When and why did you set up Beta 2?

Lane Clark trader: "Beta 2 was facilitated to offer individuals and institutions short term trading advice to attempt to take advantage of gyrations within the market place. As well as short term trading advice we also look to position our clients in any impending trends we see developing in the FX arena, and look to have them exposed in the precious metal bull market we have been witnessing.

The market climate is forever changing and we believe our trading strategies are robust enough to take advantage of any climate the market offers us.

Predominantly our trades are of a technical nature, and whether short or mid term- we believe with our risk management protocols in place we give our clients the best possible chance to yield returns."

What was your background before setting up Beta 2?

Lane Clark trader: " I originally began my career with Arjent stockbrokers in the City. I have very fond memories of my time at Arjent, and the work ethic and desire needed to succeed in this marketplace instilled in me then, remains with me now.

I was then approached by an organisation who operated in the commodity markets, and as these markets gave the impression that they were in the midst of a bull run that may have had quite a few years to run, it didn't take much persuasion.

At first I was employed as a commodity broker and then moved on to become a commodity trader. My progression continued with me becoming the Director of Trading where I was responsible for implementing trading strategies in conjunction with my trading team. Eventually I became Managing Director of CAT, where I was responsible for over seeing ever facet of the operation.

My interest and relative success in the financial markets allowed me to start managing my own portfolio, where I successfully traded a plethora of investment asset classes including FX, Precious Metals, CFD's, Equities, Warrants, Options and Futures.

Because of this and the impending volatility caused by the credit debacle and subsequent changes in the market place, I played a prominent role in the formation of Beta 2.

Are you pleased with the growth of Beta 2?

Lane Clark trader: " In the current climate for any business to operate successfully every variable of the operation needs to be as efficient as possible.

We believe the hard work, discipline, and market awareness we employ on a daily basis will allow our business to continue to grow.

Although we can not predict exactly what will happen in the worldwide environment over the next few years, with the business model we employ we believe we will react successfully to any changes."

What do you think are the things that differentiate Beta 2?

Lane Clark trader: " We believe at Beta 2 that we can differentiate ourselves from our competitors because of 3 or 4 key factors. Firstly, we offer a bespoke advisory trading service. We attempt to structure our clients investment with Beta 2, in line with his/her current portfolio structure and the risk/reward strategies he/she has in place. We understand everyone has different needs, and we adjust our methodology accordingly. Unlike investing in a fund, one size doesn't fit all when working with an advisory business.

As well as that we have an extremely structured risk management protocol in place. Once again, we understand clients have varying psychologies towards risk, and we attempt to work within their tolerance to risk. By ascertaining exactly the risk our clients are willing to take, we can position size their portfolios accordingly whilst attempting to maximise their returns.

Also, we believe the markets we trade give us an advantage. Investment organisations who do not look towards FX as a viable investment asset class for their clients, in my opinion should really reconsider.

Regardless of what happens in the worldwide investment climate there are always ways to take advantage of this in the FX arena. Take the classic example of 2008 and 2009. For most, 2008 is a year to forget where we witnessed a depreciation in the value of pretty much every asset class. Stocks, property, hedge funds- all lost value. In times like this people tend to look at currencies that are the lower yielding/ perceived safer haven currencies like the USD and JPY. On the back of this, we seen the USD and JPY have tremendous years with JPY being up 40% against some currencies.

In 2009 sentiment changed, and so did the FX markets. When confidence returned, economies picked up, and asset classes started to perform. All of a sudden higher yielding/ commodity type currencies were in vogue and AUD was the biggest beneficiary.

This it what I mean by the benefits of the FX markets. If people have a belief on economies around the world, then they can position themselves to take advantage of these beliefs by looking towards the FX arena.

Gold is also looking likely to yield a positive return for the 10th consecutive year, which means that despite the turbulence in the markets- one thing has remained constant, and that is that the value of Gold has continued to increase.

Finally, I believe as well as enjoying the markets we trade, our clients are impressed by the personalised service we provide to them. They know that by working with a Boutique like us that they should receive a very personalised service and they have got direct access to our traders.

Ultimately, an organisation like ours will grow through the growth of its clients, and this is why our core and primary objective is the retention of each and every client who opens a trading account with us."

Since setting up Beta 2 what do you think have been the big events that have shaped the currency and Forex markets?

Lane Clark trader: " Since formation Beta 2 and our clients have been exposed to an ever changing market climate and some black swan events that people really wouldn't have anticipated.

One week in particular springs to mind. The week in question was back in September of 2008 where we witnessed Lehman Brothers go bankrupt on the Monday, BOA bought Merrill Lynch on Tuesday, and AIG become nationalised in the same period, but with the markets still in freefall and Gold up the most in a day ever, radical action was still required.

Therefore, Paulson (US Treasury Secretary at this time) brought out the big plan, where the US government would buy all of the banks toxic debts and group them together. He also banned short selling in the US. In theory the Federal Reserve were acting like a large hedge fund, and were hoping to navigate out of some of these debts, but ultimately hoping their moves they had instigated would get the markets and the economy moving in the right direction.

Black swan events indeed, and I haven't even included the fact that in the same week over in the UK HBOS was taken over/merged with Lloyds.

These are just some of the events Beta 2 and our clients have navigated through and we hope that if we are exposed to anything similar in the future, that once again- we can guide our clients through it."

What do you think will be the big events that will impact forex over the next few years - or is that simply too much like crystal ball gazing?

Lane Clark trader: " The one potential event that seems to be on the tip of everyone's tongue currently is the situation in the Eurozone. With Greece being bailed out previously and Ireland being bailed out recently- everyone is asking who it will be next?

Will it be Portugal, will it be Italy, will it be Spain? If it is Spain then the Eurozone could really be looking at some trouble and strife. Its a little reminiscent of the initial credit crunch, where at first Bear Stearns ran into trouble, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did, and then the whole stack of cards fell down with Lehman Brothers. The questions right now are who is Lehman Brothers this time, and will the hat -trick of catastrophes have quite the same effect.

Regardless of what happens, we hope we can benefit out of it for our clientele, and mitigate their losses elsewhere."