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MEDIA RELEASE: 25 June 2014, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Key findings of the Investment Trends 2013 Global Online Broking Report:

• Leading global wealth researcher Investment Trends has released the second annual edition of its Global Online Broking Report, the largest study of online investing in the world, surveying over 90,000 traders and investors in six countries

• Australia has the second highest adoption rate (behind Singapore) with 3.4% of adult population trading share online at least once in the last 12 months

• US online broking clients are the world’s most satisfied, with an overall composite satisfaction score of 79%

• The Australian market is highly concentrated by world standards

• Australian online broking clients are the world’s most loyal, with the highest proportion staying with their online broker despite mid ranking levels of satisfaction

Investment Trends, a leading independent global researcher, has released the 2013 Global Online Broking Report, covering the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, France and Singapore. Over 90,000 traders and investors took part, making this one of the largest studies of the online broking industry ever conducted.

The world’s most enthusiastic online traders

“Australians remain among the world’s most enthusiastic online traders. 585,000 Australians or 3.4% of the adult population traded shares online at least once in the previous 12 months, giving Australia a market adoption second only to Singapore (5.2%)” said Jimmy Kiely, Australian Online Broking Analyst at Investment Trends. Following Australia were US (2.4%), UK (1.5%), Germany (1.2%) and France (0.9%).

|Country |Market size |Adoption rate |

|United States |5,800,000 |2.4% |

|Germany |790,000 |1.2% |

|United Kingdom |750,000 |1.5% |

|Australia |585,000 |3.4% |

|France |460,000 |0.9% |

|Singapore |235,000 |5.2% |

The world’s most concentrated market

The Australian market is also the world’s most concentrated, with 84% of current online investors using one of the top five online brokers as their primary broker. The largest online broker in Australia, CommSec, has an unequalled 44% share of primary relationships.

“CommSec is a uniquely successful firm globally. No other online broker dominates its market the way CommSec does. The closest comparison is Phillip’s Stockbroking in Singapore, with a 26% primary market share.”

Australian traders are the world’s most loyal

“Australian traders are the most loyal in the world, even though Australian brokers received only midrange client satisfaction scores on a number of key indicators.” During the 12 months to December 2013, just 7% of Australian online share investors switched their main broker – one of the lowest levels of switching (equal with the US). “CommSec has a relatively low attrition rate compared to its peers. Combined with its large market share, this helps to account for the low level of churn in the Australian market.”

Bell Direct had the highest overall satisfaction among Australian brokers and ranked 18th globally. Bell Direct was closely followed by CMC Markets Stockbroking who ranked 22nd globally.

The United States has the happiest clients

The United States leads the world in overall satisfaction, with an overall composite satisfaction score of 79%, compared with Germany (74%), UK (69%), Australia (68%), Singapore (66%) and France (62%). Singapore saw the largest increase in satisfaction levels with a composite satisfaction score increasing from 62% to 66%. The United States dominated the industry league tables for satisfaction – coming first in all twelve service areas.

“With 5,800,000 current online share investors (those who have traded shares at least once in the last 12 months), the US is by far the world’s largest online broking market, and US brokers have leveraged that scale to provide a much wider range of products and a higher level of service than their global peers, while still remaining financially viable.”

Seven of the top ten online brokers for overall satisfaction were US brokers. Among individual service areas, US brokers leverage this scale to lead in trading ideas and strategies (E*TRADE), provision of company research (Fidelity Investments), education materials/programs (TD Ameritrade) and charting (TradeStation) by offering a much wider range of products. “Research and information tools have historically been service gaps in Australia and many other online broking markets. The good news is that there has been a lot of research oriented development in the Australian market over the last 12 months helping to close these gaps.” “Australian brokers can learn from these leading US brokers how to close the gaps and improve their offerings.”

Value for money is a key to success

The top online brokers for overall satisfaction in each of the countries studied were:

|Country |Leading online broker by overall |World ranking (/68) |

| |satisfaction | |

|Australia |Bell Direct |18 |

|France |Binck |26 |

|Germany |ING DiBa |7 |

|Singapore |thinkorswim |5 |

|United Kingdom |iWeb |14 |

|United States |Vanguard |1 |

One of the interesting findings of the study was that in five out of six markets, the leading online brokers excelled in satisfaction for value for money and commissions/pricing. “You can’t succeed without having a well rounded offering at a competitive price.” Bell Direct, Binck, ING DiBa, iWeb and Vanguard all had very high satisfaction levels for value for money and commissions/pricing. thinkorswim’s offering to Singaporean client was the only leading broker whose high ratings were not based on value for money – instead ranking globally in the top 4 for an easy to use website, charting, functionality and their mobile platform. thinkorswim received high ratings across all service areas including value for money.

Australian brokers tended to be clustered in the middle of the pack globally, although the standouts are Bell Direct and CMC Markets Stockbroking who ranked 18th and 22nd overall respectively. CMC Markets Stockbroking ranked highly for value for money (4th), commissions/pricing (4th), and ease of use of platform/website (9th). While Bell Direct ranked highly for value for money (6th), commissions/pricing (6th) and reliability of platform/website (8th).

lthough most tradersading company has a cry client relationships were:e broker, of the top five broking firms. e world.evels anAbout the report

The results are drawn from the Investment Trends 2013 Global Online Broking Report, based on an in-depth study of 90,000 traders and investors spanning six countries: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, France and Singapore.

About Investment Trends:

Investment Trends is the leading specialist market research organization in Australia and the world’s leading online trading research firm, conducting research in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Singapore. We provide new insights and decision support information to over 200 leading financial services businesses. We combine analytical rigour and strategic thinking with the most advanced research and statistical technique to help our clients gain a competitive advantage.

Investment Trends’ clients include some of the world’s leading names in financial services, together with the top five Australian banks, the top 10 investment platform providers, all major CFD providers and online brokers, as well as industry regulators, leading margin lenders, dealer groups, financial planning software providers and risk product providers.

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About Investment Trends:

Investment Trends is the world’s leading

online trading research firm

Media Contact

Jimmy Kiely

Phone +612 8248 8005

Email jimmy@.au

About Investment Trends:

Investment Trends is the world’s leading

online trading research firm

Media Contact

Jimmy Kiely

Phone +612 8248 8005

Email jimmy@.au

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