President´s Letter
STRENGTH AND STABILITY IN TURBULENT MARKET CONDITIONS
PFGBEST reached a number of important milestones in 2008, an unforgettable year for many reasons.
No one could have predicted the extreme twists and turns of the markets but our attentive, respectful care of our customers and their accounts in this challenging environment was not only a necessity, but a source of great pride to us. Risk management innovations we´d focused on for years helped customers as well as our network of brokers to assess positions and portfolios for optimal account oversight as volatility skyrocketed. Another of our strengths – diversity of products, services and technologies – was imperative to our clients and distributors needing to navigate the turbulent markets. We continued with our dedication to sustainable investing by expanding our unique and varied suite of investing and trading choices, with an emphasis on low barrier–to–entry opportunities for our clients. Some of the PFGBEST products and services brought to market in 2008:
- Private Asset Management division for access to high–quality CTAs within a funds structure
- Auto liquidation for discount division accounts
- BESTDirect eSignal to integrate futures and forex trading accounts
- BESTDirect MT4 forex trading platform
- BESTDirect ProTrader, also for trading multiple asset classes of futures, forex and options
- BESTDirect Trader´s Challenge to further establish the track record for any futures and/or forex trader or money manager that participates
As our core futures business continues to reach record levels, the forex sector is on an even steeper incline. And while our footprint includes well over 665 IB relationships and branches, a number that grows by the day, one thing remains decisively unaffected –– unwavering advocacy for our current and prospective customers – investors and traders.
Russell R. Wasendorf, Jr.
President and Chief Operating Officer