Who Owns ThinkMarkets?

The company launched in 2010 as ThinkForex, founded by Nauman and Faizan Anees with an initial base in Australia and New Zealand. The original proposition was a MetaTrader-based forex and CFD brokerage aimed at retail clients in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2015 the group added a UK subsidiary, TF Global Markets (UK) Limited, authorized by the FCA, establishing a second regulated base in London. As the product range expanded beyond currencies into indices, commodities, and shares, the company rebranded from ThinkForex to ThinkMarkets.

The late 2010s brought a licensing expansion. The group secured a CySEC license in Cyprus for European clients, an FSCA license in South Africa, and later authorizations covering the Dubai International Financial Centre, New Zealand, the Seychelles, Mauritius, and the Cayman Islands. This turned a single-license Australian broker into a multi-jurisdiction group.

Technology investment followed. The company launched ThinkTrader, its proprietary platform, as an alternative to MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, and added TradingView integration and the ThinkCopy copy trading service. Owning its platform mattered strategically: when MetaQuotes pulled MetaTrader access for some brokers, firms dependent on the MT4 licensing regime faced real disruption, while ThinkMarkets could migrate clients to its own terminal. An institutional arm, ThinkLiquidity, provides prime brokerage and liquidity services to other firms.

In 2021 and 2022 the group explored a public listing, a process that was widely reported but did not result in an IPO. The company has since remained private. As of 2026 it offers up to 4,000 instruments to clients in more than 165 countries with 24-hour support in more than 20 languages, operating from dual headquarters in London and Melbourne with offices in Limassol, Johannesburg, and Dubai.

The founders' longevity is itself part of the company's story. Most retail brokers of comparable size have been through at least one ownership change, private equity round, or failed listing. The Anees brothers have run the group continuously for more than 15 years, and Nauman Anees remains its public face, publishing market commentary and representing the brand in industry press.

The ThinkTrader platform is the clearest expression of that strategy. Rather than depending entirely on MetaQuotes, whose MT4 and MT5 licenses brokers rent, the group invested in its own terminal so that the client relationship, charting, and order flow live on its own infrastructure. TradingView integration and the ThinkCopy social trading service extend the same logic: keep the trading experience inside ThinkMarkets property wherever possible.

On the service side, the brand positions itself between the listed giants and the offshore operators. Clients onboarded to the UK, Australian, or Cypriot entities get statutory protections including segregated funds and compensation schemes, while clients in smaller markets are routed to the offshore entities where leverage limits are looser but protections thinner.