HONG KONG, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 8 Securities has acquired United World, a leading online stock trading service in Japan, to become the first local retail broker from Hong Kong to move into a foreign market. Founded by ex E*TRADE executive, 8 Securities is actively seeking more acquisitions across Asia to fuel its growth.
8 Securities launched in Hong Kong last year to serve the Greater China region. Following the acquisition of United World in Japan, the company now has over 55,000 customers and $1 billion USD in customer assets making it one of the largest independent retail brokers.
With offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo, 8 Securities believes it is perfectly positioned to serve two of Asia's most important markets. They estimate the market size of Asia to be over 80 million online investing accounts. With only 28% online penetration and growing mobile adoption, the region still has significant room to grow.
"We simply see unlimited opportunity across Asia to disrupt what is a very traditional industry today. We can scale our business across geographies in a way that simply was not possible only a few years ago. Most brokers are handcuffed to legacy technology while we see no limits to what we can do or how fast we can do it," said Mathias Helleu, co-founder of 8 Securities.
The company was founded by Mathias Helleu and Mikaal Abdulla who previously ran E*TRADE's international business across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Canada. After growing the business to $200 million in annual revenue, they decided to pursue their own vision. After successfully raising over $12 million USD in venture capital, 8 Securities has rapidly grown and has already been recognized as Hong Kong's top online investing service by Capital Magazine.
Through a personalized Trading Portal, 8 Securities gives its customers access to over 15,000 stocks and funds listed on the US and Hong Kong exchanges, global market data & research and personalized trading tools on a single dashboard. The company boasts some of the lowest commission rates for both US and Hong Kong stock trades.
"We developed our technology from the ground up to give our customers a superior trading experience. Our service can be delivered in any market, in any language, on any device and is always locally relevant because the customer personalizes their own Trading Portal, not us," said Mikaal Abdulla.
Mikaal Abdulla went on to say, "The biggest trend we see across Asia is customers investing in the US companies they interact with daily. They see the growth opportunity of companies like Google, Apple and Starbucks in their own markets and it is no coincidence these are some of the most popular stocks."
8 Securities is currently assessing opportunities in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and the Middle East. "We are at a stage where acquisitions look very attractive. Quite simply, 8 Securities has a goal to be the Asia's first truly regional online stock trading service and we believe we have the technology and team to do it," said Mathias Helleu.
About 8 Securities
8 Securities was born from a mission to empower individual investors and reinvent the way people trade. Through a personalized Trading Portal, customers can trade over 15,000 world class stocks and exchange traded funds, access global market data & research and benefit from some of Asia's lowest commission rates. 8 Securities products and services are available in English, Cantonese, Putonghua and Japanese.
CONTACTS:
Mikaal Abdulla
+852-2693-8800
mikaal.abdulla@8securities.com
