- Commonwealth Securities
-
Commonwealth Securities 
Type Subsidiary Traded as ASX: CBA Industry Financial Services Founded Sydney, New South Wales (1995) Headquarters Sydney, Australia Area served Australia
New ZealandKey people Stephen Karpin, General Executive Manager Website www.comsec.com.au Commonwealth Securities, also known as CommSec or ComSec, is Australia's largest discount stockbroking firm operated by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, one of Australia's top four banks.
The subsidiary has been highly successful as a discount broker by attracting many so called "mums and dads" (retail) investors. It offers a telephone based brokerage service and advisory service, though its Internet trading platform constitutes the vast majority of its business.[1]
Contents
History
The brokerage arm started operations in 1995 and launched its share trading website in 1997.[2][3]
CommSec initially offered only Australian equities trades, but has since expanded into derivative products, international equities, managed funds, Self Managed Super Fund administration, Contracts-For-Difference (CFDs), margin lending and Short-term deposits. The firm's large retail customer base has also allowed it to successfully market a number of initial public offering (IPO) fund raisings.
In 2008 CommSec became the first Australian brokerage firm to offer a brokerage website specifically designed for a portable-device.[4] It created CommSec iPhone Edition for the Apple iPhone, the first home-grown iPhone application in Australia.
Services
CommSec's primary channel for customers is its website. The website provides static information that can be refreshed for updates on the frequently changing markets. It offers a comprehensive suite of features including trades, watchlists, funds management, portfolios, holdings management, financial & contract details, cash management, chatrooms and news & research.
CommSec's frequent equities, CFDs and options traders use the realtime trading platform CommSecIRESS. It is a web-based solution, developed by IRESS Market Technology (ASX: IRE) and based on the Java runtime environment. This platform combines the majority of the features of the website, while adding more advanced features and streaming live data from the Australian Securities Exchange.
CommSec also offers phone-based trading through its call-centre, advisory service and the automated voice recognition platform PhoneTrader (formerly Voice Broker).
In 2008 the broker disbanded its Share Shops (face-to-face operations) closing the front in the Commonwealth Bank branch in Pitt St, Sydney, following the earlier closure of the Melbourne Share Shop on Collins St.
Mergers and Acquisitions
CommSec has retained and increased its significant marketshare in retail broking through both CBA's acquisition of other banks and its own acquisition of other broking firms.[5] CommSec now performs broking operations for Colonial First State,[6] TD Waterhouse,[7] AOT,[8][9] Neville Ward Direct,[10][11] Auckland Savings Bank (ASB),[12] and IWL (Westpac Broking, Sanford and Avcol).[13] The addition of IWL gave CommSec significant market share in wholesale broking to compliment its existing retail presence.[14]
Cash Management
In 2008 CommSec diversified into the short term deposit sector with the introduction of its Cash Management product.[15] The product consists of two distinct accounts the CommSec Cash Account (CCA) and the CommSec Investment Account (CIA). The CCA is designed to both be the source of funds for stock trading and also an everyday transaction account, with a linked debit MasterCard. The CIA is designed as a high interest cash deposit distinguished by its lack of tiers and that cash can only be transferred to and from the CCA.
Notes
- ^ Big is beautiful for online brokers
- ^ Site Description for comsec.com.au
- ^ Investment in 64-bit Itanium 2 Servers pays returns for CommSec
- ^ CommSec launces iPhone trading app
- ^ CommSec snaps up direct funds firm
- ^ Commonwealth Bank takes over Colonial Mutual
- ^ TD Bank selling Australian discount brokerage operations
- ^ AOT swallowed by CBA
- ^ FAQs FOR AOT OPTIONS CLIENTS
- ^ Commonwealth Securities Limited (Commsec) - acquisition of Neville Ward Direct Pty Limited
- ^ Neville Ward Direct and CommSec — two strong teams united
- ^ Welcome to the ASB Bank of New Zealand
- ^ CommSec takes over Sanford clients
- ^ Commsec unfazed in IWL purchase
- ^ Better cash management from CommSec
External links
Brands Commonwealth Bank · Bankwest · ASB Bank · Sovereign Limited · Commonwealth Securities · Colonial First State · CommInsureNotable people John Schubert (Chairman) · Ralph Norris (CEO)Employees: 44,218 · Stock Symbol: ASX: CBA · Website: www.commbank.com.au Categories:- Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange
- Financial services companies of Australia
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