CGS-CIMB launches online trading platform for retail investors

Securities firm PT CGS-CIMB Sekuritas Indonesia, a joint venture between China Galaxy International Financial Limited and CIMB Group, has launched an online stock trading platform to attract retail investors, including high school and university students.

The company’s retail equity director, Sugiharto Widjaja, said on Wednesday that the online trading platform, called iTrade, would give individual investors easier access to the equity market.

The securities company, previously known as PT CIMB Sekuritas Indonesia, had also opened stock market galleries at several universities in the country, such as Islamic University (UII) in Yogyakarta, to disseminate information about the capital market to students, he said.

“We’re going to promote capital investment starting with senior high school students, so they become more active as time goes by,” Sugiharto said.

Sugiharto said that, with such a business strategy, the securities firm was optimistic that it could book 10,000 new retail accounts this year.

Companies such as CGS-CIMB Sekuritas are tailoring their business strategies to lure retail investors, as the low participation of individuals in Indonesia’s stock market at less than 1 percent of the population leaves ample untapped potential.

The number of single investor identifications (SID) registered at the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) stood at 2.4 million as of Dec. 27. The majority of investors were aged 21 to 30, with that age group accounting for 44.62 percent of total investors.

The iTrade platform is equipped with historical stock charts, a heatmap feature to monitor stock price performance and stock analysts to provide investment guidelines to the retail investors.

Sugiharto said iTrade had features for investors to receive assistance and market information from the company.

“Through iTrade, we are offering a one-stop-shop for investment services. For young buyers, there may be some investment that we won’t introduce to them, as we tailor our wealth management to [a client’s] profile,” CGS-CIMB president director Lim Kim Siah said. (mpr)