Tricks of the trade

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Benedict Floyd.

Although they are quick to accept that the scheme isn't totally altruistic - profitable traders will make good money for DPTG - Hume and Floyd are bullish about the prospects for young would-be traders in the region.

"If our traders aren't profitable then we won't make any money - it is incumbent upon us to make them profitable," accepts Floyd. "History says that probably about 50% of the people we take on will make their mark. But if you can do it, then it's a great lifestyle. You get to choose when you work, what days, and a lot of people make a lot of money doing it."

Moreover, he insists that market conditions in the region make 2008 an ideal time to move into trading. Market volatility and the corrections of the last two years mean that seasoned traders are reluctant to chance their arm on exchanges such as the Dubai Financial Market or Dubai International Financial Exchange. What DPTG offers is "a mile away from that", he claims.

"What we're offering is far more attractive, if people are willing to put the effort in and learn," suggests Floyd. "The markets now are very volatile, which for a trader who's going in and out of the market means that there's serious money to be made. The more volatile the market is the better - in fact we couldn't ask for more perfect market conditions to trade in."

Hume concurs. Since he first arrived in Dubai six years ago, the emirate has taken great strides in establishing itself as a leading financial centre in the region.

"We're not the only people that see that Dubai is going to become a major futures trading hub, and exchanges from all over the world are spending more and more time here," he notes. "If you look at the trading arcades around the world it has taken London around 400 years to really get established, New York 100 years, and Singapore about 20 years. So Dubai has pulled it together pretty swiftly from that point of view.

"From our point of view it's certainly feasible that we could have pulled together a trading arcade earlier, but from a perception point of view, now is the time to do it," he continues. "You see the rate at which Dubai is expanding, and it seems to have come of age now where it could use our assistance."

DPTG is certainly optimistic that the venture will prove a success. Indeed, future plans include the introduction in late 2008 of a second trading room, providing for 100 additional trading stations. There is also the potential for expansion throughout the region, and into the subcontinent.

"It's a concept we can take elsewhere, but not perhaps in the same way, as [Dubai] is where we're going to attract professional people to," explains Hume tactfully.

"Were one to try and replicate it in somewhere like Saudi Arabia, then it's unlikely that any experienced trader would want to come over," he continues.

"There is the opportunity, however, to train up new traders and there's no reason that couldn't be done in Riyadh, for example. What we don't want to do is just become an academic organisation."

If Hume and Floyd have their way, then the most academic thing about the venture will be their traders' profits. There may not be a trading floor in sight, but Gordon Gekko would be proud.

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