Most of the investors attending the Stock Exchange Fair held at the end of last week were interested in the simplest ways to trade, as well as in advice from brokers.
This year's Stock Exchange Fair organised by the Association of Brokers, included, besides the participation of the brokerage firms, novelties such as presentations of listed companies, as well as short seminars intended as introductions into technical and fundamental research.
Brokers were generally pleased with how the fair was organised and with the attendance figures among those interested in this field, which were higher than last year.
"The visitors to the fair were some of the most diverse, with current clients of financial investment companies, new investors, as well as players interested to change their broker," Razvan Pasol, chairman of the Intercapital Invest brokerage firm told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.
Most of the investors or potential investors showed interest in the simplest possible way to trade, that is a platform for trading via the Internet.
"I came to the fair to familiarise myself with as many offers from brokers as possible. My friends and I thought the Stock Exchange would be a good place to invest our savings and we would be willing to bet 10,000 euros at first. We would be interested in a platform that allows us to place orders over the Internet, in an easy way to manage the portfolio, as well as in the educated advice of a broker," says a young man who came to the fair and works as graphic artist. Many visitors also came looking for a broker to give them investment advice and help them make decisions at least until they become familiar with the market. However, some of the brokerage firms introduced new services that allow placing new orders directly on the market, without having them pass through a trader, which cuts the costs of the intermediary and implicitly the fees.
Confident Invest and Romcapital are among the brokers that introduced this system for the customers that prefer to trade in this manner. Many investors, however, remain loyal to the old trading system that involves brokers.
"We have recently launched the online trading mode, which allows placing orders on the market directly and reducing the delay. The trading fee through this system will probably go down. Yet most investors still prefer the traditional way of trading," says Gabriel Tiripea, broker of Confident Invest.
The most frequently asked questions by investors, however, had to do with the minimum amount required to open an account and the trading fees. Brokers say investors seem much more interested in trading fees than in the yield the market generates. The visitors thinking of taking the step towards investment say the minimum amount brokers recommend to start an investor career is 10,000 RON (3,000 euros).
There were also investors who were dissatisfied with their brokers. They say they either gave them the wrong investment advice or did not give them any advice at all. The information an investor expects to get from a broker includes information about issuers on the RASDAQ market, derivatives, or more sophisticated financial instruments.
