OpenMarkets: Huge focus on innovation

Each year CANSTAR researches and rates the online share trading platforms available for both casual and active investors as well as traders. This year OpenMarkets has achieved a 5 star rating in the Trader profile.

Each year CANSTAR researches and rates the online share trading platforms available for Australian investors. This year we have looked at 42 online share trading platforms from 17 institutions, and OpenMarkets has achieved a 5 star rating for Outstanding Value.

CANSTAR caught up with Genevieve Wood, Head of Marketing & Communications, to find out how investor behaviour has changed over the past few years and what investors are looking for.

Q: How has investor online behaviour changed over the past few years – are investors now expecting greater online functionality than in the past?

A: Yes. There is a huge focus on innovation, new technology and user experience now.  The biggest changes we’ve seen are:

1)    Big increase in mobile trading

2)    Emergence of automated advice / robo-advice services has allowed investors to cheaply invest in a managed portfolio.  This opens the doors not only to the millennial investors but also to more active investors, who want to diversify and have a part of their portfolio managed.

3)    Emergence of API trading – where traders build their own trading systems / algorithisms, and route trades behind the scenes to a broker e.g. OpenMarkets API Services

4)    The unbundling of research and trading – investors increasingly trading through one broker but sourcing research from a variety of different suppliers ie. the shift from the vertical model.

5)    The unbundling of margin lending/cash and trading – traders looking for brokers that allow them to use cash from one bank, Margin Lending from another with their broker. Rather than vertical solution of bank-owned brokers.

6)    Increase demand for streaming data

Q: What are some of the most popular online resources on your platform that your clients use?

Currently the most popular online resources are:

1)    Advanced charting

2)    Broker reporting feature – what brokers are buying and selling, and by how much

3)    DDE functionality – streams live data to excel spreadsheets

4)    API connectivity – allows clients to build their own trading software and route trades to OpenMarkets

5)    Stock market educational videos

6)    Trading & investing glossary

7)    Simplified Chinese Webtrader

Q: In terms of functionality, what process do you use to determine what your customers want now as well as predict what they may want in the near future?

A: We’re constantly in communication with our clients. Our personal service and relationship with clients is one of our biggest differientiators.

We also do:

1)    Market surveys

2)    Client feedback

3)    International visits (visits to trade shows/clients in USA/China etc)

Q: Any upcoming or recent improvements or innovations that you would like to highlight?

A: Sure:

1)    API Trading – our biggest growth area. Allows robo advisers, traders and other third parties to connect their software to our trading services.

2)    Online Account opening

3)    Mobile trading (releasing July)

4)    Chi-X access via WebTrader platform (coming soon)

 CANSTAR congratulates OpenMarkets on its Outstanding Value achievement. You can read the CANSTAR Online Share Trading report here.