Mr. Thanat Wongchukaew, Managing Director at Krungsri Securities Plc. (KSS), said "Krungsri Securities has recently appointed new generation executives to enhance the Company's service quality and increase the variety of investment products to meet the different investment needs. Over the past 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought in a growing interest in investing as evidences shown from the growth of securities trading accounts and the average daily trading volume of the Thai stock market and the Company. The number of retail investors opening a trading accounts in 2021 jumped by as high as 191% over the prior year, more than 60% of which are those investing via online investment platforms. The rising trend of this online segment is expected to continue. For 2022, Krungsri Securities aims to expand the investor base by 10,000 more accounts, targeting a market share of 1.58% and a revenue growth of no less than 13%."
Since the beginning of 2022, Krungsri Securities has emphasized the implementation of online marketing including the increase of information access channels and adding of new products and services to match the investment preference of Gen X and Gen Y investors whose interest in investing has increased significantly. In addition, Krungsri Securities has developed the online account opening and approval system that takes only one minute for the whole process if the customer verifies his identity through the NDID platform or through the Krungsri i-CONFIRM services at the premises of Bank of Ayudhya and its subsidiaries as well as the branch offices of business partners nationwide. Other achievements include the development of real-time collateral deposit service that increase the convenience and speed in transferring funds into the securities trading account, and the introduction of KSS stock AI that adopts the AI technology to assist investors to pick their own stocks wisely on a daily basis based on the scores derived from both fundamental and technical analysis. Currently, the Company is working to enhance the capability of KSS Stock Expert application to keep it up to date and enable it to effectively tap into the new generation investors.
Besides, Krungsri Securities also adds a new foreign stock trading service via website and KSS iGlobal app which is going to launch on 1 July 2022. KSS iGlobal is a trading and investing platform innovation that enables investors to invest in the stocks of more than 80 countries in one app, including the trading of stocks in Vietnam, allowing customers to view the status of the investment portfolio easily. This year, the Company will pilot the service by allowing trading in 5 stock exchanges that are familiar to Thai investors: the US Stock Exchange, the Vietnam Stock Exchange, the Japan Stock Exchange, the Singapore Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Moreover, KSS iGlobal allows direct fractional share investing in stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) of more than 3,000 securities in the US stock market. In investing with fractional shares, investors can specify the initial investment amount as desired and the system will then calculate to number of shares they can buy, which is the same calculation method as investing in cryptocurrency. By investing in fractional shares, investors own the securities although it might be less than one full share and are entitled to the dividend payout which is proportional to the amount of the share they own. It also mitigates the intra-day foreign currency risk and enables new generation of retail investors with small amount of starting funds, to own the stocks of popular technology or luxury brand companies in the US stock market with investing amount depending to their preference. In the future, fractional share trading will be allowed in other stock exchanges. It is expected that investors will be able to trade fractional shares in Hong Kong and Japan stock exchanges by the end of this year. Besides, KSS iGlobal has technical analysis tools and analyst consensus from credible sources providing stocks information to investors via the application. Such information would make it convenient for investors to search for information related to their desired stocks and have sufficient information for their purchase consideration.
"The development of foreign stock trading system via KSS iGlobal reinforces the commitment of Krungsri Securities in encouraging Thai retail investors to access foreign stock markets more easily and conveniently," Mr. Thanat added.
"Under the new management team, the Company places priorities on online marketing in order to propel the Company towards becoming a Digital Broker and upgrade the service quality and productivity through the introduction of different investment products and services. We plan to launch advanced service like PAPT (Portfolio Advisory/Program Trading) and structured products including ELNs (Equity Linked Notes) and FCNs (Fixed Coupon Notes) by the third quarter of this year in an attempt to carry on the mission of creating innovative financial products and services that cater to customers' investment needs in every segment under the 'One Retail strategy of Krungsri. We will focus on improving the investment knowledge of investors by offering online courses via the Facebook page of KSS Academy, with the contents ranging from basic knowledge of securities investing, tools for investment decision making, to investment strategies. Krungsri Securities is ready to help investor make successful investment. I am confident that the new management team as well as our personnel and the readiness of every aspect of Krungsri Securities will enable the Company to improve its competitiveness and cater to the needs of investors in every segment while being an alternative for investors that will increase the investment opportunity and diversify their investment risks," Mr. Thanat concluded.
Investors who are interested in the service of KSS iGlobal can seek further information by calling 02-659-7777 or visiting the website: www.krungsrisecurities.com/kssiglobal.
Source: Krungsri Securities