NEW BROKERAGE FIRM TARGETS THE WORKING CLASS AS EQUITIES MARKET RISES
NEWLY minted brokerage firm VC Securities Corp. looks to engage small and underserved sectors into the practice of trading equities to take advantage of the local bourse’s upward trajectory.
VC Securities President Wilhelmino G. Agregado said he wants overseas Filipino workers, micro to small and medium enterprise professionals, students, teachers, farmers, fisherfolks, drivers and waiters to invest in the stock market, given the minimum investment one would have to shell out in order to start trading.
“We believe that every Filipino deserves to have access to and enjoy the benefits of investing in the stock market regardless of the status in life,” Mr. Agregado said in his speech during the firm’s launch as a Philippine Stock Exchange participant in Makati City on Tuesday.
At the same time, the company also launched its online trading platform called VC Trade, which will give investors easy access for their transactions. Mr. Agregado noted that only a small percentage of PSE trading participants have online platforms, which means that the space is still quite big for new players to enter.
“We believe that there is plenty of room in the online business transactions. Right now I believe of 130-plus registered brokerage companies, there are about 10% that are doing online. And probably it’s only a handful that are really big. So we went into this looking at a bigger picture,” he said in a press briefing after the company’s launch.
Incorporated only in 2016, VC Securities opened its traditional trading transactions to clients only last Aug. 11, with the online platform following a month after on Sept. 11. The company will be outsourcing its research materials from other
firms that are already veterans in the business.
For now, Mr. Agregado said the company’s clients include only those within the owners’ circle of influence, but would soon expand as they conduct more seminars and road shows to make their company known.
VC Securities Chairman William S. Co is also the founder of ICCT Colleges Foundation, Inc., a tertiary school with eight branches located in the province of Rizal. The company is currently conducting seminars inside the schools for third year and fourth year students to encourage them to invest.
With a population of around 25,000 students, attracting about 20% to invest would be more than enough, Mr. Agregado said. VC Securities requires a minimum investment of P10,000 for individual accounts.
For OFWs, VC Securities is conducting talks with television stations catered toward overseas workers to promote the company. It is also planning to join road show events sponsored by the PSE.
“The PSE told me there will be a next [ road show] in Baguio, sometime in March. I think we will join that,” Mr. Agregado said.
Asked on the company’s long- term goals, Mr. Agregado said the first aim is to break-even, given that VC Securities is just starting out.
“On a normal scale, the first two to three years will be critical, unless otherwise we’ll be able to get institutional clients ... Since I am not able to get yet the market size, our main objective on a day- to- day activity [ is] just to do the break- even. That’s the target. After you hit the break- even, that’s the time you go for a bigger target,” Mr. Agregado said.
Before accepting his post as president of VC Securities, Mr. Agregado was with the banking industry for over 40 years. He said that he has been investing in the stock market for 30 years now.
“It’s just that you have to be patient because the stock market is a long term investment, unless you do a lot of trading on a day-to-day. Stock market is a better investment than traditional ones ... After retirement, a big volume of my retirement fund, after portioning everything, is in the market,” he said.