading on the trading New York based stocks versus trading NASDAQ stocks.A completely different animal, um, and no, and you did one or the other, and then when moving, moving to the options game, you know, you had the, you had at that point single listings, which, you know, so, so if you wanted to trade Dell, you had to do that on the Philix. If you wanted to trade Ford, you had to do it onthe unbelievable, wasn't it when you think about it, right? And so it's the mechanics of the business of all change. I'm one of the rare people who in the old days actually traded NASDAQ and New York stocks at the same time because he was in the foreign, foreign ADR issuers didn't really care whether the listing was, but, but for the most part, the mechanics were so different, um, I obviously don't have to tell you about New York NYSE mechanics, but, um, but it was just, you know, it was, it was mind boggling to have that little trip down memory lane and realize the evolution of how far we've come, know, in, in, at least in our, in these, in the lifetime of older, you know, gentlemen of a certain age, you, you and I could have our own separate show just about that because that is a fascinating conversation, right?In any event, let's move on to talk about investing kind of late in life strategies for people maybe who, you know, feel like maybe they've missed the boat, they didn't take advantage, they couldn't for whatever reason, they had kids, they had expenses, they had houses, whatever it was. They couldn't do it. So now they're starting to invest late late in life. And what are they, what are their key considerations for kind of building wealth and managing risk, uh, as we move into this kind of period of our talk a little bit, talk a little bit about that. I wish I could disagree with anything you said in the open, but I really can't. I mean, that's, I think first and foremost, yes, for the younger, for the, assuming we haven't completely tuned out any of the younger listeners, time is, time is your biggest asset. I, I, I think somebody once said compound interest is the eighth wonder of the time in the market, it is a big winner, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't start late. It doesn't mean you should, you should always be looking toward investment opportunities. And as you said, the key here is understanding your time horizon and understanding your risk, your risk limitations. And, andUm, you know, it's, it's, it's fascinating because I, I just actually, I got asked by some friends of mine who, who are doctors, and, and one of them, you know, the, the wife's, who's, she's a physician, her father passed away and she inherited this investment portfolio from her father, who was an economics professor, and she said, what do you think of this portfolio?And she said it's too heavily invested in stocks, and you know, for a 90 year old guy, how was he so invested in stocks? Except the stocks, this was like the dream portfolio. It was the only stock that didn't pay a high dividend was Berkshire Hathaway. Everything else was a was a solid dividend know, not the sexy stuff. He didn't go in for Nvidia, you know, whatever else, because he was, he was a, you know, a man in his 90s, was a 9 year old man, and he wanted to, you know, he, he needed the income, uh, but he wanted to leave something for his, for his children and grandchildren, which he did. And I'm looking at this, don't touch this. I understand you're gonna have to pay taxes, whatever. Touch as little of this as possible because that's really the right thing. But, you know, again, I think what happens isThe the big impulse a lot of people have is, oh right, I'm playing catch up. I'm gonna, you know, I gotta make up for lost time. You just, that'sinappropriate. Right. Well, they're looking for every stock to be in video or Palanttier or, you know, some name that's going to grow it, you know, 500% year in and year out, which is certainly not the way to do it, right? You can have some exposure to that certainly as you get older. You more of it and that's when you're younger, for sure. Um, but as you get older, you know, you get into the 60 category and up, you don't want to be, you, you have some exposure, but not, not nearly that much. And while the guy might have been 90 years old, to your point, he had a portfolio that was a beautiful portfolio. They weren't they they were they were stable, dividend paying stocks that were year in and year out solid performers. Exactly, I, you know, I think it, I think at some point you get to a point, as you get to a point in life, even if you're investing late, you realize that it so you need the income because, because it, you know, we all want to retire. I think you and I are both a little lucky in the sense that we're, again, of a certain age and not necessarily looking to do but we're, but what happens is the income comes, I'm not gonna say it comes in handy, it becomes a necessity. And so you want to have your money making money for you, and also quite importantly, you want that money to be there. You know, my, my, my I, I, my friend Steve Sears wrote a book several, several years ago, um, and it was, you know, basically about people who've made, you know, some of the most successful investors of all time. One of those kind of books. And one of the key things that all of them focused on was, first, don't lose know, that doesn't mean don't take risk. Let me, let me be, let me be real. You have to take risk and reward are always there. There's always the, you know, there's, you know, otherwise we would just do a show about like finding the, finding the highest bank account rate, you know, FDICC insured rates and that, that's not necessarily it either, but you have to have the mentality of making your risk reward appropriate. You know, I, my turn, you know, when things were selling know, in April, you know, my son, who's 27, a bunch of his friends were, were calling him. What does your dad think about what's going on? I'm like, for you and your friends, don't do anything. I buy more, right? You should be buying more. You should be freaking out by any stretch of the imagination. Yeah, I, I, I, I,I bought as well. I bought you mentioned VOO. I bought VOO. But, but realistically, um, you know, I told the younger people don't get out of the market. You've got, you've got 50 years to worry about this. This, this is gonna be a blip in time. Doesn't, doesn't, I, I'm not necessarily a believer that every dip is a reflexively a buying opportunity. That, that, that's a topic for another red, but, but if you had.50 years on your side, you know, 40, 50 years on your side. Just keep plowing your money and you know what, if you've got, if you're putting in for your 401k, just keep doing it come hell or high water, because that's averaging down. Don't worry about that. But if you're but you know, for the older folks, I also had people approach me like, you know, look, I'm thinking I was hoping to retire in 3 years. Now I don't know if I can and and know, I, I think one of the things you have to remember in, in situations like that, and I think this is very important, is think about, do a gut check for how you felt in April. And if you felt freaked out, if you felt that you were just, you know, this was inconceivable, you're carrying too much risk. If you said, damn the torpedoes, I'm a buyer, well, that's a different story too. Most people, I think fall somewhere inbetween. Steve, hold one second. We're gonna take a break and we'll be right right, so now we're back. And so to your point, for people that were feeling unsettled in April when the market sold off on the back of all the tariff news and liberation news and all that stuff, then your point, you're right. They're either too involved in way too much risk in their portfolio, or they're just completely uncomfortable and they don't really know how to they don't know how to process kind of what was going on, right? Now, what, what's that if you or somebody had a portfolio on April 1st, and you did absolutely nothing with it, you rode that wave. By now you're right back to at least where you were, if not actually improved. Some of those stocks are actually at prices higher than they were on April, right? But a lot of people, you know, who said, no, no, no, I gotta get out. They sold, they sold, they hit the subway and then when it turns around, they rush to rushed to get back in, right? So they're in out, they're in out. And so you're not really sure where they end up because they screwed it all up, right? They sold everything, and then they bought everything. So where'd you end up? You don't really know how you would have been had you held that portfolio. So to your point, like I say, you know, and, and as long as it's a long-term investment portfolio and it's properly you should be able to ride the waves and take advantage of that, right? And to your point, the dividend stocks, if you're not taking the dividends yet, if you're not using it for income, the dividends should just automatically get reinvested into the same name that's paying the dividend. But if you like the stock to begin with, then you should, you should not mind reinvesting those dividends into the same name. you know, I, I think going into this, one of the ways that I think, you know, I, I, I come from a volatility trading environment. So to me, I'm always, I'm always conscious of volatility. And so, no, I think for institutional investors think in terms of returns adjusted for volatility. So right, so if you're going to invest in in crazy stuff, it tends to be more volatile. You, you get bigger risks, better returns, but I think sometimes or or bigger loss or not, right? Exactly. ButUm, I think for, you know, if you're starting at this a little bit later, you want to use the concept, let's say a beta is a good way to think about volatility in some ways. So beta is a, is a sim, you know, is sort of a, it's not perfect, but it's basically saying for each move that the S&P 500 makes, this stock moves one for one with it, one, you know, it moves 2 for 1 with it, it moves 0.7 to 1 with it. I think if you're investing you don't have and or do not have a very high risk tolerance, you want to favor the lower beta stocks, those are usually found as value stocks. Those also tend to pay dividends, um, and so I think that's generally a way to go if you're, if you're coming into this late and don't have and don't have a huge, um, stomach for this. And, and quite frankly, I'm going to assume that if you haven't been investing this, you know, until relatively haven't been doing it because you don't have a huge risk tolerance. There's nothing wrong with that. Everybody's risk tolerance is different, and I would never say that what works for one person is going to work for another. It can' I think first is know yourself, and then once you know yourself, figure out the investor, the investments that will follow along with with yourself. Right, so talk about this for a moment because this is another area where you kind of spent a lot of your career. Options and derivatives, right? And maybe how should everyday investors use these tools? Could they use these tools? Can they use them responsibly to enhance their risk in return if they're not really sure how they work? Well, number one, make sure how they work. And one of the, one of the things, one of the places you could do that is we've put a lot of effort at interactive brokers. It's free. You do not have to be a customer, although, of course, we would love you to become one. You do not have to be a customer to use our tools. Um, another great place is the options Industry council because I have a lot of friends know, at that, at OIC, um, and they're, this is what they do for a living. So those are places to look. And, you know, when you people think of options, they think of them as gambling or, or, you know, or some sort of means of, of, of, of just, you know, trying to supercharge your returns. There are also ways to supercharge your, well, not supercharge is the wrong are also ways to enhance your income, using covered calls, writing cash secured puts, you know, the, the, the, the covered calls is getting a little extra income. You're willing to forego maybe some of the return on your securities in in exchange for a little extra income. On the cash secured put side, if you're holding a lot of cash and you say, I want to buy, I, I wish I could know, XYZ stock at at at $90 a share, but it's trading at $95 a share, and you can afford to do so. You might want to sell a put and get paid to and get paid to wait. There's different reasons for doing this, but I do, I know some very successful, very conservative investors who utilize options strategies, um, to enhance their income. Look, I know people gamble with them too, but I, I think they're very, they're a great tool for conservative investors when, when doneappropriately, right? But, but, but to the other point, options investments are not, you, you don't buy an option and hold it long term for 10 or 20 years like you do a stock, right? They're very short-term and strategic when you use them. Oh, options, options decay. They decay, you know that if I, if I ever write my autobiography, it'll be called The Life in Decay because that's literally, that's literally how I've spent it on Weight Watch, you know, and, you know, professional, there's two ways to approach it. You're either paying the to, you know, to, to get the turbocharged returns, or you are willing to accept the, you're willing to accept a little less in return in exchange for, for a cash outlay. This again can fall that we're talking about conservative things that investors can do. That is a conservative thing an investor can do is, is, is right, is right covered calls, cash secured puts, there's some other strategies, vertical spreads can be very conservative, um, play into that know, without getting into the real nitty gritty or crazy stuff that I think a lot of people associate with options. Right. So let's talk a minute about, because you have a, you have a big history kind of electronic trading and algorithms. So let's talk about the impact of AI on trading, right? And how that technology is kind of reshaping behavior and what it ultimately means for investors. It's interesting. Well, first of all, AI is a theme is certainly that's, that's the investment theme of the last, uh, of the last few years, right? It, it's, it's no coincidence that Chat GPT was released in November 2022 and that's literally was the, was when this bull run, which wasn't really, you know, I, I, you could say it was interrupted in April, it really wasn't. Um, that, that's really when that bull run dates to. So, no coincidence there, but in terms of using AI.I, I would say right now it's still not, there are people trying to do it. I, I, I think right now some of the algorithms that are using it are a little unsophisticated. I, I was actually at a panel at the options industry conference just earlier, I guess about a month ago now, and someone put up one of my friend Henry Schwartz from the CBO, which was another great resource if you want to learn more about options, the CEO has plenty of stuff too, um, and he put up a chart that blew everybody's mind, and it was certain algorithms.A lot of algorithms now you could see the time on the chart exactly when the trades were going off. It was a former floor trader would love it if you knew that some guy was gonna walk in the crowd at 10:15 and buy X and walk back in the crowd at 10:30 and buy it again and again at 10:40 and there were strategies that were doing this. It was like there was like a gasp of know, how, how does someone let these algorithms out there unleashed in the world. So, artificial intelligence will will help. It probably will help people code certain algorithms, but it's still not at the point where it's replaced, um, humans yet. Although, believe me, I'm sure there are guys out there withPhDs who are trying. Well, I'm sure they are, and I'm sure, you know, at some point that is going to happen, right? I mean, whether it happens, you know, next month or 2 years from now, I think at some point, they're gonna to use AI and look, if you look on it's popping up on Instagram or it's popping up on TikTok. It's even popping up on Twitter, you know, all these people saying that they can do it better. They got this AI machine that can do it better and do it better every time I look at it, I I shake my head and I go really?Anyway, look,Good. I, I mean, you'reon social media, anytime I'm on like one of these things that's that, you know, if I'm featured on any particular any social media, any major media outlets post on social media, inevitably there are comments, oh, you should be listening to Joe Schmo 123. He's great, or, you know, or, you know, or, or Jane Doe, and, you know, and, and, and, and you realize there's just so much crap floating around out there, and this goes back to I guess our to people who've been at this for some period of time and who, you know, or who tell you what their vested interests are. I'll tell you, our vested interest is we'd love you to become customers. Once you become customers, we want you to make money because we want to keep you as customers. The options Industry Council, the CBO, they, they are, they want people to trade options, but they don't want to trade options and blow people up. They want people to, they want people to use this stuff responsibly. They want to. You've been at this for a while. You don't want to, you don't want to just create followers and, and, and, and ruin them. So I think this is very important is get your, there's all kinds of stuff out there. There will be great models out there. Look for a track record, look for and or and or figure out who's motivating this idea that you're that you're gettinginto. And that's right, because a lot of people are talking their own books and so yeah, it's like anything, right? Who's talking their own book because that's what you have to be careful about. Listen, Steve, we this up, but I appreciate this conversation. I want to talk about maybe coming back 5 or 6 months from now and kind of revisiting where we are and where we were and what we talked about and kind of compare and contrast to see how this all turned out. But as you may or may not know, I end every episode with a with a recipe because I love to cook and it's just part of who I am. And so today I'm giving you pork chop pizzaiola, right? So when you ask what is pizzaiola? Well, the term ala pizzaiola literally means in the style of the pizza maker, right? Because in Italian, the pizzaiolo is the pizza maker and to the sauce that he makes with tomatoes and garlics and ego and olive oil, the same basic flavor that you use as a base for this classic Neapolitan pizza. So sometimes they add in crushed red pepper or bell peppers and capers or even olives depending on who's cooking and what's in the pantry, right? Originally, uh, the term ala pizzaola was a way to stretch for uh tougher meats, tougher cuts of meat, uh, into a meal, right? So they took thin slices of meat, simmered it in this sauce until it was tender. It took time. Uh, and over time, this method was adapted to other meats, including pork chops, uh, which are naturally flavorful and hold up beautifully in a slow cooked kind of tomato sauce. This recipe is rooted in Neapolitan ingenuity and is a symbol of the hearty family-focused Italian home cooking. It's not fancy, and it's not fussy, but it's full of love and that's enough to make anybody happy. You can scare the QR code on the screen to get the full recipe and you can thank me the meantime, that's a wrap for today's traded Talk, but the conversation keeps going. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You got questions or topics you uncovered? Email us at tradedertalk@yahoo because we're always listening. And until next time, stay sharp, stay disciplined, stay in touch and take good care. This content was not intended to be financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial services. This post was written by Langston Sessoms. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Octa broker's global survey: traders and security
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 17 June 2025 - In trading, seizing opportunities and mitigating risks go hand in hand. Consistent success relies on a delicate balance between these two elements. To better understand how traders perceive and approach safety—both in daily life and during trading sessions—Octa, a trusted global broker since 2011, surveyed hundreds of market participants to gain insights into their mindset and its global survey, Octa focused on exploring the relation between traders' everyday habits and their security mindset. In its research, the broker covered traders from five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, and Nigeria. Below are some insightful of all, the respondents were asked whether they would rather choose a picturesque wild beach or a private lifeguarded one as a destination for their vacation. The vast majority of participants in all countries of the survey chose the second—more prudent— and security are especially important for Nigerian traders: only 7% of them chose a beautiful wild beach, while the remaining 93% would rather spend their vacation in a lifeguarded the other hand, security is much less vital for Indonesians: 72% would prefer a more predictable, albeit less exciting destination, but as many as 28% don't mind a little risk if it means getting more beauty and strong tendency towards safety and predictability reflect a structured, strategic mindset, which is absolutely essential for trading. Traders tend to value transparency—presumably, in everyday life as in trading. However, a significant part of the participants said they had come across hidden fees and commissions on the part of their broker—the ones not mentioned in the broker's terms and conditions. For example, as much as 38% of Singaporean and Malaysian traders had encountered such unpleasant experiences on their journeys in the financial a highly experienced broker, Octa is well aware of the high value traders attach to transparent trading conditions and security. For this reason, Octa prioritises transparency in its operation, acting under the motto 'no hidden tricks, just honest trading'. For example, the broker offers a fast and highly efficient withdrawal procedure whose reliability is supported by multiple online to the Octa broker's survey, the vast majority of traders (between 81% and 92%, depending on the region) envisage their dream workplace as a well-organised and meticulously clean space that emits stability vibes. Indonesian traders value order in a workplace the most: 92% opted for a more organised option, while 8% said they prefer a beautiful and unique yet chaotic and less predictable working with the previous question, these results show a strong tendency towards predictability and order. Given that, it is surprising that only 35% of Indonesian traders strictly schedule and plan their trading sessions, while 65% start them whenever they feel like regions showed more willingness to plan trading sessions. In particular, South African and Nigerian traders seem the most organised in this respect, as 56% of survey participants reported dedicating a specific time of day to participants from all five countries responded very similarly when asked whether they pay their utility bills in advance or at the last minute. Between 84% and 87% of respondents declared they do their best to avoid falling into arrears and always pay their bills on time. The remaining 13–16% couldn't be bothered to do it in advance, and often pay the bills at the last minute despite having no money issues. This goes to show that the majority of traders are disciplined individuals who value planning and strategising in their everyday when it comes to trading sessions, this emphasis on order and timeliness is less pronounced. Only 65-71% of respondents reported using stop-loss and take-profit orders regularly, keeping track of their equity level, and calculating potential financial outcomes before taking a position. 29–35% of survey participants said they use risk management tools only when attempting a hazardous trade. They usually trust their trading intuition to exit trades on majority of traders value order and timeliness in their everyday lives. However, when it comes to trading, many underestimate the importance of scheduling and proper risk management. As a highly experienced and globally trusted broker, Octa recommends approaching trading sessions in the same way as professional athletes approach their training. Don't forget that in trading, as in professional sports, meticulous planning and discipline go a long way.___Hashtag: #Octa The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Octa Octa is an international CFD broker that has been providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers commission-free access to financial markets and various services used by clients from 180 countries who have opened more than 52 million trading accounts. To help its clients reach their investment goals, Octa offers free educational webinars, articles, and analytical tools. The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charitable and humanitarian initiatives, including improving educational infrastructure and funding short-notice relief projects to support local communities. In Southeast Asia, Octa received the 'Best Trading Platform Malaysia 2024' and the 'Most Reliable Broker Asia 2023' awards from Brands and Business Magazine and International Global Forex Awards, respectively.
Bloomberg
12-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
From Lagging Indicators to Daily Intelligence: Rethinking Country Risk
From armed conflict to political upheaval, geopolitical events are unfolding daily - and they're directly impacting investments and counterparties in these locations. Yet most traditional country risk metrics are produced infrequently on a lag, leading many firms to rely on manual monitoring of news and social media. Join Bloomberg and Seerist as we introduce a newly launched dataset that replaces guesswork with grounded, daily intelligence. Powered by expert political analyst insight and AI, this data delivers country-level geopolitical risk scores and ratings tied directly to companies' country of risk - enabling risk and investment teams to monitor how fast-moving developments are impacting businesses on the ground. Whether you're comparing counterparties or recalibrating investment decisions, this session will show how to seamlessly integrate geopolitical risk data into your workflow - so you're not only aware of global events as they unfold, but able to confidently quantify their impact. Global Head of Risk & Investment Analytics Products Bloomberg Zane Van Dusen is the Global Head of Risk & Investment Analytics Products at Bloomberg. Zane began this role in 2019 and under his leadership, the group has become one of the industry's top data analytics providers, supplying innovative risk metrics, such as Bloomberg's award-winning Liquidity Assessment solution (LQA), based on Bloomberg's vast database of market data. Zane works with quants and engineers to build data-driven analytics that address a wide range of client needs from investment research to portfolio construction to regulatory reporting. Prior to this role, Zane managed the implementation of risk management, stress testing and reporting systems for Credit Suisse's Treasury and Liquidity Risk Management groups for over a decade. Prior to this role, Zane managed the implementation of risk management, stress testing and reporting systems for Credit Suisse's Treasury and Liquidity Risk Management groups for over a decade. Victoria Cardwell Head of Sales Seerist Victoria Cardwell brings two decades of experience at the intersection of geopolitical risk and commercial strategy. At Seerist, she leads sales to commercial and international government entities who need to monitor, analyse and anticipate security, political and operational risks. Throughout her career, Victoria has built and scaled teams to support clients across a broad range of sectors—including finance, insurance, energy, technology, and manufacturing—helping them navigate volatile environments by building risk intelligence technology into their operations. Victoria spent 8 years at Control Risks as Partner of Global Online Solutions, and previously held roles include at Jane's and IHS Markit (now S+P). Throughout her career she has focused on delivering intelligence as SaaS, for macro-economic as well as geopolitical and security datasets. Victoria holds a Master's degree in War Studies from King's College London and studied at Durham University.
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Should Businesses Be Approaching Sustainability Now?
There is a palpable air of uncertainty among many multinational corporate sustainability, ESG and risk management teams these days as everyone tries to anticipate the future of sustainability regulation. I've written quite a bit about the mixed messages companies are receiving from regulators in Europe as the EU Member States continue to debate the details of the Omnibus Simplification Package, and in the U.S., where it's still unclear exactly how this historic period of environmental deregulation will affect companies. The fact is that many businesses have invested significant time and resources into sustainability compliance and reporting initiatives while operating under the impression that major reforms like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) would be hitting their stride right now. Instead, they're living through a period of regulatory limbo in which it's not clear what exactly their future sustainability compliance obligations entail. So, what should they be doing in the meantime? The short answer is: now is the time to be reviewing the steps they have made so far, and the most obvious place to start is with is their materiality assessments. In the world of financial reporting, materiality is defined as information that can influence and ultimately inform the financial decision making of an entity. When applied to sustainability reporting, a materiality assessment is a company's foundational definition of the core sustainability issues that matter most to their businesses and their stakeholders. These guide the way they will report and integrate them into overall business strategy and investment. In short, these materiality assessments shine a light on the foundational truths that define a company's values and goals and determine whether or not they are aligned with their strategic objectives. The identification of these material matters is also the starting point to determine the information that should be disclosed in the sustainability statement, which identifies the impacts, risks and opportunities confronting a company and its upstream and downstream value chain. At a time when the rules of the game keep changing and where corporate positions on sustainability can easily become politicized, a well-thought-out and delivered materiality assessment is an important way for a company to assert the business case for its sustainability strategy. Importantly, it is a way for companies to take the emotion out of sustainability and instead focus on the facts and the financial rationale behind their actions, while ensuring their sustainability strategy is dynamic and meets the changing needs of their businesses. Even during this period of regulatory flux, the market drivers behind sustainability have not changed , and in some cases they have even increased in significance. Now is the time for businesses to really look at what other companies in their space are doing when it comes to sustainability reporting. This peer comparison will soon become a key benchmark against which other companies will measure themselves and will also be measured. While sustainability disclosure reporting regulators have been debating the best path forward, many leading companies have already started reporting in compliance with the CSRD. In fact, some 500 companies have already published sustainability reports under the CSRD. The full library of reports can be found here, courtesy of ESG data management software company KEY ESG, which has been cataloging them all. One of the first things that stands out when reviewing these reports is that many of them come from companies in jurisdictions where the CSRD has yet to be fully implemented. In fact, according to a detailed PwC analysis of 100 CSRD reports, about 90% of them came from five European countries, three of which (Germany, Spain and the Netherlands) have not yet transposed the CSRD into national law. Another key finding of the analysis was that these reports are not very standardized. Some are 30 pages; others are 300 and they each focus on different aspects of sustainability-related risks. However, the important takeaway for business leaders who are still refining their approaches to sustainability reporting is that hundreds of manufacturers, technology companies, financial services firms, retailers, utilities and others are already out there walking the walk on sustainability reporting. These early standard bearers will not only have a jump on the intricacies of the reporting process once the mandate is finalized; they will also help establish industry best practices and position themselves as leaders to investors, customers and other stakeholders who increasingly want to know about business risks linked to sustainability. It's easy for business leaders to become distracted in a news cycle like the one we find ourselves in today that seems to be consumed with the idea of delayed implementation and political infighting. The big picture is that, delayed or not, sustainability reporting mandates of some type are coming, whether directly from regulators, or as is currently the case, from other stakeholders such as investors and customers. The sooner companies get themselves aligned with those standards, the better off they will be when the time comes to comply with the law. Moreover, with so many companies already reporting in line with the CSRD, and the informed view is that more and more will do so voluntarily, the prevailing market forces are creating some pressure on businesses that have not yet shared their sustainability reports. Now is not the time to delay. It is the time to refine and hone sustainability practices to focus on what matters most to the business and its stakeholders.
