One of the main reasons we do not break our currency services down into categories or sectors, like so many of our peers, is because we think that the needs of a business or a private client, when categorised based on the reason for a currency exchange (the reason you might make a payment), can mean that the broader uses of our work get overlooked. If we list the many different ways in which currency brokers can be used then the risk is always run that we do not list your particular reason/use, which, in turn, may mean you conclude we do not assist with it. Hence, we choose to describe things like the practical ease with which someone (anyone, whether they are someone in your accounts team, or an individual sending payments for whatever reason) can make or send a payment. Strategies for approaching currency activities are applicable across all payments regardless of the reason you're engaging in such activities, so, in this post we look at what steps and approaches you can adopt to ensure you get the best rate, exchange at the best time and do not leave yourself and/or your business unduly exposed to a drop in the value of the currency you hold - which would result in you getting less for your money or paying more. 1. Compare your currency broker. All 'good' currency brokers should provide you with a rate derived from the live market. Companies that provide you with rates 'for the day' are not giving you a price reflective of the real-time value of your money. To get a live and useable rate of exchange you tend to need to be registered with the business you're enquiring with. It is quite a simple process to register with a currency firm. These days we, currency brokers, can verify you and your business electronically, which means we tend not to need additional supporting information like documents to confirm your identity or your address etc. In casees where you have been asked to supply documents simply to register with a currency company, you needn't worry. These documents are standard and only requested because we cannot get sufficiently strong an electronic 'score' or match to trace your identity and whereabouts from the information you provide in your application document. Prime Cap enables you to register as a customer online, so, if you have questions or concerns about the information you need to submit, we invite you to look through the application document before proceeding: VIEW REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. Registering with more than one currency company means you can have more than one quotation. You might find you do not have time or are not interested in registering with more than one firm; whilst that is totally understandable, it is equally understandable that this limits your ability to gauge how competitive the broker you're talking to might be. Remember, even though you register with a firm, you are not committed to sending them any money unless you ask them explicitly to buy currency for you. Registering is not a commitment to transact. To be fair, logging in to more than one online system or sending more than one email might not be practical, especially in instances where you're content with what you have been told by the broker you're talking with. In that case we invite you to compare us to your bank. It is always useful to us to know that you have compare our rate because it means we can, if we are the institution you choose to use, be confident in the level of competition we are offering you. If we have nothing against which to compare the rate we've offered you then, in theory, we are quoting 'blind'. Whilst some clients like to put their chosen broker to the test, this is not the best way to get the optimum rate. Telling your broker what they need to beat means the broker can be forthright, saving you time. If the broker identifies the fact that they cannot affordably beat the institution against which you are comparing them, then both parties have saved time and if nothing else you can be confident you are getting good, if not optimum, value from the institution you're already using. Prime Cap endeavour to ensure that we will not be beaten on price. Making sure this is the case is usually done by discussing the current rate you get and then simply undercutting it. It stands to reason that if we do not know what to beat, we do not know how competitive we need to be and, in cases such as this, we will do our best to go at competitive as we can. Each rate we quote is bespoke to the transaction we're presented with. When you need the currency, what contract is best to use and what other channels you might have at your disposal will always feed in to the price we quote you. So, if you are using your bank to exchange currencies and you share this fact with us, we can confidently provide a price that we know will be more competitive for you. 2. Work out when you need your currency by. If you do not need to take receipt of the foreign currency you're buying, or if the invoice you're settling is not due for a number of days, weeks or even months, make your broker aware of this. Whilst a currency broker should never say 'wait till tomorrow because the rate will be better' we can take a look at what is going on with the current global environment and, based on the relative strength or weakness of the currency you want, we can suggest an approach that could benefit you in the longer term. If you have the money you want to exchange simply sitting in your bank account (whether you're a business or an individual) then, the fact that your payment mightn't need to be sent for 3 months means that, depending on where the current rate of exchange is, you do not need to withdraw funds from whatever interest bearing instrument or account you currently hold it in. 'Good' brokers will advise you on how to make sure that you're not adversely affected by a drop in the rate of exchange between today (for arguments' sake) and the day on which you need to pay the invoice (if you're a business). We can explain to you the various triggers and actions that limit the extent to which you might be affected by a drop in the rate of exchange. Whatismore, we can outline how you can lock in today's rate without actually having to pay for the booking until a date in the future - this is known as buying forward. Buying forward it a particularly useful tool for businesses who know they have an amount to pay out in the future. It enables you to keep your capital in your own account until the time it needs to be paid and also it means that if the money you would use to fund such a currency purchase is not yet liquid, you can allow for it to become so between now and the maturity date of the contract. High street banking institutions simply do not offer this sort of advice or contract. It is a very simply way for a business, or an individual with a structured payment to make, to fix the rate and therefore the margin on a purchase. 3. Ask about your options. Working with your currency broker to identify a safety net or buffer ensures that even if the rate of exchange moves between now and when you actually choose to exchange the currency, your local currency calculations are unaffected. We look at things like the profit margin you typically try to achieve on your local currency sales, whether or not you hold an amount as a float in the foreign currency you need and what are the longer term liabilities you carry in that foreign currency. Again, all these solutions, their application and their cost are entirely unique to your trading needs. 4.Work out the most convenient and time efficient way to exchange a transaction. Prime Cap offers clients both verbal or telephone broking and online platform based execution capabilities. This means that you can either login to our secure system or you can communicate with your broker who will handle the booking for you. If you know you are going to be unavailable around the time you need to transact then the most sensible thing might be to leave an instruction with your broker. You can tailor the instruction in a number of different ways. You can ask to exchange currency only when a rate of exchange is available. You can request for your broker to sell your currency before a drop in the rate of exchange - supposing that we have identified the level below which you do not want to transact. Our online system enables you to store all beneficiary details so that you do not have worry or wait for banking coordinates to be sought or uploaded. With all the feedback coming from customers who are struggling with the customer service of their bank (HSBC, TSB, Lloyds etc. are all coming under pressure in this regard) one of the most useful aspects of our service is the ability to talk to an individual familiar with your matter throughout your dealings with us. You have a direct line to the Prime Cap dealing room. Detailed notes are always taken, maintained and shared amongst our brokers so that, in the unlikely event of your broker being elsewhere, you're speaking with a professional who a) knows how to assist you and b) is already aware of the particulars of your matter. We are a small team of dedicated brokers that runs on a group approach rather than on an individual book basis. You do not have to worry or wait to speak with the same person who initial took your booking and, in instances where you would like to, each broker is paired with a member of the management team - much like the frame work of a law firm - so that queries can be escalated in pursuit of an expert answer in real-time. Price, Product and Solution - three words that cover our approach and the aspects of an exchange that we think the most important. Sure, if you are paying for a property overseas or repatriating the proceeds of a sale in the UK you may have a different objective to a business raising funds abroad or simply moving money between management accounts, but the actions you need to perform are largely the same even if we advise you to take a different strategic approach. Most companies list out their services as either corporate or personal - and then, within that, they list property, living expenses etc. etc. We believe this leaves some clients to conclude that if their needs are not listed then a currency broker cannot be of use. This is not the case...and so we invite anyone who has even a passing connection or requirement to exchange currencies to give us a call. You'll be met with sound and impartial advice and a refreshingly personal approach to engaging a broker. #forwardcontract #currencyexchange #business #privateclient #individual #transfer

Whilst the same process can be used for the purchase of a USB stick as for a combine harvester, the strategy and treatment of currency exposure faced by a rural or 'agri' business buying and selling stock, as opposed to a sizeable asset, is nuanced. You wouldn't be considered foolish for paying for a pencil with coins, but you might buy a car on credit...so, why consider all currency transactions in the same way? There are a couple of things that come into play when considering a large purchase...the first is depreciation. You need to factor in things like 'how long', 'how frequently' and 'for what' you are going to use the machinery for. Do you intend on selling your combine or tractor in a couple of years and how do you plan to prepare for so doing? Do you think you will want to sell in the same way you've bought and is there a market locally for what you will have to sell in a couple of years, or do you to need to look further afield? When it comes to currency transactions, unlike with the management of a stock portfolio and the good sense in diversifying your exposure in that context, breaking up your exchange into smaller more manageable chunks does not your downside exposure reduce. A diversified stock portfolio relies on the fact that you are holding positions in complementary or synergistic asset classes and instruments. With currency you are only ever dealing in one asset class...therefore, every transaction, no matter it's size, carries with it the same level of exposure as ones executed previously and ones that may be executed subsequently. We will never refer to them as advantages, but, one of the notable things about breaking a large volume transaction up in to smaller ones is that each transactions has as much chance of being executed at a higher rate. This means you might have nine chances of getting a rate higher than the previous one you secured if you break up £100,000 transaction in to £10k blocks. Now, the reason this is not an approach we would actively counsel in favour of, and the reason it is not an 'advantage', of is because there is just as much chance of the rate being worse for subsequent transactions. If you know more than we do and can confidently predict a rise in a rate of exchange then we will happily pay you for an explanation as to how you can be so sure. So, for a business, a large acquisition such as the purchase of machinery does not benefit from the same sort of approach you might take to other assets the business acquires. For one thing you might be working with your bank or a third party to finance a purchase of this size. Depending on the terms you reach with both lender and vendor, the appeal of products like the 'forward' currency contract is higher or lower and the benefits more or less valuable. Generally we would always counsel businesses in favour of using a forward contract. Now, there are two schools of thought as to their merit in circumstances like the above. On the one hand, a forward enables the business to fix and cement the local currency achievable once the finance is released by the lender (or indeed if the purchase is being conducted with cash, the same is true). Being able to say 'come what may, rise or fall, I have locked in an exchange rate that means I can buy this tractor' is a good thing. The downside is that if the sale does not go through or complete, the business has committed contractually to a currency exchange that never needs to go ahead. This is one of the risks of being so prepared and of locking in your rates before being totally and truly committed to a purchase - what happens if the purchase falls through? The notion that your buying of a tractor, combine-harvester, train or trailer from abroad might not reach completion is a perfectly reasonable one, but, if we assume that you have no reason to think it will collapse, forward buying is a sensible thing to do. In this sort of matter, depending on the extent to which you're financing the purchase yourself or whether you're borrowing money from someone else (still all as a business of course), the way to approach exposure and the way to, at the very least, mitigate the effects of changeable rates, are unique to your plans, liabilities and objectives. You cannot pluck an off-the-shelf solution...off the shelf in the hope that it might just be the suitable for the specifics of your matter. You have to go down the bespoke route and, although you might use some Over-the-Counter tools, the overall solution needs expert attention in order to ensure nothing is missed and every aspect is optimised. The reason we started by talking about your intentions with regards to the duration of use of the machinery etc. is because the European resale market is a strong one. Depending on the relative value of the pound, something we can and would happily advise on, you can fix, maximise and extend your access to a 'good' rate of exchange for anywhere up to two years, which, given your motivation, should be long enough to find a buyer for your wears, machinery wise. Granted, this isn't something someone buying a piece of kit like a tractor is thinking about from the off per se, but, it is certainly something that warrants and benefits from attention. Prime Cap can ensure a razor sharp rate and easy, quick and reliable settlement and payment processing tools, but, more than that, our team know how to structure payments of this type. In the very same way that you might sell grain forward or hedge your single farm payment (for as long as that is likely to continue) we can aide in the considered management of exposure and payment activity relating to far bigger purchases with multiple financing stakeholders and a variety of settlement options. #farming #singlefarmpayment #combinharvester #tractor #hedging #forward

We recently saw a social media post from a business in which they reference 'currency surcharges'. We don't mind referencing the business by name because this post is not a critical one...but, we are going to use this phrase ('currency surcharges' - one with which we are not actually familiar) to frame the answering of questions about how to protect margin, manage supply chain payments and ensure your customer doesn't pay more because of currency fluctuations. If nothing else this post will hopefully show Scammell Interiors that their social media marketing is resonating with an audience and, for reasons we will attempt to elaborate on, we hope you pay them and their site a visit because, if what we think they're doing is in fact being done, you'd be getting a very competitive and conscientiously priced kitchen. Their post exclaimed 'Beat the Euro' by avoiding such charges. Our interest was peaked for more than one reason...: First off, what is a 'currency surcharge'? Second, how does one 'beat the euro'? And thirdly, could this business be a potential customer of ours? Let's address point 3 first: Given that social media is largely rather faceless and, on the basis that we make a point of not 'cold calling' any prospective business customers, we'll just have to hope that our reputation reaches the poster/tweeter in this instance...because we won't be reaching out directly (on principle). If any of you happen to know Scammell Interiors in York, hook us up! And so, our ability to answer the other two questions is impaired a tad because we only have assumption as our informant/guide. We don't know whether this company is using an FX firm like us. If they're like most of their peers (in the interiors space) the answer will be a resounding no, but, they seem self aware and have already touched on issues relating to currency so we may well be wrong. What we can do though is tell you how they would/should be using one and then comment on the extent to which doing so would enable them to invite you to 'beat the euro' with them. We've all heard about how the manufacturing base in the UK has been eroded over the years. Whilst we won't go in to it, being part of the EU has accelerated this erosion, so it will be interesting to see what businesses and industries spring back to life once free movement or people, capital and goods are no longer characteristic of our trading relationship with our continental neighbours. We digress... It is common place for UK design and distribution companies to import wears such as kitchens and furniture from manufacturers abroad. We suppose that there are a couple of business models prevalent across the KBB (Kitchens, Bedrooms, Bathrooms) sector... The first is a UK business holding stock from certain brands and selling or installing it as and when a client selects from the list of what you carry. This model means that a business can restock various lines based on demand or based on supply, in that if oversupply of a particular line results in a drop in it's cost, such businesses can make a saving by buying more. They have to be careful not to buy more than they might reasonably need, but, that is more of a cashflow concern than anything else. It might also be that the rate of exchange if favourable which would equate to a real terms drop in the cost in the local currency of the importer. The second model, used by a number of interior design businesses, is the direct sale. This is a scenario whereby either the client or the designer (having taken payment from the client) buy the piece or item for a particular project. These designers do not want to hold stock. Nor do they want to carry the exposure associated with buying items prior to a client paying them for those items. Essentially, interior design firms might/can simply connect the client with the manufacturer directly, or with a uk importer directly, and leave them to their own transacting. Consider though, regardless of which business model is being used, the foreign currency cost of the kitchen, bathroom, sofa etc..... does not change unless the manufacturer modifies their pricing in line with demand. If you are importing from Europe, the overriding thing that will determine how much you pay for something is in fact the rate of exchange which, minute by minute, day by day, month by month will rock up and down to a greater or lesser degree. Whether an interior designer, an importer/distributer/installer, or a retail customer, the cost of the unit remains fixed in the foreign currency, but, the cost in the local currency fluctuates. How then can the person buying the item (this figurative item) from abroad ensure that they won't have to pay more tomorrow than they might do today? Well, they speak with a firm like Prime Cap (ha)....No, seriously! They speak with us about locking in and fixing the rate of exchange so that whether you pay for the item today or 3 months from now (or 1 year from now) the GBP cost will not have risen. Putting to one side the use of the term 'currency surcharge'...we can only assume that Scammell Interiors has either bought the items they're selling at a rate of exchange soooo much higher than the current rate that they can afford to sell the item at a discounted GBP cost, or, they have taken out a forward contract, long dated, that means they do not have to change the GBP cost of the unit/item in line with the rate of exchange as it moves. What we find confusing is that the product is German. Scammell are quite clearly stating that they source and supply German kitchens and yet, you, dear customer, don't have to worry about the fact that a product made outside the UK (and therefore valued in euros) is in fact valued in euros. We do not understand how currency fluctuations and costs can have no bearing on Scammell's calculations. As we type we realise that it could be the case that Scammell Interiors work only with German Kitchen brands who hold GBP denominated accounts in the UK, therefore, neither the customer nor Scammell Interiors have to worry about the foreign currency margins that might or might not be included. To this we simply say that, wherever there is a currency exchange - whether at the front end (so relating the cost to trade customers or retail customers) or at the back end (for the Kitchen brands repatriating the GBP earnings) there is a cost...and you can be sure that the kitchen brand won't be bearing it. We received a fabulous message from a long standing interiors contact recently (very happy to give them a shout out too) who provided us with some perspective on the terms and concepts we waffle on about during these posts... The MD of Superior Interiors messaged us to say: "Always good reading your blogs! Most of them too clever for me to understand," Whilst it is truly gratifying to hear that someone is reading our posts (even if he is the only one) the fact that someone as intelligent and erudite as Scott thinks they tend to go over his head gives us cause for pause. The whole point of catering for corporate customers is that we want what we do to be accessible...we suppose that the trouble is the medium through which we are trying to explain concepts and approaches. At the end of the day one of our core beliefs bears repeating: if you have any questions please pick up the phone to us. We are far better at explaining things verbally because we are in a position to frame what we say against what you want to achieve and how you might currently do things. If you are an interior designer and you want to learn/understand how to manage your procurement activities, reduce what you pay on international payments, increase your margin when calculating the cost for your customer etc. etc. or you are an installer or distributor of foreign branded kitchens, bathroom accessories etc. etc. (we hear German kitchens are rather lovely) and you want to reduce what it costs you to stock the show room or plan for the longer term etc. etc. - then please, we urge you to call. The specifics and particulars of the way you do business mean that the solution most appropriate for you cannot be fully and carefully articulated through type. Give us a ring...we promise you'll be glad you did. 0203 172 8193. #currencyexchange #foreigncurrency #supplier #supplychain #sourcing #distributor #Germany

As we have often commented, foreign exchange services and their true value remain somewhat niche. This is for a number of reasons chief among which is a realisation that any outward looking business or individual with an overseas agenda (whatever that means) can reasonably make use of a specialist currency broker. This means we have an enormous market place in which to operate, but, it also means it is incredibly difficult to define one's self to broad enough appeal to entice that whole market. Most brokers chose to focus on cold calling and network marketing. By network marketing we mean engendering sufficient goodwill amongst our client base to induce them to refer work to us. Please remember, we are competing with vast global financial institutions. These institutions have the greatest market share largely because they align their international payment offering with the every day banking services they already apply. A bank competing for your business is not just hoping to provide you with savings, investments and borrowing services, they are also selling you their international payment services too, but, the former tend to mean that the latter proposition is implicitly taken care of. Just by Googling anything terms to do with sending money abroad you will find a vast array of 'specialist' non bank providers of currency services. Most of these services cater for remittance based activity. A remittance is quite simply the transmission of money in one currency to an account abroad. The customer is not necessarily expressly engaging in a currency exchange, they simply want to send what they have earned 'here' to someone or somewhere else and, usually, this means workers in the UK sending some of their earnings 'back home' or to family. In the same way that an independent coffee shop might struggle to achieve broad high street penetration because of the buying power of larger chains, independent brokers like Prime Cap cannot reasonably hope to compete with publicly listed multi-national transfer businesses. We cannot reasonably afford to compete through the most main stream channels...online. Our budgets simply don't stretch to out pricing larger companies. On a like for like basis we would expect to beat any larger institution, for a number of reasons, but, when it comes to catching your eye and dominating marketing channels, we have to think and operate differently. Prime Cap chooses to focus on engaging advisers to our target client. A solicitor is unlikely to look online for a currency solution for their customer, but, if we meet them in person we stand a good chance of personalising our service to such an extent that we are more memorable or compelling that just a website or a print media advertisement. On the basis that a company like Prime Cap is not trying to compete for online traffic, we can look a little more closely at how we differentiate ourselves from amongst the plethora of independent brokers that have similar aims to us. One such way is through our pledge to give more to our clients give back to our partners. As a boutique we are confident that we know our clients in a more personal and intimate way than many of our peers might. For one thing, the larger the organisation the more of an essential priority the transaction becomes. Bigger businesses need more commercial calories to sustain them. Whilst wouldn't turn down the opportunity to grow our operation, such is the structure we have created that we do not have superfluous non-client facing staff. Every one within our organisation needs to be able to understand our offering and services as expertly as their colleagues. As a small team we have to be able to rely on the fact that any one of our staff picking up the telephone can and will counsel our clients with the same tact, dexterity and manner. This is part of the intense pursuit of value at every angle that we are proud of. On principle we want to work with as few referring partners as we can. This obviously sounds counter intuitive because the more referral partners we have the more business we get. But, we don't necessarily see it like that. If our referral partner has consistent traffic for personal and business foreign exchange needs then we want to focus our energy on making sure that every single one of those clients gets the optimal service. Referral partners of Prime Cap are not referral partners of the individual broker within our organisation. They are a referral partner of the firm. Spreading oneself too thinly not only means gaps or cracks appear in the process, but, the enthusiasm and diligence with which one approaches engagements with myriad of partners lessens the more of them there are. One way to truly cement a relationship is to refer a client to someone. This is true of those who want to generate business from Prime Cap in much the same way as it is true of our activities in pursuit of generating business from our referral partners. Putting to one side the industry you're in, wouldn't you rather get a client than a commission? Wouldn't you rather apply yourself and your expertise in a stand alone matter rather than just receive a referral fee from a third party? If the answer is yes then your compass is aligned with ours. Foreign exchange services being as niche as they are, relatively, and Prime Cap being as boutique as it is, relatively, we relish the opportunity to connect our clients with third party businesses, clients and contacts that we know are valuable to them. Personal payments are just that, personal. We occupy a truly privileged position and deal with sensitive matters. This makes us privy to certain signals that might allow us to act in the interest of our client and allow us to suggest and recommend third parties who cater for a need we have been able to identify. When we started out we conceived of a channel through which we might engage with our clients on behalf of our partners. Our registered corporate clients receive an email detailing our curated list of service and sector partners that we think could be useful in the long run to the client. This is called the 'Corporate Client Collection'. For private clients we do the same, but, more than that we tailor the presentation of those contacts to mimic the typical concerns that our client, depending on what they are doing, may face. This might mean referencing a specialist in property development finance. It might mean including a brief snap shot about an interior design business who we consider excellent for the clients objectives. In the case of family relocation we are connected with a number of tutoring platforms and advisers on school applications. Tier 1 investor visa applicants may find it useful to be connected with purveyors of compliant investable vehicles, and those looking to add to their global mobility capabilities may like to take up our invitation to speak with one of our tax or citizenship by investment advisers. Prime Cap takes no remuneration from businesses whose services and skills are engaged by referred clients. Moralistic as it may sound, we connect you because we have identified a need from our discussions with you. We want our partners to refer back to us and we find one of the very best ways to 'break the ice' and truly enhance the relationship we share is to introduce. Ask yourself whether you genuinely think a company with over 100,000 customers can effectively and delicately introduce you to their client base. A business of that size will be speaking with numerous contacts like you. Yes, you want your client to receive the best service and, because we can outperform far bigger companies on a like for like basis, this is something we can offer and do offer as a standard facet of each engagement, but, wouldn't it be nice to feel like the entity to which you refer your client is minded and motivated to return the compliment? This is how Prime Cap distinguishes itself from the pack. Whether it is specialists in the valuation of country or rural estates, firms proficient or market leading in leasehold enfranchisement, accountants and book keepers who do more than just sift through your receipts or property agents with a track record of exceeding ceilings on distressed residential property sales, these are businesses and contacts we know and deal with regularly and access to them is part of what we offer you...as a client and as a partner. #referral #network #networkmarketing #solicitor #property #customers #Google #remittance

Given the strength of our presence in the interior design space we thought we might elaborate on one of the more niche elements of our service for UK based sales agents. As with all our posts we endeavour to ground our discourse with direct examples of current working relationships with businesses and individuals actively engaged in the transactions we're referring to. Our client is a UK based LLP that has sole distribution and sales rights over the wears of a number of non-UK base furniture, treatments and finishings brands. As is sometimes the case with those specialising in turn-key interior design services, the partnership supplements it's revenue with commissions generated from the sales of said foreign brands. Customers are presented with the catalogue of wears by our client and, in this particular case, can view certain key pieces from various collections at the South West London show room of the agent (client). The customer then pays the overseas company directly, in currency of the overseas company. Being eurozone based, the brands being presented typically invoice the customer in EUR. This obviously presents the customer, be they an interior design business or an individual customer, with a foreign currency concern. One which we are only too eager to assist with. The UK sales agent, our client and the subject of this post, is commissioned by way of a revenue percentage directly from the overseas brand. Having invoiced in EUR, the brand pays the UK agent in EUR too. This too constitutes a foreign exchange concern for the sales agent. In this example though, because the agent operates in GBP for the other facets of their business, the EUR commissions form a small part of their overall revenue. Therefore they needn't realistically maintain their own foreign foreign currency account, especially given that, as their broker, we can provide this facility. The agents relies on our services to collect, or serve as collector, of those commissions. By incorporating our segregated client trust account details in their own invoices the agent can present their overseas supplier/brand with our bank details as if they were their own. All that we ask for the UK agent is that an invoice outlining the commission due to be received be provided to us in advance of funds being transmitted to us. So sporadic might these sales be and such is the level of inconsistency that animates the payment time frames from any of the overseas brands - by this we politely mean they rarely pay commission when they say they will - the UK agent can rely on our automated systems to inform them when euros arrive. This particular agent has asked us to simply flip any euro funds in to GBP the moment they arrive; they're content that our rate will be appealing enough and we make sure not to stray from the margin we have already agreed with them. So, the agent can rest assured that we will not deviate from our ultra-competitive margin and within a matter of hours of receiving our notification that euros have arrived with us they can look forward to receiving the sterling sum. In our humble opinion the agent could do more to maximise the GBP yield from the incoming euros, however, looking in to such things more deeply means a change in focus towards a more strategic approach. We don't mind that, in fact, we rather relish it, however, being that the amounts involved and receive as commission are below EUR 1500 generally, the client prefers just to receive the amount instantly...little else matters, much to our frustration. We have a couple of other examples where interior design businesses actually produce and sell their own designs through concessions and manufacturers located around the world. Without direct business operations in the territories they're selling, they find it very useful to collect USD, AED and AUD earnings in our appropriately denominated client trust accounts, without charge. Again, this is an example of how a small UK business can make use of tools and services generally only available to much bigger companies. Whilst most brokers like Prime Cap will try to shoehorn all manner of interesting and pertinent information in to our discussions with clients...probably because of our own self-importance and a fascination with the sounds of our own voices...setting up a series of guidelines and operating principles for the collection and conversion of funds is the best way to maximise revenue and minimise time spent speaking with pseudo experts. This is all part of our tailored approach. We focus on optimising revenues through the reduction of exchange rate margin and the removal of avoidable transaction costs. If this is all you need us for then this is all we shall provide. #interiordesign #salesagent #overseasbrand #interiors #UK #GBP #EUR #Purchasing #procurement #commission

Whilst we do a lot of work with foreign nationals buying property in the UK with capital brought in from abroad, one of the areas commonly overlooked is the change in the foreign currency value of the UK property you might be selling. Between accepting an offer on your London property and the date of completion, the foreign currency value of the asset can change dramatically. An example of this is a recent instruction take by our brokers: We were invited to present our services to the vendor of a property who wished to take receipt of the GBP proceeds of sale for the further exchange of those monies in to Swiss Franc. Between initial offer acceptance and completion of the transaction the rate of exchange moved by mere singular percentage points, but, given the size of the transaction in question this movement translated in to a loss of nearly CHF 150,000 in value. We appreciate that many operating in the prime residential space in London are eager to protect the structure and progression of a deal/sale and that incorporating a third party currency brokerage in to the mix could be perceived as a risk...diluting the strength of the agent's connection with a client...but, for the sake of the sizeable sums that can be protected, close working arrangements with a currency broker can serve to fortify the relationship rather than undermine it. High Net Worth Individuals and families tend to operate in more than one country. One might therefore assume they are equipped with all the relevant advice and guidance that compliments and enhances the ease with which they might operate in those countries. However, in our experience, the age of the personal (DIY) currency services sector means that the solutions our sector can offer tend to be overlooked. Our engagement with clients usually extends beyond the initial exchange of capital. We become an ongoing and useful solutions provider whose value exceeds the scope of the initial improvement of the rate of exchange. Imagine if you will, your client sells in London and repatriates proceeds... Having introduced them to a broker you know, like and trust means that your connection to that client goes beyond the transactional.... When the client looks to revisit their UK property activities, our connection to them can very well serve as a tether bringing that client around to your role and value again... With the staggering proportion of properties valued over £8million being bought and sold between a global elite of affluent participants, the inclusion of an understanding of the currency position should, rightly, form more than just a passing part of your discussions with your client. This is what Prime Cap exists to support. For a more detailed discussion we invite you to call our broking team on 0203 172 8193. #London #Property #Primelondon #PrimeResi

For an increasing number of private clients living in the UK, receiving money from abroad is not such an alien concept. Sure, they may never send money abroad and anything incoming might be a one off or their only engagement with foreign currencies between bank accounts, but, there are some simple ways to maximise the sterling amount you get into your bank account, and there are some very easy instructions you can provide to the person or company sending money to you. You want to make sure that the rate of exchange used to convert whatever currency you're due to receive is the best it can possibly be. Therefore, you don't want to provide the person sending you money with your simple every day sterling bank account details. Doing so would leave you at the mercy of your UK bank. From experience we know that this means you could loose anything up to 7% of the amount being exchanged. Banks do vary, and yours might not be as militant or as stingy as the worst offenders on the UK high street, but, it is simply the case that, unless you take control of the money coming in before it is converted, you have to swallow what you are given. By providing Prime Cap's foreign currency account details you can receive your money in the currency it was sent. As well as then exchanging money for and with you at a better rate of exchange, using our services gives you control. There are many different reasons why you might be receiving money from abroad or in a different currency. Commonly we work with people who have inherited sums from relatives abroad. In this instance we can work with the executor of the estate to make sure you get the most from the rate of exchange. Alternatively you might be receiving money to go towards a house you are buying. Being able to track that money coming into the UK and being able to then send it directly to stakeholders in your buying process, for instance your solicitor, is a useful aspect of our service. If you have a friend coming to stay with you who lives abroad and they want to send their spending money to your account and draw on it whilst they are in the UK, then they or you can register as a client of Prime Cap and make sure that you're not losing out on the exchange rate. Sending money from your overseas foreign currency bank account back to your UK account for things like mortgage payments, utility bills or general UK expenses, is made easier and cheaper by virtue of our online transaction platform. If you're receiving a loan from the bank of Mum and Dad, who happen to have retired to Italy, then, by giving them our EUR client account details you're making sure money arrive in a timely fashion and you get more of it than you would from your bank. There are many reasons why someone who does not deal in currencies often and does not hold a foreign currency bank account might want to speak with us about our work. As we have said in previous posts, we do not consider there to be a transaction amount too small. Just the other day we sent £200 to Australia for a very respected City lawyer whose daughter is on her gap year. An under-graduate studying at Trinity Dublin used us to send €1100 back to her own account in England earned from her part time job during term time. The vast array of reasons people use Prime Cap is illustrative of how we deal with a variety of customers. By that we mean that we are not just here to deal with big value trophy conversions. Day to day transactions are just as important to the longevity of a business like Prime Cap and we are very well versed in sensitively and quickly explaining your options (some of which you won't have thought possible) and making sure you don't leave money on the table. #foreigncurrencyaccount #foreignearnings #undergraduate #study #livingexpenses #online #inheritance #executor

The first thing to say is that Prime Cap is not the place to get a direct instruction to sell your currency today, tomorrow or at some time in the future. We aren't here to tell you where rates are going to go. Sorry to start with a negative, but, we are not in the business of 'calling the market' for our clients. This means we are not comfortable or allowed (from a regulatory perspective) to tell you to wait to do your exchange because we think the rate will be better some other time. For one thing, it is not really possible to approach currency exchange in this way for SMEs or personal exchange activities. Speculation of this type, for speculation it is, is reserved for regulated investment advisers dealing in currencies as an asset class. If the broker you're talking to suggests they know something for sure, in terms of where rates will go, listen to the alarm bells that should be going off in your head. An authorised payment institution and any of it's appointed representatives is regulated for payment services, not currency speculation - no ifs, no buts, no coco-nuts. Having said all of the above, we give you guidance as to how to view the risks you face of rates going against you. And, let's remember that going 'against you' means you are able to buy fewer pounds with the dollars you hold. It is a question of need. What do you need dollars for and what do you need the currency you'd exchange those dollars in to for? Take a UK business that allows it's customers to pay it in US dollars. This business could be in any sector. They might be a subscription service, receiving a monthly payments for advice, copy, products or insight they sell around the world. They might be an online retailer selling their wears to any and all global customers, and using an inbuilt converter in their website to tell their customer what the US cost of a UK based product is. If you invoice in a foreign currency then it is up to you to decide what you do with that currency when it arrives with you. Selling your products and services in a foreign currency, whatever industry you are in, means you are lumbered with dealing with the conversion and use of those currencies collected. Many businesses simply have any foreign currency amount paid to their UK held sterling account. This tends to be because they operate in sterling and haven't given any more thought to opening an account in the currency(ies) they're selling in. Having a foreign currency paid to your UK sterling account means that the sterling amount you received is determined purely by your bank, who convert the incoming foreign currency in to sterling when the money arrives. Hence, the sterling amount you receive could be very different to what you expect and it will also be very different to what you might have calculated when estimating the GBP equivalent of the foreign currency sales you have logged. So, we will simply look at how best to make sure that you get the most pounds you can and we will talk about what simple over-the-counter tools you might find useful in managing your payments, your foreign currency earnings and your foreign currency expenses and payments. The overriding sentiment, indisputable in fact, is that you will get a better rate of exchange for a specialist that you will from your bank. We caveat that by saying that some businesses are in a position to negotiate hard with their bank, but, SME's with turnover of £6.5 million or less generally don't have the leverage, plus, businesses with a turnover greater than this may lack the expertise to negotiate as effectively in favour of a better rate. Leaving the exchange up to your bank will leave you worse off for any number of reasons. We go in to those reasons in others posts, but, for this post we will simply focus on what should be doing. Opening a currency account denominated in the main foreign currencies you earn in is a very sensible option. It doesn't solve the problem of giving you a better rate per se, but, it does give you control over when and indeed how your currency gets converted. For businesses that do not want to open a foreign currency account, or for those companies that think they foreign currency earnings are too small and infrequent to justify an account that might carry a monthly fee, our segregated client account facilities can serve as a very useful, easy and free collection facility. You can have your customer pay directly in to this account, or, you can introduce our currency account at the back end of whatever payment software you use to conduct your sales. It acts as a silo and, provided you let us know what we should expect, who from and what amount, we can take care of applying the funds to your balance sheet with us. You get notified USD, EUR, AUD or JPY has arrived in the facility and you can either login to convert it or talk to our brokers about other ways of approaching conversion of what you've collected. If you do go down the route of opening your own foreign currency account for your business, then, you can use us for the exchange of the funds. Just because you have opened a foreign currency account with your bank does not mean you are restricted to using the bank for the exchange. This is a common misconception and one of the reasons why, although a business has taken the positive steps of setting up a foreign currency account, they see no cost benefit. Holding your own foreign currency account can be extremely useful for businesses that have foreign currency expenses themselves. If you are an online business in the UK with customers in the United States, for instance, but you work with a supplier in the Far East who invoice you in US dollars, collecting your US dollar revenue in your own US dollar account means you can make international payments direct to your supplier without exchanging your FX revenue in to sterling first. The question posed in the post title - 'Should we hold or Sell?' - is answered best when we consider what you use your foreign currency revenue for. If you have no foreign currency outgoings then you might think it makes sense to, once the rate is at an appealing level and once you have completed a certain sales cycle, sell your currency in to sterling. That makes sense and that is something we can assist with, but. we would tend to advise retaining a float in that foreign currency incase you incur any foreign currency expenses, such as returns, complications with an overseas supplier or distributor or simply if the rate of exchange isn't particularly attractive and you don't want to put all your eggs in that one exchange basket. Just because your suppliers invoice in a currency different to the one you earn your foreign currency revenue in, for instance you sell in US dollars but, pay your suppliers in euros, doesn't mean you should convert your revenue in to sterling then pay it out again as euros. Converting from USD to GBP, then pay back out in euros will mean you are losing a fraction of the currency amount each time you exchange. It might be more sensible to exchange some of your US dollars in to euros in anticipation of your euro payments. We can take a look at the rate between USD and EUR in just the same way, and applying precisely the same level of care and competition, as we do when exchanging from USD to sterling. So you have options that you may not have thought of, all of which a driving towards reducing your costs and optimising the rate you get. Should you 'hold' or 'sell' your foreign currency revenue? It depends on what you have upcoming, who you need to pay and what currency you're best holding a surplus in. Give us a call if you would like us to talk you through how we approach arriving at bespoke solutions of this type. #USD #EUR #Hold #Sell

'Prime Managed', 'Prime Execution' & 'Prime View'. Three headings you may see dotted across the Prime Cap website, but, nowhere else. Currency businesses and their online articulation of their work and value tend to follow a similar format: Businesses tend to detach 'Private Client' foreign exchange from 'Corporate' or 'Business' foreign currency needs. We are not entirely sure why most companies make this distinction and our confusion is routed in the belief that the practical procedural 'things you need to do' in order to get money from one currency to another, and one bank account to another, is the same regardless of whether your need is personal of business focussed. We suppose that the main reason for the definition between 'private' and 'corporate' foreign exchange is that pigeon holing a client like this, or allowing the client to tell you which category they think they fit in to, makes for an easier on-boarding process? Additionally, it immediately allows the currency company to qualify the revenue potential for that client. Frankly though, those things are more important to firms that do not meet their clients and don't already have a personal referral on which to formulate both their approach and their recommendations prior to registration. It tends to be the case that business currency clients expect and receive smaller/tighter currency rates than individuals do. This is because most businesses engaged in international payments have exposure to currency businesses already so have come to learn what sort of level of competition they should expect. With an individual, perhaps not so. The three 'Service Wrappers', as we refer to them, in evidence on our website (www.primecappayments.com) are as close to pigeon holing as we get, but, the methodology and reasons behind these three distinctions are different to those of other firms, and that is the key. You may notice that the explanations of these three service wrappers do not distinguish between personal and businesses use for our services; this is entirely intentional. With our belief that the individual person who is executing the exchange is the focus, we prefer to define and pigeon hole the service we will offer, rather than the need of the client. We want you to identify and show what we will provide based on your needs, rather than us using information you've given in order for us to qualify you to us. It may seem a round about way of explaining the purpose of these wrappers, but, we can assure you that it is different and makes a difference too. Defining clients, access, products and price based on whether you are a business or an individual is basically what a bank does and we feel is totally at odds with what a currency broker can offer and how a broker should approach their work. Take it from us, you being a personal customer or a business customer makes absolutely zero difference. So, why do our peers continue to press the distinction? Laziness. Prime View basically confirms to you that, if we do not choose any other setting or conduct a bespoke assessment, the Prime Cap team will only observe your online activities. View only means we will literally 'only view'. When a client logs in to our online system we can see this. We can see what currency, product and term is selected. If you have put in that you wish to exchange Euros in to Botswana Pula then we can see this and we will think 'hmmmm...Emma said she would be exchanging GBP to EUR...shall we give her a ring to confirm'. Many of our customers do genuinely prefer to pick up the telephone to us and talk through what they want to do. Some email their broker and know they can expect an immediate response. Other clients want to do it themselves online. We don't want to give them the key to car without telling them how to drive it, but, equally, we cannot change gear for them if they are behind the wheel. Bad analogies aside, the View Only setting gives you the security of know an experienced dealer is behind the scenes, but, you dont have to talk to anyone if you dont want to. The reason it is our 'default' setting is because we do sometimes have clients who just want to login and do-it-themselves. If that is what they expect then that is what they will get and we can very quickly read the room to conclude that clawing input from our broking team might not be welcome. Often we will notice things about someone's exchange activity that are indicative of habit or could stand to be improved. You may be exchanging in such a way that benefits from our intervention. If that is the case we will, having built a case to put to you, bring this to your attention. At the end of the day, whilst 'View Only' may be what we call the service we offer if nothing more appropriate enters our heads, it tends to be the case that each clients' activities include different aspects of the 'Execution Only' or 'Fully Managed' offering too. As mentioned before, one of the unique characteristics of our approach to currency exchange and payment strategy services is that it doesn't really matter to us who the overriding owner of the currency we're exchanging is. Nor does it matter how much they are exchanging. The main things that matter to us is that our rate is the best, the actual person inputting the details and conducting the exchange knows what they are doing and feels confident, and that whether a private client or a business, you have access to the most sophisticated consultative acumen and insight available. A business or a private client....it makes no difference to us - you're a client. #ViewOnly #ExecutionOnly #FullyManaged

Rather than serving as a critique on the ways our peers might 'have it wrong' this post is designed to outline what tools and techniques you have at your disposal to actually act on market commentary or verbal analysis provided by your broker. One look at the Prime Cap Library and you should notice that our posts are a little light on dissection of the previous day's or even weeks' currency movements. You'll be met with case studies and comment about the contracts and concepts that contribute to a better understanding of currency services and a better use of over-the-counter instruments tailored to every currency eventuality. One of the reasons most currency brokers publish a market report is because it is a simple and rather un-invasive way of gaining access to your inbox. We don't mean that in a insister way; we simply mean that an email from 'Best Exchange Rates.com' when you arrive in the office keeps that brand 'front of mind', subtly or even not so subtly, and might make for interesting reading in terms of interpretation of data the market has already received. However, such daily or weekly commentaries tend not to outline how a particular contract or approach might have been used in a particular circumstance in order to remove your downside risk or to maximise the rate. Commentary, when it comes to currencies, if by definition retrospective. One only really comments on something that has happened. Commentary on things yet to occur is speculation when you're dealing in an arena as volatile and reactionary as capital or currency markets. So, we ask, what use is all this interesting, expressive and invariably macho analysis/commentary when it is not tied to an action plan constructed for you and tailored to the outcomes being discussed? We think not much. It is just room meat. Padding. Marketing and advertising at best and a new daily lining for your recycle bin at worst. There is nothing in any of the daily reports from non-bank brokers that you cannot read in a daily newspaper on your way to work. A brief conversation with an experienced currency broker can tell you more in a sentence than their bland typed platitudes. If demand for oil is going to fall because of action soon to be taken by governments to limit the dissemination of single use plastics, what use is that to you when you're settling an invoice with your European supplier? Sure, having an awareness of the concerns and obstacles faced by one currency or another as the year progresses is something most in the world of finance should possess, but, if you don't apply those sentiments to a meaningful, disciplined and concerted approach to your currency exposure management, then your business certainly won't be any better off and you will have just wasted the time it took you to read that which the evening news already told you the night before. Knowing what you don't know and asking an albeit self-professed collective of experts to break-down the concepts and the best way to tackle something, is a very good way to get more than just a tight spread from your currency broker. Test their metal. Ask your 'dedicated currency dealer' what tools they can suggest to make sure that your next payment is conducted at the same rate as the payment you're making today. There are a number of things your currency broker can do that your bank won't and there are even more ways to approach devising solutions for the optimisation of your currency activities, whether that be through process improvement, cost efficiencies or top-line price improvement. When it comes to currency, headlines are just as influential as more macro studies of a sector or of Central Bank and Government policy. Smelling a trend and acting on it means you can prepare yourself and your business; furthermore, you can mitigate, as far as is reasonably possible, the effects of one outcome whilst leaving the door open for upside benefits. Do you have a currency strategy? You engage in currency exchanges and send, receive, hold currencies to a greater or lesser extent....correct? What stops you from considering the effects of positive and negative changes in the rate? It matters not whether you are an independent retailer buying key rings from one supplier in Taiwan twice a year or a firm with multiple offices globally. You have just as much on offer to you as a business with manufacturing operations in Eastern Europe or a non-UK domiciled landlord bringing rental income back to your country of primary residence. Emphatic though our language may be, as an independent boutique Prime Cap knows how dismissive one can be of one's own position, but, we also know that every penny earned is hard won and we feel our would-be clients owe it to themselves and to the customers they've fought so hard to win to make the most of simple, effective and easily applied tools and services. Do not dismiss the email that comes in to your inbox from 'Aren't We The Most Eloquent Currency Company Ltd.' Keep it, read it, but, follow up on it and ask the person sending it to you how it's content applies to your next payment. It is not a case of asking 'what would you do?'. A currency broker does not run their own business, does not deal with myriad of moving parts. They can price a foreign exchange transaction and should be able to explain how best to optimise your use of them, but, the question you should be asking of them is 'is this the best way to reduce my costs and protect my margin'. Everything else is just filler. #review #Currencies #analysis #commentary #alerts #strategy

Many employees dream of moving abroad and ploughing their furrow in new markets. Some are lucky enough to find that their aspirations are matched by their employers long-term plans for them and their business. Here is a simple account of a salary negotiation we were recently engaged on: The UK based employee was in late stage talks with her employer about setting up an operation in UAE from where they might engage new potential clients and service the needs of one of their largest existing clients more locally. The employee in question wanted to ensure that moving abroad wouldn't result in a real terms pay cut because of exchange rate volatility. Basically she wanted to make sure that her AED income reflected what she would have been paid were she still working in London. To do this we looked at the lowest GBP to AED rate of exchange for the previous 12 months. We identified the lowest value of the pound against AED over that 12 months, but, you could use whatever time frame you want. We chose 12 months because the plans were for this employee to remain on location for two years, so, 'recent' moves in the rate we perfectly relevant. Also, given the distinct and almost unique conditions affecting sterling over the last two years, it was not totally unreasonable to imagine that, if those conditions were to resurface or reappear and result in a further drop in the value of the pound - further than it had fallen over the past 12 months - the viability of the entire endeavour might require review. At the time of assessment it was agreed that the pound had been some 4% lower at certain points over the previous 12 months. If, from the day of singing any contract, the rate were to drop to that level again then the cost to the business would be at least 4% higher. A cost that the employer may have felt unwilling to bear were the employee not exposed to the same extent. So, we suggested the employee offer to revise her AED pay figure downwards, in line with the market, were the pound to drop to that level. In exchange for this concession she was content to ask her employer to match the upside risk she faced were the pound to improve by the same margin. So, if the pound improved by 4% then the AED salary she was owed, in essence the AED equivalent of her GBP salary were she working in the UK, should be revise and increased up by that margin. We encouraged her to confirm that the terms should be rate dependent rather than time dependent. So, if the rate moved up by 4% the day after signing of the contract then the AED equivalent salary should, in her view, be increased by that margin because the GBP cost to the business had been reduced by that percentage. The range in question was therefore 8% and the exposure borne was the same for both the employee and employer. This seemed fair and we were thanked for our involvement because we were able to translate her expectations in to language that showed she had considered her employer's exposure as well as her own. It was an arrangement that could then be formally codified. We'll let you know if this employee ended up better off (by no more than 4% of course) because of our input. The employee is also interested in discussing how to hedge against her unspent AED income losing value against GBP over the two years she expects to be non-resident. We can connect her with excellent tax advisers who can guide her on structuring this. Furthermore, her employer may wish to fix their costs by hedging their exposure to a drop in the pound. This is something we can assist with also and may well form a post in due course about how employers can cement their costs, reduce their FX margins and refine management of their various currency activities more directly and more easily. It is all part of the service. #UAE #salary #emplyment #GBP

Rather than rambling on about how we use our networks to support our partners and clients, this post is more a reflection on how businesses in our sphere seem to be making use of networks they have established and the ways in which firms are looking internally and considering how to fortify their brands, make themselves 'sticky' and leveraging the privileged access they already enjoy in pursuit of better service and value fo their clients. All this seems to be rather marketing-shpeely. Put simply, we have noticed a trend emerge where businesses operating in one niche market are making use of their position in order to spread their message and add to their service offering. Take the high-end residential property sales business who has incorporate foreign exchange services in to their product offering. We saw recently that Waitrose are putting more effort in to providing complimentary (not free, but rather additional/supporting) products and services in to their shopping experience. The idea of bringing cafe's in to their stores. Waitrose are using their positioned as a trusted and higher end purveyor of groceries to keep their customers close. They don't want us buying our soy-mocca-chino from a nearby barrister chain when they can profitably feed our caffeine addiction from within their stores. The same is true for wealth managers who would rather you make use of their partnerships with insurance or lending specialists than see you walk across the road to another 'full-service' financial services brand. Incorporating something like foreign currency advice in to their platforms - normally through simple online references on their website - is a way of controlling your exposure to unvetted companies. The currency provider - Prime Cap, for instance - is delighted to receive traffic from the wealth manager as it represents a more qualified incoming source. The brands compliment each other and, through earnest dialogue and discussion, both parties find common value focussed ground to cross refer business betwixt the two. We've posted before about stock brokers whose customers have an interest in USD denominated small-cap securities. The purchase is priced in USD so the client is whacked with the premium that comes with a retail rate of exchange. Being able to deal directly through the stock broker's foreign exchange facilities means the client saves, the broker keeps contact and the process is more secure, fluid and certain. At Prime Cap we are always on the look out for opportunities to engage with new clients. We can sometimes do this by aligning ourselves with businesses who obviously have a strong exposure to those private clients (normally, but not exclusively) who are likely to deal in more than one currency. As an example we site the services we provide to online property businesses like The London Broker. Their concept is interesting as they serve as a home and a banner for experienced property brokers (buy and sell side) to list through TLB's platform. We are then woven in to the data-digging exercise that the broker undertakes and, where our services might be relevant, we are introduced to the transaction as the preferred and vetted foreign currency adviser/supplier. This is becoming a trend not just in currency services, however, recent white labelling capabilities have seen an increase in the ease with which a previously niche financial services provider can references and reactively or passively refer. We view this as 'capitalising' on one's network as a business. It makes the likes of The London Broker more than just a listings platform. They become a trusted directory for relevant, tried and tested services which keeps their clients coming back to them (keeps the dialogue alive) even after the prescient transaction is concluded. So, ask yourself whether you're utilising the access you have to the fullest extent? Would it be easy to provide you client base with other valuable and vetted services without detracting from your core offering?