Planning groups flock to online broking
More than 70 financial planning groups have signed up with Sanford Securities to use its Virtual Broker online broking service.
Sanford chief executive Stephen Goh says take up of the service has grown on average by 15 to 20 groups a month, and the rate of additional new sign ups should follow.
"We hope to see a trebling of the Virtual Broker network by the end of the year and a deepening of Sanford's relationship with financial planners," Goh says.
Virtual Broker is currently used by 70 dealer groups representing about 4000 financial planners. The figures represent more than 30 per cent of Australian financial planners.
Interest in the service is also evident in the Virtual Broker site's recorded hits. After just seven months the site has been reaching one million hits per day.
Goh says Sanford's approach to internet broking goes beyond the standard two platforms of full service and internet broking, and incorporates a third.
"We recognise full service plus two markets; autonomous investors who are comfortable with non-adviser sites, and others who deal mainly with the top 20 to 40 stocks and want help from financial planners or accountants," Goh says.
Sanford offers Virtual Broker service at four levels which Goh describes as co-branding with the financial planning business, complete brand ownership by the financial planning business, B2B interface with financial planning business, and the fourth, a fully badged retail broking service.
"The retail service goes head to head with what JDV (Hartley Poynton) provides, but the other three are unique and have given Sanford real market penetration," Goh says.
There are plans to restructure and release the Virtual Broker site by April, improving the adviser support service and enhancing and extending the site's security model and analytical tools.
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