Why does the retail trading tech space excite you? It’s both exciting and rewarding to develop tools that empower everyday people to take control of their finances and build wealth. Once reserved for legacy financial institutions and hedge funds, platforms like Pluto are making automated trading strategies accessible and effective for everyone. What are the trends in this area or products in this area that you are the fondest of? Why? We saw a massive influx of new retail investors during the pandemic. However, with the stock and crypto markets remaining persistently volatile, retail investors are in need of tools that can help them make investment decisions based on data, not emotion. I’m drawn to offerings rooted in systematic investing strategies that also provide flexibility and an array of options for investors to choose from. What are some positive impacts that automated retail trading will have on society? Automated retail trading will enable a more equitable financial system in which everyone will be able to access and leverage data-driven strategies. Automated trading will be especially crucial for younger investors, who are often targets of bad investment advice. For example, Gen Z is increasingly relying on unsound financial advice from social media or celebrities like Kim Kardashian ( getting paid to promote crypto tokens via Instagram). who was recently caught also found that Gen Z is five times more likely than older generations to get financial advice from social media – a seriously troubling trend, given the vast amount of bad information circulating on social platforms today. A report from MoneyZine.com Pluto is poised to disrupt the way that young people think about investing by providing battle-tested resources to help even the most novice investor. What are your predictions on how investing technologies will evolve? Amid current volatile market conditions, investing technologies must evolve to enable smarter, more intentional trading decisions for more people. While some platforms have touted their support for the everyday individual, they have actually accelerated the loss of retail funds. Only automated trading enables everyday investors to compete with financial institutions. Do you have any more thoughts on this topic? Pluto is democratizing finance and aims to shift power from Wall Street back into the hands of retail investors. We just launched live crypto trading on our platform on November 1, and are looking forward to onboarding more users in the coming months. We also plan to expand the amount of assets available on Pluto’s platform well beyond crypto.
