Saxo Bank, the multi-asset broker, announced today the expansion of its white label offering with the introduction of stock options from April 2015. This follows the launch of stock options trading for Saxo's private and institutional clients in 2014.
The introduction of stock options to Saxo's white label offering will enable white label end clients to trade multiple asset classes from a single consolidated account and being able to use either stocks or bonds as collateral, as well as exercising options online.
Other advantages include the ability to utilise cross-product margining by putting up stocks as margin collateral for contract options trading, in addition to no minimum fee or carrying costs.
Saxo's white label broker clients will also benefit from a complete marketing and communication package facilitating the launch of the new product to end clients.
Commenting on the announcement, Patrice Henault, Head of Futures and Listed Options, Saxo Bank, said: "The launch reflects the growing appetite for stock options among both institutional and retail investors as indicated by the 4% rise in the number of derivatives traded on-exchange (ETDs) in 2014.
In particular, recent market Volatility has provided attractive investment opportunities for options traders, while investors are becoming more aware of how they can hedge their exposure in asset classes such as equities or as a means of locking-in existing gains."
"The addition of equity options to our white label platform marks an important step in the development of Saxo's white label proposition, particularly at a time when appetite for this particular instrument is on the rise," Henault concluded.
Growing While Label Business
Saxo Bank sees the importance of developing this offering, as it says the white label business has become a cornerstone of its institutional segment with over ten new partnerships established in 2014, bringing the number of clients in this space to over 120.
The firm explained that pressures on costs, the inability to keep up with the pace of evolution in trading technology in-house and the need to develop multi-asset trading capabilities for their clients had contributed to the increase in Saxo Bank's white label clients.
At present, there are more than 30,000 financial products, including FX(spot, forwards and options), stocks, CFDs, commodities, futures, contract options and single stock options available on Saxo's Trading Platform .
