Charles Schwab U.K. net trades soar
Europe branch takes 83 pct of first half 1999 online trades
By Barbara Kollmeyer, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 2:54 PM ET Sep 6, 1999 Also: NewsWatch
LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Charles Schwab Europe took an 83 percent share of all U.K. Internet trades in the first half of 1999, cementing its place -- at least for now -- as Britain's largest Internet stockbroker.
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According to a survey from the Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers and ComPeer, a total of 80,384 online trades were conducted during the period, an average daily volume of 638 trades. Of the half-year total, Charles Schwab Europe claimed 66,400 online trades as its own.
In the second quarter, online trade in Britain rose by 29,500 to a total of 51,000 trades. In monetary terms, online trades averaged $7,586 (4,730 pounds) in the second quarter, compared with 6,444 pounds for trades through other execution-only brokers. (One pound equals $1.60470 based on Monday market prices.)
Russ Shaw, senior vice president of marketing at Charles Schwab Europe, said the company's online Internet trading figures should be boosted further by its July free-trading offer, which helped lift the U.K. online brokerage industry in general.
Charles Schwab had a healthy head start over other competitors -- roughly seven months. It was only a few months ago that Barclays Stockbrokers, part of Barclays Bank PLC (BCS: news, msgs), started its own business after a three-month delay. More-recent newcomers include E-Trade Group Inc. (EGRP: news, msgs), DLJ Direct, Freeserve (FREEV: news, msgs) and a handful of others.
Figures from J.P. Morgan and Fletcher Research showed that, at the end of June 1999, Charles Schwab had 22,000 online accounts in Britain, while Barclays Stockbrokers had 10,000 and other online stockbrokers shared 13,000 accounts.
Christian Ossig, equity analyst with J.P. Morgan, said the U.K. is still fairly underdeveloped in terms of online trade and lags behind its European counterparts, such as Scandinavia. So the number of online accounts in Britain could grow sharply -- meaning Schwab's competitors could start picking up a lot more accounts, he said.
"The U.K. market is in the early stages," said Ossig. "There's still a fair bit of the cake to develop."
Actively investing
Schwab's Shaw said the survey was encouraging because it showed customers not only were attracted to Internet investing but were encouraged to "actively invest."
Still, Angela Knight, chief executive of the Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stocbrokers, said investors are still tending to use online services for relatveily small trades. When it comes to the bigger trades, they're continuing to seek out expert research and advice.
Schwab also announced a series of improvements to its TouchTone Trader service, which allows customers to invest by pressing buttons on a touch-tone telephone. |
