Sergei Dobrovolskii: Pandemic brought us a huge number of users

Sergei Dobrovolskii, IQ Option Director and Founder of London fintech company Amaiz, on how the business survives during the pandemic and which industries were in the black.

What are the main fields of activity for IQ Option and Amaiz? Where are they registered and located?

• IQ Option is an international fintech company focused on the development of its trading platform. Amaiz is a holistic digital banking solution for small businesses in the UK. We have exciting developments and integrations lined up, and I cannot wait to share what we are preparing for users of both platforms.

How have you dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic? Did it affect your management style?

The pandemic forced our company, like many others, to switch to remote work. I think we are handling it really well. Before going fully remote, we made sure to do the preparatory work: set up internal VPN services, provide employees with the necessary equipment, etc. We made sure that the workflow would not be affected and it is paying off: we have managed to sustain the structure of the company, keep employees informed and up to date, and even maintain the social component outside of the office. Most importantly, it meant we maintained continuity for all our customers with no disruption. I am very hopeful that everything will get back to normal soon, but IQ Option and Amaiz are well prepared despite the crisis.

• How did the Covid-19 pandemic influence the behavior of novice and experienced traders?

During the pandemic, we experienced drastic growth in the number of new users on the platform. The dramatic volatility of stocks, followed by the oil price war attracted a lot of new traders, even those who were not familiar or interested in trading before.

• In which fields should people cut expenses now so they have greater savings to invest in the future?

That’s a hard question to answer given the impact of black swans like Covid-19. However, the advice that has always worked is to diversify your investment. This way, you not only minimize risks but are also able to observe which investment choices work the best way for you and optimise your investment decisions accordingly.

• How did the events of 2020 affect the affiliate business in your industry?

Looking at the reports, we can confidently state there has been a growth in affiliate business in the trading branch. Forced to work from home, with instability in the workplace, many individuals started to look for a new source of income, and it looks like affiliate marketing was very effective in that respect.

• What business did benefit from self-isolation? For instance, bookmakers did suffer from the cancellation of sports events. Sites offering promo codes for online shopping, on the other hand, did profit from the closing of offline shops.

The trading and investment sector was in an excellent position to overcome many obstacles. We saw strong growth in the online education industry where suppliers capitalised on demand. But it was the entrepreneurs that could translate their businesses to online that had the best chance to survive the pandemic with minimal losses. Amaiz research has shown that many small companies pivoted their service or product during the crisis, and we expect many innovations that came from this necessity to stay.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes