After a massive capital injection by Nomura Asset Management, Asian fintech 8 Securities is eyeing expansion plans for its robo-advisor, co-founder Mathias Helleu tells finews.asia.
Mathias Helleu, your firm 8 Securities recently received $25 million from Nomura Asset Management. What are your plans for that investment?
8 Securities and Nomura Asset Management will launch new digital wealth management services, including robo-advisory and mobile investing solutions for millennials.
The capital will enable us to accelerate customer growth, develop new products and research and development, increase the size of its software development team, and expand into new geographies.
«This domino effect is looming even larger»
Our two firms also intend to work together on new fintech initiatives in Asia including Japan.
You once said the competition was stale, are banks intimidated by your business model?
Traditional banks and financial institutions were skeptical to fintech at first. But increasingly, we observe a change of attitude and the reasons are two-folded.
Some of them started to realise fintech can be beneficial to them, while others are intimidated by their head-on competition who are exhausting means to connect to the lucrative digital economy and millennial market. With more players joining the side of disruptive force, we expect to see this domino effect looming even larger.
Has building trust been an issue for the business?
8 Securities is one of the very few fintech companies in Hong Kong that is licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission since inception.
«We caught the wave to digitalise the then manual trading system in the 90'»s
It was a deliberate design to demonstrate our commitment to highest standards and integrity. Both myself and co-founder & CEO Mikaal Abdulla have a track record in managing leading financial institutions in Asia.
We caught the wave to digitalize the then manual trading system in the 90's (at E-trade), which earned us extra miles and credits in winning trust from institutional and retail clients who wish to tap the digital economy today.
Nomura Asset Management’s strategic investment has further validated our vision, technology and focus on the next generation of wealth in Asia.
How do you get the message of 8 Securities to the market?
Our typical clients are any individuals who have a minimum of HK$1,000 and wish to invest via simple, reliable and affordable mobile apps. We offer Asia's very first robo-advisor Chloe and the zero commission stock trading app Tradeflix. The average age of our customers is under 30.
«Hong Kong met our wish to do things right»
Since debut in 2016, Chloe has generated an annual return of 7 to 15 percent for customers through an exchange-traded fund portfolio diversified across 28 countries, and 38,300 stocks and bonds. Our clients now also include financial institutions.
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