Following its launch in April 2012, 8 Securities now has 60,000 customers, holds approximately $1 billion USD in client assets and is cash flow positive. Positioned in Asia’s two most important financial centers of Tokyo and Hong Kong, the company is ready to take on the regions brokerages, banks and asset managers for Asia’s 80 million online investors and wealth management market that represents over $10 trillion USD in assets.
8 Securities growth in Asia can be summarized by what the company calls a perfect storm of growing demand for global investing and a new generation of customers who value personalization, simplicity and control of their investments any time, any where and on any device. “Our strategy is very clear. We are going to accelerate investment into new online and mobile products for our customers. This in turn will continue to disrupt traditional bricks & mortar businesses and their high fees”, said co founder Mathias Helleu. “Our road map includes adding more global markets, expanding our private investor community and moving into online wealth management.”
8 Securities believes its technology gives them a cost, scale and speed advantage that traditional financial services companies in Asia will be challenged to match. “The combination of powerful technology and a seamless customer experience across all channels is simply a must for any company that wants a future in Asia” said Mr. Helleu.
8 Securities new frontier is online wealth management. The company is now preparing for the launch of an online wealth management service to compete directly with traditional banks, asset managers and advisors. There are now over 3.4 million high net worth individuals in Asia that hold over $10 trillion USD in assets. “Customers in Asia are evolving quickly but the banks and asset managers that serve them are not. Its a perfect opportunity to challenge these traditional competitors by radically redefining the user experience and fee structure” said co founder Mikaal Abdulla.
Looking forward, 8 Securities business has the potential to generate over 50% profit margins while reducing the fees charged by its traditional competitors by as much as 90%. “Our future in Asia is very bright. Our growth and the value we generate for our customers are perfectly aligned. We have a very large market opportunity in front of us and a very clear value proposition for our customers” said Mr. Helleu. We are actively pursuing new opportunities in China, India and the Middle East. Our technology is flexible enough to service both individual investors and enterprise customers. We are keeping an open mind with respect to how we launch our online trading and wealth management products into these new markets.”