Since joining AMT Futures in April 2020 when Covid was in the ascendancy and working home was the new normal, James Proudlock has been instrumental in redefining the institutional strategy for what was previously a retail-focused brokerage.
Drawing on his extensive background in commodities and senior leadership at major financial institutions including JP Morgan, ED&F Man, UBS and the London Metal Exchange, Proudlock is now building AMT Futures for its next phase of growth including digital transformation, client-centric platforms and expanded global reach.
For Proudlock, the opportunity for AMT Futures starts with the firm’s footprint in commodities and commodity futures where the group is one of the last eight remaining London Metal Exchange Category One ring-dealing members and also a member of the London Bullion Market Association.
Speaking to FOW, Proudlock, who runs AMT Futures and its retail trading arm OptionsDesk, said: “AMT Futures has an edge over the competition because we are part of a group that is physically invested in the world of metals where Amalgamated Metals Corporation has a large presence through the group’s many processing hubs and refineries which is important as the metals industry is an excellent bell-weather for the global economy”.
The AMT Futures chief added: “When we think about real-money managers, we continually ask ourselves what can we offer that the tier one banks don’t? The answer is that we are anchored into the real economy in a way few brokers are and we can draw on our deep presence in metals to tell our client things about that market that they don’t already know.”
Mindful of this opportunity, London-based AMT Futures is looking to expand through the remainder of this year and into next, with plans to scale operations, enhance technology and broaden its product offering, drawing on recent recruits Matt Woodford and Alexander South.
Woodford, who worked for fourteen years at JP Morgan where he was latterly an executive director, joined AMT Futures as a desk manager this month.
South, who spent eight-and-a-half years at JP after six-and-a-half years at Cargill, joined AMT Futures in September as the firm’s new head of sales.
South added: “As a cross-asset execution broker with strong roots in the commodities space, AMT Futures offers clients a distinctive edge—delivering commodity-specific insights and a seamless, single point of contact across markets, asset classes and instruments.”
Woodford and South have reunited with George Griffiths, AMT Futures’ head of dealing who joined the firm in September last year. Griffiths did nine years at JP Morgan before five at Morgan Stanley and six at Citigroup.
With Proudlock and his new team having spent decades at large investment banks, they have unique insight into what these types of firms do well and what they do less well.
“The truth is the large banks struggle to synthesise all the relevant information in one place so we have a key advantage in commodities,” said the AMT Futures managing director.
Proudlock argues that, within the largest banks, the different equities, fixed income, commodities and prime services divisions tend to fight over client dollars whereas his team are a single desk offering cash equities, the gamut of exchange traded products, single stock and stock index as well as commodity and fixed income futures and options.
He is also looking to take advantage of a trend that has become pervasive in recent years for banks and large brokers to impose monthly revenue limits on clients.
Proudlock said: “Ultimately, our target market is those firms that have been dispossessed by the larger banks and brokers. Our objective is to become the strategic aggregator to those firms that have been dispossessed whether they be wealth managers, private banks or family offices that are not big or active enough to meet the larger brokers’ minimum thresholds.”
Looking ahead, Proudlock sees the AMT Futures strategy being anchored in the three core strands that are shaping the broader AMC Group trajectory for the years to come. “The first is the electrification of the planet, largely through the increased deployment of copper and tin.”
AMT’s LME membership is crucial here which sees the world’s top banks use the broker to price and trade base metals on the London exchange and other international markets.
“Second is the commitment to sustainable practices which includes the recycling of metals that have already been used, for example in aircraft engines and other machines.”
Proudlock concluded: “Lastly is the pivot to Asia to reflect the increasing role the region will play in the global economy not least through metals consumption, for which we are well-placed through our presence in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.”
