US tech stocks now in reach of Chinese investors with Tiger Brokers’ mobile app

The favourable track record of listed tech companies in the US inspired one Chinese entrepreneur to offer an app-based trading service so that Chinese-speaking investors could share in the benefits.

“We have 100 million stock investors in mainland China who are contributing to the businesses of Chinese technology firms, but they are unable to invest in these firms which are listed in the United States and profits have been taken by international investors,” Wu Tianhua, founder and chief executive of Tiger Brokers, told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the Rise 2017 conference in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Wu in particular is referring to Chinese tech companies like Alibaba Group and Baidu Inc that have mostly listed on US bourses including Nasdaq and the New York Stock exchange (NYSE). He said Chinese people interact with these companies in their daily lives but couldn’t find ways to make money from them, a situation Tiger is striving to change.

Wu’s mobile app allows Chinese-speaking investors to trade US and Hong Kong stocks, and even A-shares via the stock connects between Hong Kong and mainland bourses, as long as the capital of the app user is located outside mainland China. That way, the funds won’t contravene the stricter overseas remittance policies that have been implemented by Chinese authorities.

Unlike mainland bourses which were one of the most bearish markets globally in 2016, Wu said more than 53 per cent of Tiger users saw their investment balances rise after trading US stocks last year, compared with the 18.7 per cent slump in Shanghai’s benchmark Composite Index.