Yoni Assia, CEO & Founder, Etoro
For some entrepreneurs, the first step into the business world happens at a very young age. They begin weaving the business acumen early in life, learn to beat the odds and go after their dreams full throttle. One such tenacious entrepreneur who started sowing the entrepreneurial seed in his mind quite early in life and hit dizzying heights of success is Yoni Assia.
When Yoni was just 13, he learned how to invest in financial markets from his father. This is when he discerned the opacity and limited accessibility of the finance industry which cultivated a vision in his mind to make trading accessible to anyone, anywhere. Driven by this vision, Yoni and his brother Ronen Assia founded eToro in 2007 to make online trading and investing more accessible to the everyday user.
Today, the pioneering company stands tall as the only regulated place where clients can buy crypto alongside more traditional assets such as commission-free stocks, ETFs, FX, and commodities.
Conquering the Challenges along the Way
eToro has come a long way since its inception. It has expanded its presence across the US and Australia in the last couple of years. However, there were quite a few roadblocks that eToro had to overcome in order to reach where it is today. Piquing interest in people to invest in financial markets has been a problem for the whole industry. According to Yoni, there were 3 main barriers. First is the perception that it is too complex, second is the idea that a lot of money is required to invest in financial markets and the third is the price.
eToro has effectively addressed all three challenges to get people investing and interested in financial markets. The company is providing a user-friendly platform to clients so that they can get easy access to the assets they want to trade, making the investing process less complex. Meanwhile, it is also offering commission-free trading on stocks and ETFs to its clients to eliminate the price barrier, “eToro was the first platform in Europe to go commission-free on stocks and offer fractional shares,” says Yoni.
Constantly Driving Innovation to Offer Exceptional Service
eToro offers a wide array of tools to invest in the capital markets. It keeps introducing new and exciting ways to trade and invest online and deliver cutting-edge financial products.
“We have always strived to be innovative and to constantly improve our offering to clients. Not only do we offer people a choice of assets to invest in, but we also let customers choose how they invest. They can trade directly, copy another trader or invest in a portfolio, enabling people to invest in an idea or themes like food tech, driverless cars or 5G technologies,” states Yoni.
Having a leading social trading network with millions of registered users, eToro makes a great platform for users to share investment strategies with one another and benefit from the collective wisdom of its vast network of traders and investors.
“Users can look at the eToro feed to see what other people are saying about a certain stock or crypto investment, which can help inform their own strategy. And for those who don’t have the time or the knowledge, they can take advantage of the strategiesof people who do and automatically copy their trades for free,” elucidates Yoni.
Recently, the company has launched a range of eTorostablecoins on eToroX, the on-chain crypto exchange, designed for more experienced crypto traders.
Values Their Customers Above All
The customer-centric company upholds customer satisfaction as their utmost priority. It offers customer support in nearly 10 languages and its website is translated into more than 20 languages. Unlike other fintechs, it has focused on scaling operationally and from a regulatory standpoint so that it can serve its 12 million registered-clients.
“We’re constantly striving for innovation and have ambitious plans for growth demonstrated by the fact we can already reach customers in over 100 countries. At a time when other fintechs state that they are not even targeting profitability, we are proud to be a well funded, profitable business that is continuing to grow,” affirms Yoni.
eToro has a truly global team with more than 800 employees worldwide, including offices in Australia, the UK, the US, Asia, and Israel.
Eyeing For Continuous Growth
After successfully acquiring two companies, smart contracts provider, Firmo and portfolio management app, Delta, in 2019, the company aspires to continued growth – both organically and by acquisition in order to continue to improve the consumer experience in the coming decade. It also endeavors to establish eToro as a top stocks broker, maintain and increase its leadership in the crypto and blockchain space, and also move into other areas such as offering a debit card.
“We want to make investing and money management easy for people and believe eToro’s experience and maturity makes us well placed to offer this to customers,” concludes Yoni.
