More and more people are taking control of their financial destiny by turning to the foreign exchange markets – but not everyone has the stomach for trading in today’s highly volatile currency, or has the time to invest alongside their cash. George Koumandaris discusses HotForex’s PAMM programme, which matches cautious investors with more experienced trading partners.

The way we use the web and discover new content has changed: today we are mobile; today we share. Content producers must optimise their output to our new behaviours: and that means brevity. Enter .CO internet, which has exploded in the last 18 months providing accessibly short urls like t.co (twitter) and g.co (google). Juan Diego Calle explains the origins and benefits of the new must-have domain.

India is a complex market for M&A and private equity. Cultural challenges – Indian business owners are often reluctant to surrender control – are compounded by regulatory ones – such as exchange controls and sector restrictions. In this context Lexygen is renowned for working on trend-setting, market-defining transactions. Vijay Sambamurthi discusses the importance of innovation in “Indianising” PE firms’ objectives and rationale.

UCITS IV, which came into force in July 2011, focused primarily on asset managers’ risk management obligations; but it has a number of broader implications for the industry. Paul Stratford discusses some of the structural changes already seen as managers grapple with the new KII requirements, as well as the opportunities for revenue growth and cost savings that asset managers can achieve.

For more than 20 years Kamakura has adopted an integrated approach to risk; understanding that separating risk into silos such as liquidity, credit and market risks is detrimental to business security. Jim and Suresh discuss the importance of a holistic approach to risk, and how to move from the cliff-edge model used by the rating agencies to a gradual, percentile approach.

In the 1990s, Cairo Amman Bank was a small bank, with modest financial results and lwo growth prospects. Today it stands as mark of innovation: after successfully targeting the underserved retail sector, and reforming its HR and IT departments to develop the new skills and products the market needed. Rana Sunna explains how the changes brought new hope to the bank, and new life to its accounts.

The scale of today’s M&A transactions means corporate lawyers must call upon an incredible array of specialists – in tax, real estate, employment and anti-trust, to name but a few – to achieve a quality result for their clients. Richard W Silverthorn discusses the many strategic considerations of planning and executing a transaction, and the importance of experience and comprehensive due diligence.

As Instaforex receives a World Finance Foreign Exchange award for the third year in succession, Ekaterina Nedachina discusses the company’s focus on client happiness – helping customers trade longer and better – as well as increasing its penetration across south and east Asia.

While Europe struggles with austerity, the Gulf region is recovering well. Three years ago Saudi Arabia implemented a stimulus plan to support the country, and today there are ample opportunities for growth. Abdulkareem Abu Al-Nasr explains how NCB was able to grow net income by almost 30 percent in 2011, and discusses the region’s challenges for 2012.

The Guardian Holdings insurance group has been “Protecting the Caribbean” for more than 160 years. Today it is founded on three strategic pillars of life, health and pension; property and casualty; and asset management. Jeff Mack returns to World Finance to celebrate the company’s recent double-digit revenue growth and ratings upgrade; and discuss the possibility of regional consolidation in the insurance sector.