Tiger Brokers, Futu Holdings and US-based Interactive Brokers slug it out in Southeast Asia, court younger clientele in search of next growth story

Online brokers eyeing expansion in Southeast Asia are increasingly courting a younger clientele.

The region stands out with its tech-savvy younger population and booming wealth. Demand for online services has also grown thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, with people trading financial assets on internet platforms amid quarantine and social distancing restrictions.

Generation Z and millennials will “form the backbone of the upcoming trading community for the whole of Southeast Asia”, said Gavin Chia, director of Futu Singapore. About 80 per cent of Nasdaq-listed Futu Holdings’ paying customers were from these two age groups.

Online brokers are optimistic because young people between the ages of 15 and 34 accounted for 34 per cent of the total 628.9 million population of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), data from Asean shows. Moreover, growth in five major economies in this region – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam- has been forecast to grow by about 6.1 per cent next year, the second fastest in the world after India, by the IMF.

The convenience of trading online has led to a boom in financial investing in the region. Vietnam, for instance, has seen its stock market post the biggest gains globally in the first half of this year. Its market has been buoyed by a record number of new investors despite a worsening Covid-19 outbreak.

Xiaomi-backed Tiger Brokers is eyeing expansion into Vietnam, as well as Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. “We want to bring the success that we have experienced in Singapore to Southeast Asia, as similar demand exists in this region too,” Eng Thiam Choon, the chief executive of Tiger Brokers (Singapore), said in an interview.