|
Stockbrokers target Hai Phong investors
The stock market in the northeastern port city of Hai Phong is heating up as the VN-Index recovers and a series of securities companies are about to appear on the market.
Currently, there are new brokerages cropping up all over the city as well as many companies who plan to open branches there. This means stiffer competition among securities firms.
To attract more customers, Hai Phong Securities Company (Haseco), the first company with headquarters in the city, has launched services to help investors check accounts using SMS, an improved information technology system. The company has also opened a trading bourse on Ly Tu Trong Street.
Haseco Director Doan Van Minh said, "The company's strategy is to offer customer services at low prices. We are considering providing online services, allowing investors to trade via Internet and telephone."
The company now has 10,000 accounts, holding the largest market share out of securities firms in the area. In the first nine months of the year, Haseco earned VND51bil (US$3.2mil) in pre-tax profits, and it expects a profit of VND70bil ($4.3mil) by the end of this year, three times higher than last year's figure.
A branch of Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI) is also focused on improving service quality. "We are updating the software system to prepare for remote trading, which will be developed by the beginning of next year," said Bui Tien Do, deputer director of the SSI branch.
Regarding the new competition, Do said that each company had its own customer base. "SSI does not intend to lure customers en masse, but will simply try to supply the best services."
So far, there have been 500 accounts opened at the SSI branch, and the total trading volume has reached VND10bil each day.
APEC Securities Company is another firm looking to gain a competitive edge, and is doing so by providing very competitive prices. Trinh Thi Yen, chief accountant of the APEC branch, said that the company's brokerage fees were 0.3%, the lowest in Hai Phong.
APEC is running a discount programme under which the first 1,000 people to open accounts can trade so free of charge. APEC does not have minimums for account openings.
ACB Securities, the first company to open an order receiving office in Hai Phong, immediately upgraded the receiving office to a full-service branch.
This creates favourable condition for ACBS to expand its market shares within the city and compete with its rivals.
The appearance of additional brokerages would help the city's investors have more choices, Minh said.
"However, this is an industry characterised by high profit and high risks. The city's stock market is not an exception. Now, the market has great potential, but most of customers are retail investors with limited capital; thus the competition is fierce," he added.
Viet Nam News
|
