What is the Global Vision?

The Global Vision is an effort in which all Monex Group’s companies around the world unite to establish a truly global online financial institution that creates positive synergies for all stakeholders.

 

In an environment where the Internet is borderless to begin with, and financial products are inherently international (take FOREX, for example), and the markets continue to progress towards a 24-hour, round-the-clock trading schema, online brokerages should not attempt to become the largest they can be in a single market, but rather expand globally. By cooperating internationally we can gain a competitive advantage on a worldwide scale, thus growing even larger and more efficient and profitable. This is the fundamental idea of the Global Vision. 

Why now? What is the background of the Global Vision?

In this era of the Internet, clients in all of our regions are demanding financial services and information from across the globe. However, even if local brokerages were to serve these global needs, there exists a “home market bias”, where clients will trade primarily within their own currencies and local markets. Furthermore, expending great resources in developing and providing access to markets outside national boundaries does not guarantee the ability to create competitive products. Were each company to develop globally, however, each region could work within its home market, providing quality products to both its customer base as well as the Monex Group as a whole.

 

At the same time, standardization and universalization of systems and financial markets is also an important factor of the Global Vision. In a world where financial systems share a global platform capable of universal use, products and services developed in one region can be sold in different areas with little additional cost, improving overall profitability and efficiency.

What steps have you taken to realize the Global Vision?

The Monex Group has taken two important measures to realize the Global Vision; the acquisition of Boom Securities in Hong Kong in December 2010, and TradeStation in the United States in June 2011. I believe both are powerful additions to our strategic business portfolio, and as a team we will realize dreams and aspirations we could not alone.

Boom Securities Group

Boom was the first online brokerage firm established in Asia. Based in Hong Kong, Boom has enabled clients to invest in 12 countries and 17 markets around the globe. Their tagline, “TRADE LOCALLY, INVEST GLOBALLY” represents their splendid foresight of financial trading in the Internet era.

 

http://www.boom.com/

TradeStation Group

TradeStation is an online brokerage firm headquartered in Florida in the United States. They have been ranked as the No.1 online brokerage firm in both 2008 and 2011 by Barron’s magazine in overall ranking and in categories including “active trading,” “trading technology,” and “customer service and education”. TradeStation is at the forefront of the online brokerage industry with the most advanced trading technologies.

 

http://www.tradestation.com/

What can we expect from the Global Vision?

The opportunities that can be created by Monex, Boom, and TradeStation are infinite.

 

TradeStation’s powerful brand, technology, tools, and dedication to customer service will bear much fruit in both Japan and China. Customers at Monex in Japan will be able to enjoy the most advanced trading tools in the world, and TradeStation’s brand can be used to accelerate business in Mainland China. On the other hand, the connectivity Boom securities possess worldwide is another allure for customers in both Japan and the United States. In addition, customers of TradeStation and Boom can take advantage of the wide array of top-notch products and services Monex has built over the past decade.

 

In the perspective of our shareholders, the Global Vision will create cost synergies and generate new revenue to maximize shareholder value. We are fully committed to reducing cost in all regions, and plan to realize a reduction of 20% of consolidated fixed costs by 2015 through global cost synergies. We also aim to improve our profit margin from 20% to 40% in the same timeframe.

What are the challenges you see?

Although this is an exciting time for the Monex Group, we understand the challenges that we face. Decline in profitability is a common and critical issue in all regions, and we will work hard to tackle it. We must also strengthen our marketing activities to expand our customer base.

 

Overcoming these challenges will require hard work and patience, but I believe strongly in our people, and what we can achieve as a team. I look forward to sharing an even brighter future with all stakeholders very soon.