CitisecOnline empowers traders through education

Determined to expose the Cebu market to investment opportunities in the stock market, CitisecOnline recently held a two-day stock trading seminar at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel following its well-attended investor education campaign last July.

CitisecOnline, the first and only listed stockbroker in the Philippine Stock Exchange, believes that online trading will revolutionize the way Filipinos invest in the stock market.

Juanis Barredo, CitisecOnline vice-president, said the company has seen the maturity of the Cebu market and believes that investor education is the key to encourage the growth of the investor base in the province.

CitisecOnline currently has over 200 clients from Cebu and around 3,000 to 4,000 clients nationwide, a target the company has achieved way before the fiscal year ends.

Barredo said it is the company’s goal to educate and empower the Filipinos on the ropes of stock market trading.

He added that the online trading business promises rosy prospects for investors considering the positive economic landscape of the country and owning a computer nowadays has become very affordable.

Barredo said the prevalence of Internet usage has leveled the playing field between the small-time investors and the big-time stock traders.

Previously, stockbrokers in the traditional stock market filtered investors’ information and only takes care of the big-time clients while retail investors are often left out. But with CitisecOnline, a client only needs a minimum of P25,000 investments to kick-off in the stock trading game, no additional fees are charged for value-added services the company offers to its clients.

Powered by over 50 in-house financial and technical analysts, CitisecOnline provides online traders with services not offered by traditional stockbrokers. With CitisecOnline, traders are allowed to track the progress of stock positions live throughout the day, as well as make order placements off-hours. Off-hour placements are forwarded to the PSE at the start of the next trading day.

Barredo said by utilizing advanced technology in the business made online trading accessible to small-time investors giving them control over the flow of their investments.

He added that by providing information through the COL Investor Seminar series and provincial roadshows, and being publicly listed have given the company the credibility thereby giving clients the confidence and capability to make well-informed investment decisions. The company listed on the PSE on July 12, 2006 following a successful capital raising of P149.6 million at an issue price of P1.36 per share.

After hitting its customer base target of 4,000 this year, CitisecOnline refused to sit on its laurels but rather further increased its efforts to acquire new customers and reach new customer segments.

CitisecOnline is the premiere and largest capitalized online stock brokerage firm in the Philippines with over P450 million in paid-up capital.