Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management is launching a new mentoring programme for would-be retail traders, with a focus on Asia.

In a move highlighting how do-it-yourself financial trading remains a powerful trend among Asia’s wealthy, the Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management has launched a six-month mentoring programme with a focus on Asia, starting on 11 January next year.

The launch coincides with the opening of the Institute’s Singapore operations, it said in a statement yesterday.

The programme is open to all retail traders, globally, and includes full trader coaching on a weekly basis with the institute’s managing partner, Anton Kreil. Caching is done on a remote basis after the initial 10-day period of the programme, held at the private residence of Kreil in Phuket, Thailand.

During this initial 10-day period, those undergoing the course are expected to complete a hands-on programme directly with Kreil and their peers. After that, the attendees return to their home countries and the remainder of the six-month programme is spent trading with real money in a live trading account and communicating with Anton directly, via screen sharing and Skype calls.

"We will continue to single-handedly raise the bar of the Trading Education market globally and in so doing, ensure that Retail Traders are protected from educators with structural conflicts of interest and ensure that the Institute remains the default choice for smart and serious retail traders who want to learn how to trade successfully and sustainably,” Kreil said.

The programme is available to only eight participants every six months.