Meet the Team - Sam Hunt, CTO

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, your role and why you like working in the FX space?

Hi I’m Sam, CTO at MillTechFX. I lead a brilliant team of designers, developers, architects, analysts, product people, QAs and more. Together we are responsible for building and running the trading platform used by our clients and all the internal tools that support MillTechFX to deliver a high quality and efficient service.

Before joining MillTechFX, I lead the development of major technology projects for ambitious fintechs, built apps for a super car, and helped to establish the UK’s largest cyber security start-up accelerator.

For me, the joy of working in FX is it feels like we are at a real tipping point in terms of the value technology can deliver. It’s been a historically overlooked area, and the opportunity to make big improvements is certainly there.

2. What, from your perspective/your role as [ CTO ], is the biggest challenge in the FX space right now?

FX is complex, and for many people in the industry it’s a side product of the business rather than something that is core to it. So, you’ve got something that is highly complex, but not core, for many people we talk to it’s a nuisance. That nuisance is compounded by the poor tools that are available to people working in FX. It’s a major challenge and one that we love to work on. We see our role as abstracting away the complexity to give fund managers and corporate treasures tools to be confident with FX.

3. If anything was possible, what would you do to make FX execution smarter? 

The joy of our role in technology is there is so much that is possible. We need to be laser focused on solving the biggest problems for our customers, but after that the smart application of emerging technology to solve them is really rewarding. Right now, we are working with the latest cloud technologies and development techniques, using AI in our customer support and cyber defences, exploring low energy consumption development as well as the roll of crypto and Central Bank Digital Currencies. All these innovations help to make FX smarter while importantly meeting the needs of our customers.

4. What is the most important trend in the FX space right now?

For us it’s all about transparency, this week saw another major bank being fined for poor practice in the FX space. MillTechFX is all about using the power of technology to bring transparency to a historically opaque market. We do this by streaming competitive pricing, using a clear upfront fee structure, and using a third party to ensure we deliver best execution.

5. Talk to us about the Carbon Committee at MillTechFX and how we are looking to achieve our 30% reduction goal?

Across the Millennium Group we offset our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, we are now going further and have committed to a 30% reduction in our scope 1,2 and 3 emissions over the next three years. This is an ambitious goal given the expected growth of the group. We have a plan to achieve this by reducing emissions from our offices, infrastructure, and business travel. Additionally, we are working with other players in the market to create new ESG propositions within FX.