JOHANNESBURG - THINKMARKETS yesterday launched a new advanced technology designed to make it easy for anyone to invest on the JSE for as little as R30.
The online brokerage firm said it wanted to deliver an accessible entry to investing in the shares of JSE-listed companies and in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and notes (ETNs).
Through ThinkTrader, the company’s trading platform, ThinkMarkets, aims to provide customers with access to buy and sell more than 700 JSE-listed shares and ETFs.
The company was established in 2010 with global headquarters and in South Africa.
It caters to beginner and advanced traders and investors, with a focus on education, research and, for the premium client, an exclusive tailor-made offering.
ThinkMarkets chief executive Nauman Anees said their competitive share-trading and investing offering was underpinned with a brokerage rate of only 0.25 percent, with a minimum fee of R30.
This was certain to rattle some of the incumbents in the market accustomed to fees as high as 4 percent, with various hidden costs.
The platform will compete with Eas Equites, a subsidiary of JSE- listed Purple Group, whose low rates have been a market disruptor.
Anees said customers would be able to invest in the stocks of local heavyweights such as Naspers, Anglo American and Gold Fields at low rates.
“The unique feature set of ThinkTrader is tailored with the retail investor in mind,” Anees said.
“We are proud of the quality of the platform we provide to our clients, and have the confidence that the South African stock market is ripe to join in the trend of low-commission trading, just like the largest stock markets worldwide.”
Investors have recently seen their shareholdings rise as stocks on the JSE rose to an all-time last month, with the benchmark FTSE/JSE All Share Index nearly touching an unprecedented 70 000 points.
ThinkMarkets regional managing director Ridwaan Moola said they wanted to democratise investing by making it possible for far more people to participate in the financial markets.
Moola said they would deliver a no-hidden-fees offering, designed with the sole purpose of providing retail investors and traders access to listed shares and ETFs on the JSE.
He said the costs of buying and selling stocks through many of the traditional brokers were way out of line with those in other parts of the world.
“We firmly believe in helping clients achieve wealth creation and have created an offering for clients to invest smarter in one of the best-performing markets in the world,” Moola said.
“In addition, we provide clients with exceptional value and highly rated research, enabling them to make informed decisions with their investments.”
ThinkMarkets is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and provides live customer support to its clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.