CMC Markets acquires ANZ’s share trading platform
ANZ has bowed out of the share trading game after offloading some 500k clients to CMC Markets (LON:CMCX), that will migrate over to the CMC Markets platform, with total assets in excess of A$45 billion.
The transaction boosts CMC Markets firmly into second place in Australia, just behind Commsec as the largest online broker by volume and tech leader.
Matthew Lewis, Head of Asia Pacific & Canada, CMC Markets, said “This transaction is testament to our ongoing partnership with ANZ Share Investing and demonstrates the strength of our offering in ensuring our clients have the support they need to trade the financial markets.”
So, the question is, will the transaction be beneficial for ANZ clients?
According to the ANZ announcement, “The transaction will provide ANZ Share Investing clients with a range of benefits currently unavailable with ANZ.” A summary of the standard trading costs is as follows:
A clear advantage ANZ online trading members will experience from the transition is lower brokerage charges across the four international markets. The CMC brokerage system is based on volume rather than the amount per transaction. Thus:
- $1k trade with CMC will cost you $11. ANZ it is $19.95.
- $10k trade with CMC will cost $11. ANZ is $29.95.
- $100k trade with CMC will cost $11. ANZ is $29.95.
- 10 x$1k trades with CMC will cost $110. ANZ is $199.50.
So hands down CMC Markets have lower brokerage charges than ANZ in every bracket.
More broadly, ANZ has struggled to compete with Commsec and a wave of new wave of millennial low-cost neo-brokers, such as Superhero, Robinhood, Stake and SelfWealth likely due to being a large, incumbent provider with less agility than their newer competitors. The other advantage is that CMC are a global online broker, so buying shares in global stock market exchanges is easy and cost effective.
The platform also offers products that fall outside the financial sphere such as CFDs, Spread Betting, Binary Options and Cryptocurrencies. It’s charting package is top notch with API Trading, StopLoss, Trailing Stops and TakeProfit Orders.
The existing white-label technology partnership, which has seen CMC’s trading technology power ANZ’s share investing business since 2018, will come to an end. ANZ customers should be familiar with much of the CMC platform. According to Stockbrokers.com, CMC was voted Australia’s best online trading platforms for share trading in 2021.
The website said “CMC Markets offers Australian traders a wide range of offerings with excellent pricing and its Next Generation trading platform, which is packed with innovative trading tools and charting. CMC Markets has also been rated as Canstar’s Broker of the Year the past eight years.”