Abu Dhabi and London based Retail FX and CFDs broker ADSS has announced that it has appointed Alison Higgins as Chief Trading Officer, to support the company’s new strategy as it expands its client base and increases trading revenues through the introduction of highly personalised customer products and services.

A seasoned financial services veteran, Alison Higgins comes to ADSS with more than 18 years of trading experience. She was most recently Managing Director & Global Head of FX & Rates trading at First Abu Dhabi Bank, where she tripled trading revenue in three years. Prior to her time at FAB, Ms Higgins also held senior global markets roles at UBS and Scotia Capital in London, New York and Singapore. She holds a BA in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham in the UK.

In addition to her role of Chief Trading Officer, Alison Higgins will also join ADSS’ executive committee. Reflecting the firm’s commitment to being at the forefront of diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the financial services industry, women represent more than 40% of ADSS’s senior leadership team following Ms Higgins’ appointment.

Alison Higgins, ADSS’ Chief Trading Officer, said:

“I am delighted to join the ADSS team at this pivotal time, and look forward to working with my new colleagues to deliver the firm’s long term growth strategy. In line with the execution of ADSS’ future strategy, I will play a key role in expanding our asset class offering and market coverage to meet the evolving needs of our client base and look forward to replicating my previous successes.”

Commenting on Ms Higgins appointment, Mahmood Ebraheem Al Mahmood, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ADSS, said:

“Alison is a leader with a robust track record of success at some of the world’s biggest financial institutions. She will take a key role in defining and executing our new growth strategy to increase our share of the retail and institutional market, harnessing cutting edge technology. Our ambition to become one of the world’s largest securities brokerages will be supported by the strength of the management team that we have been putting in place over the past year. I look forward to working closely with Alison to capitalise on the growing opportunities in our target markets.”

ADSS was founded in 2010 with the mission of creating a global financial services company delivering the highest quality products and services. Strategic investment into proprietary multi-asset trading technology has enabled access to liquidity and instruments to meet such this goal, and further focus on developing experienced, highly qualified teams has helped place ADSS as a leader in global business. ADSS is regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority of the UAE, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.