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Trend: June Felix from IG Group has seen an increase in young female investors
For most of us, a falling pound isn’t registered until we go on vacation. But for June Felix, boss of trading firm IG Group, the pound’s crumbling value is firmly on the radar as summer vacations fade from memory.
The opportunity, as she sees it, is the pulse-pounding ride in foreign exchange markets as the threat of recession grips the world, coupled with rate hikes as central banks grapple with scalding inflation.
“It is a market with a lot of volatility. They see opportunities in that,” observes Felix from IG’s City office overlooking the Thames, referring to both City and kitchen table speculators.
Felix on Friday praised Kwasi Kwarteng’s Budget for ‘maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness’, and was optimistic about the resulting negative reaction in currency and debt markets.
The pound sounded depths not seen in 37 years. Market drama like this can be painful for importers and drive inflation up for ordinary families, but it has been a boon for IG.
The FTSE250 firm this month celebrated an 11 per cent increase in sales to £242 million in the three months to August and Felix points out that its annual results for the 12 months to May held up better than many of its peers.
Even with the cost-of-living tightness pushing many households out of pocket, 65-year-old Felix is optimistic that activity will remain strong. When IG recently asked 5,000 customers around the world where they personally would cut corners, luxury goods, vacations and entertainment topped the list.
Scaling back their trading activities was at the very bottom of the list, along with food and transportation, Felix says. ‘They see it as their tool to achieve their financial goals. They see it as something in their power to get better at it and make a difference,” she explains.
‘If you just put your money in a savings account, it won’t go very far, despite the interest rate growth.’
She says customers are addicted to the swings and dips of economic data like never before. She likens them to “race car drivers” because of the “agility and guts” they display when getting in and out. “I was just watching a Formula 1 YouTube thing,” she laughs, trying to explain the analogy.
Younger savers are also starting to realize this. While IG’s customer base is traditionally male and middle-aged, the company is starting to see more young female customers, according to Felix.
This is especially the case in Asia and the US, which Felix attributes to the lower prevalence of pension plans and state benefits.
“In both markets, part of the fundamental reality is that you have to take care of yourself,” she says. ‘That forces you to think not only about the shares in your own company, whether they are rising or falling, but also in general. How can I at some point have enough to retire?’ The diversification into the US and Asia, as well as the acquisition of companies that appeal to a younger audience, such as Tastytrade, was a key pillar of Felix’s growth strategy for IG when she took over in 2018.
Her predecessor, former Royal Navy officer Peter Hetherington, left the 48-year-old company after criticism that it had failed to expand.
That flaw became all too apparent when the city’s watchdog cracked down on the risky financial products IG was offering – contracts for difference (CFDs).
They allowed investors to bet on the price of an asset going up or down, which can lead to heavy losses.
Regulators feared that inexperienced traders were being exploited. It was a sharp reminder that investors at all levels – but especially naive, inexperienced or perhaps desperate – can lose.
IG says it now carries out screening checks to make sure its clients are “advanced” investors.
While IG’s shares have risen 36 percent in the four years Felix has been in charge, she admits she is often still treated with skepticism.
“I think people are always surprised when they find out what I do,” she says. To address sexism in the city, she adds, “Every woman in this chair or anything near this chair has experienced it. We just have to be like Teflon and not let the heart be pierced.
“Women have to develop armor – every CEO has to develop armor – and sometimes it gets a little tough.”
It’s hard to imagine Felix, speaking calmly but with iron determination, being vulnerable. She enjoys a challenge rather than fear.
‘It’s ingrained in me because I’m the product of Chinese immigrants. My father came to the US when he was 14, spoke no English, graduated number one in his class at 18, went to university, but then chose to go back and fight the Japanese as a Chinese American,” she says. .
“The whole philosophy in our family was, ‘Did you try your best?’ I was never asked if I had a 10, it was: ‘Did you try your best?’
“When you come from an immigrant family that transports itself to a country and creates a successful life for itself, you think anything is possible.”
Born in Pittsburgh, USA, Felix now lives in North London. Her husband, Peter, is British and together they have one son. And while Felix leads a comfortable – albeit busy – life, taking home £3.6million last year, it hasn’t always been this way.
Her first formal job, when she was 16, was at a McDonald’s. ‘I worked with a 60-year-old woman,’ says Felix. ‘I thought: I will never be that person, if I can do something about it. And the way to do that is to try to create a better life for yourself.”
This made her realize early on the importance of education and financial literacy.
IG’s various businesses now focus on educating their customers through videos and lessons, and the company partners with charities Teach First and Teach for All.
“Growing up, I saw real-life examples of people running laundromats, and their kids going to Harvard or Yale or Princeton or being doctors or engineers,” she says. “There was an opportunity. That conviction that education opens doors and creates potential is very important to me.’
When it comes to the UK’s fortunes, Felix is hopeful. She wants the new Prime Minister Liz Truss to invest in education, but also to focus on making the City of London competitive with its international peers and ensuring that business is seen as a force for good.
“I wish the new prime minister all the luck in the world, because we are all counting on her,” Felix says.
“It’s a great leadership moment – she has the opportunity to help move the ship in the best direction possible.”
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