18 percent of investors trade online, poll says
SIA poll results seem a little high to some analysts
By Emily Church, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:06 AM ET Nov 4, 1999 Bond Report
NewsWatchNEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- The number of investors using the Internet to buy or sell securities nearly doubled in 1999 to 18 percent against 10 percent in 1998, according to a Securities Industry Association poll released Thursday.
11/4/99 8:57:00 AM ETThe fifth annual SIA investor sentiment and behavior poll -- conducted by Yankelovich Partners from Aug. 25 through Oct. 10 -- also found that 45 percent of those investors on the Internet traded online through their full-service firm.
Full-service brokerage firms like Merrill Lynch (MER: news, msgs) and PaineWebber (PWJ: news, msgs) began marketing online alternatives to investors earlier this year. The online industry, including e-brokers like E-Trade (EGRP: news, msgs) and Ameritrade (AMTD: news, msgs), is expected to spend well over $1 billion on advertising and marketing next year to draw new customer accounts.
The rough average on marketing spending per account currently is $250. That figure is expected to rise once some of the more traditional securities firms, and even some non-brokerage firms, start to ramp up their online efforts with the Y2K remediation hassles out of the way.
More online focus
Judging by the SIA poll, online investing is ready to grow more dramatically over the next year.
"Forty-eight percent (of investors polled) plan to use the Internet to make trades more often in the next 12 months," the survey found.
The surprising results, which were released as the SIA kicks off its annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., were not universally accepted in the industry. Forrester Research's James Punishill is estimating that some 10 percent of people with brokerage accounts, or about 3.1 million American households, will have online accounts by the end of this year, up from 2.2 million last year.
The SIA poll also found some interest for after-hours stock trading. Some 37 percent of investors said they would "benefit from extended hours." Conversely, 57 percent said they would not benefit, and six percent were unsure whether the late session would benefit them. |
