Why are Hong Kong’s brokers eschewing the digital age with bricks-and-mortar branches?
Online broker Futu Securities opened its fourth branch in Causeway Bay last week, while Phillip Securities mulls new branches
Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) has done a U-turn on its apps-only, branchless strategy by opening an outlet in the bustling Causeway Bay district last week, adding to its network in Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui and its expanded headquarters in Admiralty.
Phillip Securities is scouting for additional locations while upgrading its three existing branches in Admiralty, Kwun Tong and Sheung Shui. The firm, founded in Singapore in 1975, had shrunk its network from seven locations during the recent market slump.
“Branches do have the advantage of attracting new customers,” said Louis Wong, executive director of Phillip Capital Management (Hong Kong), part of the brokerage group. “We will choose new locations that can attract more account openings and invest more in customer services and technology to better serve them.”
The trend reflects the need by some brokers to distinguish themselves from the anonymity of online competition, where zero-commissions trading and bot-assisted advisers are winning the battle for retail investors. In Hong Kong, number of brokers has declined to 545 from 606 in 2019 and more than 1,000 in the 1990s, while the city’s market value grew to US$5.6 trillion and daily turnover hit an all-time high of US$79 billion.
