The confidence in traditional information sources has weakened following several dramatic crises in the past decade. A decline in broker income has resulted in fewer broker houses and thus weaker analyst coverage. Investors increasingly look to the Internet for research, exchange of opinion and idea generation. Websites where investors can exchange information and opinions have been based on anonymity and are dominated by misinformation, errors, spam and irregular expressions. It is difficult and time consuming to find relevant and reliable statements.

With XtraInvestor (XI), we wanted to construct what we ourselves were missing as investors; an independent platform where both persons, businesses and groups can receive and share reliable and interesting content, where they can meet and communicate with other members and thus build both reputation and network, and where they can interact to find and interpret new information and generate new ideas.

In addition to functionality related to effective communication and filtering, the requirement that members use their real name is unique to XI. It guarantees more reliable information and provides a seriousness and tone that also attracts business members. We believe that XI is a tool that will give personal members more knowledge and better returns and business members a simpler and cheaper way to reach investors directly.

As an investor you may have been accustomed to anonymity on various trading forums in the past, and using your real identity may therefore be worrying to you. Remember that on XI you decide what you share, and with whom. The feedback from existing members is that they get a lot in return; information, networking, time-saving and performance results, by using their real name. And as Darwin wrote: "It's not the strongest of the species that survives; nor the most intelligent that survives. It's the one that is most adaptable to change."