Japan based online brokerage and trading provider Monex Group Inc. (TYO:8698) has announced that it has started taking on new clients in its recently established, ASIC licensed subsidiary in Australia, Monex Securities Australia Pty Ltd.
And, from the looks of things, it seems as though Monex wants to carve itself a niche offering international investments to Australian retail traders.
Alex Douglas, Monex Australia
Alex Douglas, Managing Director of Monex Securities Australia stated:
We believe there is a yawning gap in the Australian investors’ portfolio because they have not been accessing international equity markets.
And we will bridge this gap by giving investors one platform that will allow them to trade 12 different markets around the globe.
Monex Securities Australia will also be offering competitive rates in a bid to win investors away from other online broking providers, with trading in US markets starting from just US$9.99.
According to Mr. Douglas:
Investors have been telling us that there are two reasons why they are not investing overseas: One is because it is too expensive to trade international shares if you trade with existing providers.
And the other reason is that until now it has been quite challenging to set up different accounts that will let you trade various international markets.
By providing a single platform that will let investors trade multiple global markets and by offering lower fees, Monex Securities Australia is aiming to win a healthy slice of the investment community in Australia.
Monex Group’s entry into the Australian market is part of the company’s global expansion.
In Japan, Monex Group was one of the first online broking companies that disrupted the industry when it launched online broking in the very early days of online services.
“We believe that we can differentiate ourselves from existing providers because we have a robust platform and we have access to global markets,” Douglas said.
He added: “Given the relatively small size of the Australian stock market, this is our way of opening up and making international equities more accessible to Australian investors.”
Using Monex Securities Australia’s trading platform, Australian investors can access markets in the US, Japan, Hong Kong and most of Asia. This means investors can take advantage of price movements in stocks such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Toyota and other Asian listed companies.
Investors can also access Chinese listed stocks including those in the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges using Monex Securities Australia’s trading platform.
Monex Group is one of the leading online brokers in Japan with subsidiaries in the US and Hong Kong. Monex Group was founded by Oki Matsumoto.