Keppel Securities to go into online financial services

The new owners of Keppel Securities Phils. Inc. plan to transform the brokerage firm into a lead-edge innovator for online financial services to take advantage of the growing number of companies getting on the web.

In line with the restructuring of its investments in the Philippines, the Keppel Group signed an agreement with Basis Point Equities for the acquisition of KSPI.

KSPI’s corporate name will be changed to Basis Point Equities and over a six to nine-month transition period, new management, a new business plan and a technology platform will be installed in line with the vision of BPE.

During the transition period, previous KSPI personnel will be retained as well as operating procedures and system although under new ownership.

In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, BPE said it intends to innovate retail investing through utilization of information technology. "As the use of the Internet both globally and locally increase, there will be a shift from the use of traditional communications to interactive delivery channels such as the Internet and the mobile phone," BPE said.

BPE intends to fully capitalize on this new medium by launching a trading portal which shall service the international and local investors. It hopes to capture the small but fast growing niche of online retail investors for the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

Online trading in the Philippines is still in its infancy, primarily due to a number of factors which include low Internet penetration, poor growth in the stock market and the barriers to e-commerce.

The Philippines currently has an estimated four to six million Internet users and people are not comfortable with online transactions.

The Philippine stock market has experienced downtrends over the last few years, leaving little opportunity for growth through innovation.

But BPE is confident of securing a niche in the online financial services sector since customer preferences are changing.

BPE aims to be a provider of on-line investing services and will establish a popular branded destination online for self-directed investors.

It will offer automated order placement and execution along with a suite of products and services that can be personalized.

BPE’s proprietary transaction-enabling technology will support highly automated easy-to-use and cost effective services that empower its customers to take greater control of their investment decisions and financial transactions. Its services can be categorized into four related offerings - trading, market and financial information, portfolio and account management and cash management services.

Trading services will include fully automated stock processing via personal computer or touch-tone telephone including voice recognition. Customers will be ale to directly place orders to buy and sell PSE-listed securities as well as mutual funds through the BPE automated order processing system.

BPE intends to forge alliances with Internet access and service providers and electronic commerce companies to increase its future access to online consumers, build and enhance brand-name recognition and expand the products and services it can provide to on-line customers.

In the future, BPE will expand into international markets via alliances with companies in key markets. These alliances will enable BPE to capitalize on these relationships by providing market knowledge contracts and local understanding.

The current state of KSPI is that of a traditional brokerage company where trade orders are received through telephone and are manually executed by the brokers. The vision of BPE is to implement a fully automated on-line trading system where customers are able to initiate buy/sell orders through a web interface.