As countries across the world are seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases after successfully slowing outbreaks earlier in the year, trading activity is posting new records at many online brokers.
Today, Interactive Brokers LLC (NASDAQ:IBKR) reported its best trading volumes ever, surpassing the previous record set in March when fears over the impact of the spreading Coronavirus triggered a boom in retail investing.
The US-listed brokerage saw 2.29 million daily average revenue trades, or DARTS, in November 2020. This figure is up 30 percent compared to 1.76 million transactions in the prior month and was nearly three times higher than it was in 2019.
Client engagement accelerated this month as there were only 19.5 trading days, before Thanksgiving in the US, in November compared to 22 days in October.
Additionally, the discount brokerage has won more clients as volatile markets and renewed stay-at-home restrictions had seemingly amplified interest from retail investors. November’s active accounts increased to 1.03 million, or 3 percent higher from the previous month when this metric crossed the one million milestone for the first time in the company’s 42-year history. Moreover, it was significantly higher by 52 percent year-over-year when compared to November 2019 (822,000 accounts).
Interactive Brokers revealed to Finance Magnates that nearly 80 percent of their new clients are coming from outside the US, citing the increasing number of mutual funds and products available to trade in fractions.
But, while volumes were buzzing in November, Interactive Brokers charged clients lower commission fees, namely $2.45 per order on average. This is nearly 2 percent below the $2.49 per order it collected in October. The figure includes Exchange , clearing and regulatory fees with the key product metrics coming out at $1.80 for stocks, $3.80 for equity options and $3.82 for futures orders.
Despite headwinds from a push to commission-free trading and historically low interest, Interactive Brokers’ third-quarter revenues rose 17 percent year-over-year, to $548 million compared to $466 million in Q3 of 2019. Further, the figure was higher from $523 million in the second quarter.
