ABACUS SEEKS MORE INVESTORS VIA ONLINE TRADING PLATFORM

ABACUS SECURITIES Corp. wants to attract more people to invest in the Philippine stock market by launching its own online trading platform.

Dubbed MyTradePhilippines, the platform seeks to tap the public to increase the country’s participation in stock trading. The system will be available on the Web and via Android and iOS phones.

“We’re not just trying to target a particular market. Participation rate in the Philippines is very low, we want to help widen the market,” Abacus Vice-President and Head of Research Raymond Neil S. Franco said during the system’s launch in Makati City on Wednesday.

Mr. Franco cited a study released in 2015 by the Philippine Stock Exchange showing that in stock investing, women are outnumbered by men, who were mostly in their 30s or 40s. The study shows 54.8% of investors were males and that 53.44% were between 18 and 44 years old.

“We’re not limiting ourselves. If millennials want to invest, if overseas foreign workers want to invest, or anyone younger and older, everyone is welcome,” Mr. Franco added.

For his part, Abacus Chairman and President Paulino S. Soo said he wants the non-investing public to take a second look at the local bourse, and explore options other than the usual bank account or real estate properties.

“By making the stock market easier for people to invest in, you provide a new avenue to the general public,” Mr. Soo said in a statement.

With the launch of Mytrade, Abacus is joining the trend of brokerage companies that are now moving to the online space. The brokerage said customer service would distinguish it from other offerings.

Mr. Franco said customers usually do not get the experience they deserve when investing online.

“Customer service is also one of our priorities, this is something that we hope to improve. We want the experience to be stress-free … MyTrade is responsive, there’s research that’s ahead of the curve,” he said.

Asked on the platform’s projected contribution to Abacus’ business, Mr. Franco said he was looking at a bigger market share in the next two or three years.

“We want to be more aggressive, we want to say that in the next two or three years we can be a strong player in the market, which means a market share of 10%,” he said.

In 2015, the PSE tallied a total of around 236,000 online investor accounts. —