Co–Chief Executive Officers
Saxo Bank
[38]
Copenhagen-based Saxo Bank defines its winning formula as that of an “online trading and investment bank” that avoids lending and its cyclical problems. Initially known for its foreign exchange platform, then adding other asset classes, Saxo boosted net income 220 percent in 2010, to 644 million Danish kroner ($122 million), as total assets grew 49 percent, to Dkr23.9 billion. “Geographic expansion is going hand in hand with product expansion,” says Kim Fournais, 45, who rebranded an earlier venture as Saxo in 2001 along with partner and co-CEO Lars Seier Christensen, 48. Saxo disseminates its technology through “white label” partnerships with the likes of Barclays and Citibank; in May it announced a deal to provide a derivatives-trading platform for TD Waterhouse in the U.K. In November the bank’s Saxo Trader became the foundation of Microsoft Corp.’s MSN Trader offering in the U.K. Saxo provides access to a staggering array of products, including 12,700 stocks on 23 exchanges, 160 foreign exchange spot and 41 forex option combinations, and thousands of the swapslike instruments known as contracts for difference.
Saxo Bank
[38]
Copenhagen-based Saxo Bank defines its winning formula as that of an “online trading and investment bank” that avoids lending and its cyclical problems. Initially known for its foreign exchange platform, then adding other asset classes, Saxo boosted net income 220 percent in 2010, to 644 million Danish kroner ($122 million), as total assets grew 49 percent, to Dkr23.9 billion. “Geographic expansion is going hand in hand with product expansion,” says Kim Fournais, 45, who rebranded an earlier venture as Saxo in 2001 along with partner and co-CEO Lars Seier Christensen, 48. Saxo disseminates its technology through “white label” partnerships with the likes of Barclays and Citibank; in May it announced a deal to provide a derivatives-trading platform for TD Waterhouse in the U.K. In November the bank’s Saxo Trader became the foundation of Microsoft Corp.’s MSN Trader offering in the U.K. Saxo provides access to a staggering array of products, including 12,700 stocks on 23 exchanges, 160 foreign exchange spot and 41 forex option combinations, and thousands of the swapslike instruments known as contracts for difference.