Investment Trends report – IG and CMC Markets dominate Australian CFD market

Australia based research firm Investment Trends has published an updated report on CFD trading in its home market.

The data, based on a survey of more than 15,000 traders and investors concluded in June 2015, showed a continued rise in the number of CFD traders in Australia. The number of active CFD traders increased, with 43,000 unique Australian investors placing at least one trade on CFDs in the year to June 2015, up 2% from 42,000 a year ago. In addition, there is also a jump in the number of so-called next wave traders: the number of investors who intend to place their first CFD trade over the coming year increased by 25% to 15,000 in 2015.

The switching rate staged a drop from last year, with only 13% (down from 16% in 2014) of active CFD traders stopping to use a provider and continuing elsewhere.

The report forecasts that industry-wide, switching activity is likely to stay low in the next 12 months, based on current stated intentions. About one in three current traders are saying they are at least “somewhat likely” to open a new account in the next year (potential switchers), down from 40% a year earlier. Nearly half of the potential switchers (45%) have yet to decide which provider they would choose, a finding that shows that CFD brokers have a potential clientele to target via various marketing practices.

Among CFD brokers in Australia, IG and CMC Markets kept their lead. Both companies dominate the Australian CFD market, with a combined 56% share of primary relationships, compared with 50% in 2014.

Tamas Szabo, IG’s Head of Asia Pacific commented:

We are pleased to repeat the achievement of being named the number one provider among CFD traders. I believe our company’s financial strength, our commitment to segregating all clients’ funds and our award winning technology are why our existing clients are happy with the service they receive and new traders select us as their provider.

Matthew Lewis, Head of CMC Markets Asia Pacific said:

I believe we have seen a significant number of high value clients shift to CMC Markets because we have a very clear focus of delivering to the needs of this segment and this can be seen in our market-beating rates, tight spreads and award-winning customer service.

Majority of future CFD traders (61%) look for share trading to be available on CFD platforms and mention this amid the most important features when selecting their future provider, even ahead of price. The demand for multi-asset platform from next wave traders is unique to the Australian environment. This compares with only 14% of Singaporean and 3% of German next wave traders valuing having access to direct equities on the same platform.

To view the full text of the Investment Trends’ release, click here.

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