fintechview must-read cover story takes us through Valerijus Ovsianikas CEO, Tickmill EU journey in the fintech/forex sector, sharing his experience and insights on cultivating a healthy corporate culture and how a successful business approach impacts the performance. Read the entire December issue by clicking here.
“At Tickmill, our values guide us to cultivate a healthy corporate culture and uphold a high-quality standard in the workplace. We aim to create an atmosphere of transparency, honesty, integrity, and teamwork, where our people can feel motivated, valued, and fairly rewarded.” Valerijus Ovsianikas, CEO, Tickmill EU
What’s a successful business approach nowadays especially in the forex brokerage sector?
In his book “Principles”, renowned investor Ray Dalio, has outlined the fundamental principles that drive a successful business approach, and these have resonated deeply with me as they offer practical and actionable guidance for achieving personal as well as professional goals.
The main takeaway of the book is that finding the truth is the best way to make decisions, and that our ego, emotions, and blind spots will inevitably impede the discovery of the truth. Dalio presents his major strategies to overcome these weaknesses, including practicing total receptivity, extreme honesty and transparency, productive conflict, and credibility-centered decision making.
Following your principles is paramount, regardless of your area of work or your responsibilities in your company. You must determine what is acceptable for you in your daily work to achieve your final goals. This is also in line with the editor’s note in the first issue of fintechview magazine, which states that one of the critical elements for driving a business is having the right people and the right team in place. Here is principle number one: When you are building your team, you need to foster a strong corporate culture and an environment where employees feel inspired, motivated, and creative.
What is the company culture that Tickmill wants to promote?
At Tickmill, our values guide us to cultivate a healthy corporate culture and uphold a high-quality standard in the workplace. We aim to create an atmosphere of transparency, honesty, integrity, and teamwork, where our people can feel motivated, valued, and fairly rewarded.
Tickmill’s corporate culture is built on four fundamental pillars:
TRANSPARENCY
– We practice openness by communicating openly, sharing information and knowledge, and building trust and strong bonds within our teams.
– We implement an open-door policy by valuing team members’ opinions and contributions, ensuring their efforts are recognized, and providing adequate support and feedback when needed.
– We reject hierarchical thinking by treating every member of our team as equally important.
– We facilitate ease of communication by allowing freedom to contact any member of the company through various communication channels (Slack, email, face-to-face).
HONESTY
– We hire honest, trustworthy, and reliable professionals.
– We foster open communication and feedback by enabling direct and honest dialogue between departments and encouraging the exchange of diverse ideas. This way, we are able to identify and implement the best possible solutions.
– We demonstrate accountability by ensuring all our employees are able accept responsibility for their actions.
INTEGRITY
– At Tickmill, we believe that integrity is inextricably linked with honesty.
– We uphold integrity by adhering to the TM values, crafting a moral code of conduct, that is both individual and collective, for all our TM members to follow.
– We respect our people’s culture and background and foster a culturally diverse company that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion.
SYNERGY
– We enhance synergy by collaborating to achieve a greater purpose (our departments and team members can work together seamlessly to complete a project, create a campaign, or organize a successful event).
Success is never a one-person job. It is always the collective efforts of a team that produce the best results. At Tickmill, we bolster creativity and productivity by empowering our people to collaborate, experiment, and exchange ideas so that they can achieve their common goals.
Since the inception of our company, our mission has been to provide the optimal environment for our traders and team members to grow and succeed in their endeavors. To accomplish this, we equip them with all the support, knowledge, and tools they need to achieve their objectives.
What does it mean for Tickmill to know/implement these values?
Our corporate culture is based on our core values, which serve as a moral compass for our employees and their daily interactions with other colleagues and clients. Our values – transparency, integrity, honesty, and synergy – guide us to work together towards a common objective and to respect one another as well as our clients.
Our values also inform our service to our clients. We practice transparency by sharing information about the company and our trading conditions, including our fair pricing structure with no hidden fees. We uphold integrity by following best practices in the industry and collaborating with regulators to provide the safest possible service. We demonstrate honesty by putting traders first and offering some of the best trading conditions in the industry. We enhance synergy by enabling our different departments to work together closely and flexibly to meet the ever-changing needs of the market and our traders.
At Tickmill, implementing and embodying our core values is of utmost importance to us. We inspire our employees to live by the TM values and apply them in everything they do. We consider it essential for all our 300 staff members to understand and embrace these principles as the bedrock of our business. At Tickmill, we believe that this continuous cultivation of our corporate culture is the key to our success.
“We inspire our employees to live by the TM values and apply them in everything they do. We consider it essential for all our 300 staff members to understand and embrace these principles as the bedrock of our business. At Tickmill, we believe that this continuous cultivation of our corporate culture is the key to our success.”
How many years has Tickmill been in business, and what’s your long-term vision?
Tickmill was founded in 2014, and we’ve celebrated our 9th-anniversary this August. Despite our company’s relatively young age, Tickmill has enjoyed remarkable growth and success mainly due to the extensive experience of its top management team in the financial industry. They have managed to skillfully navigate a dynamic financial world and deliver a high-quality product.
Our long-term vision at Tickmill is to emerge as a global leading brokerage firm by utilizing our in-house technology across the entire value chain.
What is, in your opinion, the future of the forex industry, and how is Tickmill preparing for it (mentioning AI, new products, fintech, etc.)?
The forex industry is currently faced with numerous challenges, especially in the regulatory arena. The increasing complexity and diversity of the regulatory frameworks, requires forex brokers to constantly monitor and update their policies and procedures to align with the changing regulatory requirements and expectations across different jurisdictions. Tickmill is committed to complying with the regulatory frameworks across the different jurisdictions where it operates. Currently, we hold licenses across a number of different regions including CySEC in Cyprus, FCA in the UK, as well as licenses in South Africa, Labuan, and Dubai.
One of the primary challenges in the forex industry is automating various business processes to simplify complexity. With the integration of AI and other advanced tools, our capabilities for automation are ever evolving. Moreover, the industry has become highly competitive, requiring sophisticated solutions in payment systems, lead generation, and more. This technological threshold can also create significant barriers for newcomers who may lack the required capital bandwidth to enter the fintech space. Looking to the future, the industry is also expected to undergo even further consolidation, much like what has occurred in the US, where only a few major players will dominate the market. Currently, Tickmill is actively working on introducing its proprietary trading platform as the next step in its technological evolution.
“One of the primary challenges in the forex industry is automating various business processes to simplify complexity. With the integration of AI and other advanced tools, our capabilities for automation are ever evolving.”
Could you share with us a challenge you had to face during your years of experience?
One of the most significant challenges that I’ve had to face during my career with Tickmill was the decision to relocate our headquarters to Cyprus. This was not an easy decision to make, as many of us had families, and such a change was substantial. However, it turned out to be a smooth and pleasant transition. As a global company, we required industry talent and native speakers of various languages, and we successfully recruited them here in Cyprus. Today, we not only benefit from the sunny climate and the amazing Cypriot cuisine, but also thrive as a company, as we are able to foster a dynamic business environment with colleagues from over 20 different countries.
Who is Who
Valerijus is a former staff member of Deloitte and Microsoft and has previously served as the CEO of Admiral Markets. He is currently the CEO of Tickmill Europe and a member of the Board, as well as the Chairman and one of the shareholders of Tickmill Group, where he brings over 40 years of valuable business experience. Valerijus has shared his business insights and approach in his 2008 book, “Forex 101,” as well as in numerous articles. His motto is to always do something in the best possible way or not do it at all.
