Nasdaq-listed online securities trading firm, Tiger Brokers, is on the prowl again in the NZ market in a bid to win clients in an increasingly crowded market place with sharpened technology.
Greg Boland, recently appointed Tiger NZ chief, said the firm had been signing on about 50 to 100 new clients per day since soft-launching its new app a couple of weeks ago.
Boland said the Tiger Trade app upgrade included easier client onboarding along with seamless mobile access to the full range of platform services covering shares, derivatives, futures, margin accounts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) across US, Asian and Australian markets.
“Our system offers more functionality than most others such as in-depth real-time data – including current pricing and volume – as well as an in-app community where traders can discuss ideas,” he said. “We also have demo accounts where people can learn by trading virtual portfolios.”
The Tiger move follows closely on the hooves of BlackBull Markets, which partnered with US-based mega-platform, Interactive Brokers, to tailor a global trading service for NZ investors. At the same time, the China-headquartered firm (which trades on the Nasdaq under the UP Fintech ticker) is competing with local players, Sharesies and Hatch, in addition to Australian platform, Stake, for NZ clients. Another Australia-based low-cost stock-trader, Superhero, has also flashed an intention to launch in NZ.
Incumbent broker firms Craigs Investment Partners, Jarden and Forsyth Barr (via its Trove project) are also fighting to retain clients and win the youth vote.
However, Boland said the breadth and depth of the Tiger product could give it the edge in what has been a hyperbolically expanding market over the last two years.
“We expect substantial growth potential in New Zealand, and we hope to strengthen our footprint and become the go-to investing app in the local market over the coming years,” he said in a release.
Boland was appointed chief of the reformulated Tiger Fintech NZ last October following a more than two-year stint as compliance manager for Craigs.
Previously, he served briefly in a similar role with the now defunct, Halifax NZ – which fell into liquidation after running afoul of regulators – as well as a string of senior roles with other trading specialists such as OM Financial, KVB Kunlun, Goldman Sachs and the Sydney Futures Exchange.
In 2020 the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) issued a formal warning over anti-money laundering breaches to Tiger, then a NZX-accredited broker. The Caymans Island-domiciled firm quit the NZX last May less than two years after earning its credentials, establishing Tiger Fintech NZ in the same month.
Last December the business also formed Tiger Fintech Custodians NZ to house local assets.