Ten Years Of Tiger: A Founder's Vision For Investing, And The Decade To Come

While computers and the internet have transformed many industries, parts of the financial sector have not evolved at the same rate. At Tiger Brokers we do things differently: we consider ourselves a third-generation brokerage, with a strong focus on fintech innovation. In the shifting landscape, third-generation brokerages are accelerating disruption, using technology to lower barriers to entry and enabling more people to access the potential rewards of investing. Fintech professionals must be both tech-savvy and thoroughly aware of the strict regulatory and security standards of the financial sector.

The Tiger Brokers proposition

Ten years in, we are a comprehensive financial solutions provider, offering brokerage, wealth, and institutional business services on an international scale. Tiger's mission is to leverage technology's prowess to extend services to areas that traditional institutions overlook while refining existing services to be faster and more efficient than ever before. We start by understanding user scenarios and pain points, crafting solutions that prioritise convenience.

For instance, when I invest in US stocks, I may get some news information and read some discussions scattered across different websites and forums, which is time-consuming. Tiger Trade consolidates this experience by integrated everything from market trends to trading and community discussions.

Expanding globally has been a key focus for Tiger, evolving from a retail brokerage to a comprehensive financial institution. Some notable moves include listing on the Nasdaq in 2019 and launching a one-stop wealth management solution in Singapore, catering to major financial advisory firms and wealth management entities. This initiative addresses prevalent industry challenges such as complex client onboarding, cumbersome account opening processes, limited trading options, and low transaction settlement efficiency.

How the vision for Tiger took shape

I'm a typical 1980s science and tech guy. During my eight years as a software engineer at NetEase Youdao, I received stock options from the company, introducing me to the US stock market. I noticed that many trading platforms for US stocks were difficult to use, with cumbersome processes and poor user experiences. After trying multiple platforms and seeing no improvements despite my suggestions, I had the idea to create a truly user-friendly US stock brokerage.

All the start-up funding came from IT circle friends in what was essentially a crowd-funded venture by my acquaintances. We initially entered the market through offering US stocks trading, a market inherently suitable for globalisation. With high user compatibility, our product bridges nationalities and languages, allowing more people to seamlessly engage in global asset allocation and trade US stocks through a single platform. Therefore, globalisation is a natural progression for us.

The flourishing of the US stock market in recent years has greatly benefited us in acquiring customers and carving out our own identity in the brokerage landscape. We've explored opportunities in IPO underwriting and identified pain points. Many retail investors often find themselves limited to the opening price during IPOs, missing out on the IPO price exclusively reserved for those with insider connections. To address this, by becoming an underwriter of an US IPO, we've transitioned the IPO subscription process from offline to online, letting users to subscribe to an IPO with just a few clicks.

Additionally, the derivatives market associated with US stocks has created numerous investment opportunities. Over the past decade Tiger has greatly capitalised on these trends, witnessing an increasing number of young individuals engaging in global asset allocation through US stocks.

A global client base originating in Singapore

Over the past year we have doubled our global client assets, reaching a historic high. In 2024 the company celebrates its 10th anniversary, and (as at end-2023) in our past five years of remarkable growth our global funded clients and assets have surged over tenfold, with revenue nearly quadrupling and net incomes compounding at a rate of 72%.

Over 75% of our total client assets now come from clients in regions such as Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the US. We started our journey in Singapore (now our group’s headquarters) because it's close by and has a thriving market and a strong interest among investors in US stocks.

Within just a year of going public, by the end of 2020, Tiger had seen triple-digit growth in Singaporean customers for three consecutive quarters, making it one of the largest online brokerages in the region. By the end of 2022, in Singapore about a third of local adult residents aged above 20 had used Tiger Trade. The Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS) honoured us with the award of Best Retail Broker 2023.

Currently, Singapore clients represent the largest share of our group's total funded clients, with over half of our monthly trading clients hailing from the Singapore market, making it the most active region among all markets. By cultivating a team with a global perspective and adaptability, we can better tackle the challenges of globalisation and provide superior service to global customers.

Making headway in New Zealand

We started to onboard local Kiwi clients in 2022 with a primary focus on gauging the market, taking input from locals, and continually improving our product in accordance with local demands and needs.

Leveraging advantages such as free in-depth quotes for US stocks, extended trading hours, and rich options trading experience, our Q1 newly funded accounts increased 77% compared to the last quarter. In the past year, the number of new accounts opened in New Zealand increased by nearly 80% year-over-year, and the number of trading clients grew nearly threefold.

There are variations in investor behaviour and preferences in different markets. In New Zealand, many investors typically prioritise stability in their investment decisions over high-risk, high-reward strategies favoured in other markets. This difference in risk appetite means New Zealand investors may lean towards safer assets such as bonds or dividend-paying stocks rather than speculative investments. In a previous survey we did, we found that New Zealand investors tend to prioritise long-term investment gains more than their Australian counterparts, with 50% of Kiwi stating that they’re pursuing long-term growth without being overly concerned about short-term fluctuations.

Tiger Brokers is committed to empowering investors with humanized technology, and stands out by offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of investment options, including access to futures and options trading, which are not commonly available on other New Zealand platforms. This breadth of investment choices allows investors to tailor their portfolios according to their risk tolerance and investment goals.

We also focus on continual improvement of features, such as the introduction of TigerGPT, which provides quick and easy access to market information and data. Plus, we recently introduced a 24/5 trading feature to allow those in the Pacific region greater access to US stocks at more favourable hours, the first local online investment platform to offer this feature. This enhances the user experience and empowers investors with the tools they need to make informed decisions.

By Wu Tianhua, Founder And CEO, Tiger Brokers

Disclaimer:

This information is not financial advice and has been prepared without taking into consideration any individual investor's own objectives, financial situation or needs. Investing carries risk. Derivative trading carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Any third party’s content referred to has not been assessed nor is endorsed by Tiger. Before making any investment decisions based on the information provided, you must consider the appropriateness of doing so in regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs, and consult your financial adviser. Past performance of financial products is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Tiger Fintech (NZ) Limited and any of its directors, employees and associates may, from time to time, deal in any financial products mentioned (or derivatives of them), as principal or as agent for clients and may earn brokerage, fees, salary, bonus or other benefits for those dealings.

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