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Mobile investment platforms are gaining popularity among investors of all ages and are rendering the desktop investment tools increasingly unnecessary. This is the main conclusion of a survey done by the multi-asset brokerage E-Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ETFC), part of the company’s quarterly tracking study of experienced investors StreetWise.
More than half of the participants in the survey (self-directed active investors who manage at least $10,000 in an online brokerage account) said they wanted their mobile investing app to have capabilities and functionality rivaling its desktop counterpart. At the same time two thirds of those surveyed believe that their mobile devices are critical to monitor their investments. It also appears that investors are warming up to wearables (smart glasses, smart watches, etc.) and three out of five are interested in checking the markets on such devices. In comparison, in the Q3 2015 survey of E-Trade on the matter, those respondents were less than two out of five.
Investors are increasingly using the mobile investing app to perform activities which previously were performed on a desktop device – watching educational videos, researching investments, placing orders and moving money in and out of their accounts.
According to the survey, the use of mobile trading among E-Trade customers is trending upwards. Total trades on smartphones, for example rose 24%, while options trading rose 41% from 2015. this is mainly due to the evolution of trading apps which offer an increasing range of features, bringing them closer to the “traditional” desktop applications and shifting them to mainstream investor platforms.
“Mobile is increasingly sophisticated in its functionality and, in fact, for some investors, it is rendering desktops unnecessary,” said Kunal Vaed, SVP of Digital Channels at E-Trade Financial. “Today’s investors seek a comprehensive toolkit for onboarding, idea generation, research, execution, and monitoring on mobile devices — all with the effortless interactions and engaging design of apps. Striking the right balance between simplicity and complexity is critical for our industry to truly meet investors’ needs.”
E-Trade is among the major brokers such as FXCM, Plus500, Saxo Bank, CMC Markets and IG Group to offer proprietary trading platforms and other tools for Android and iOS devices.
New York-based E-Trade Financial Corp., offers various financial services, online brokerage and banking services. It works primarily with retail clients through its 30 offices across the US.
The holding company has three subsidiaries – E-Trade Securities for securities products and services, including stocks, bonds mutual funds, options, and ETFs; E-Trade Capital Management for managed account solutions; and E-Trade Bank for bank products and services.