Six-in-ten trade shares on smart phone

People seem to be taking a long time to appreciate that the future of communication, marketing and business is all tied up in the mobile phone. Not the personal computer, nor the tablet, but the smart phone.

It has already revolutionized communication, spawned new global companies and revolutionized shopping. It is now changing the way we entertain ourselves, inform ourselves and change social opinion. Before long it will also interact with the machines that will take care of us in the future.

So it was no surprise this week to find out that younger people – the Gen-Y-ers were using their phones to trade shares. No that surprising as they seem to use their phone for every type of financial transaction or purchase.

According to the Financial Review. Gen Y-ers are now leading the charge into online broking.

New data from research house Investment Trends found that six out of ten Australian online investors now use a mobile device to trade equities – that’s up from 53 per cent a year ago.

Investment Trends research found the number of active online share investors climbed 4 per cent in the first six months of 2015. There were around 620,000 active investors who had placed at least one trade through an online broker in the 12 months to June.

“The adoption of smart phones among Gen Y Australians is generally greater than older Australians, so some of the difference is explained by the greater penetration of smart phones,” an Investment Trends spokesman summarised.

Quoting from a survey of 15,000 traders it found Australia ranking somewhere in the middle of global online investors. Around 83 per cent of online investors in Hong Kong are turning to their phones when they invest in shares, while Singapore came in second at 81 per cent.

Australia is on par with the United States with 60 per cent of online users using phones, while the UK (51 per cent), Germany (28 per cent) and France (46 per cent) trailed behind, the research concluded.

Meanwhile Bank of America Merrill Lynch research analyst Sameer Chopra has told Fairfax Media that rising demand for mobile services indicated showed there was more growth ahead for Australia’s mobile providers

“The mobile industry grew at 11.5 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2015, which is the best growth rate in over the decade,” he said. “Data usage is doubling and could accelerate further, which gives customers an incentive to spin up to higher value plans.

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