Marketech unveils partnership with Marcus Today
Marketech Online Trading today took its next step towards creating a subscription-based direct share trading and advisory model for Australian stock market investors, that fills the growing advice gap facing investors, unveiling a partnership with highly regarded stock market newsletter Marcus Today.
The partnership furthers Marketech’s goal to combine technology, data and insights in an affordable full-service platform that bridges the gap between professional products and those currently offered to most investors.
Marketech CEO Travis Clark said the partnership will see Marketech provide its clients extended access to the independent market research and insights from the Marcus Today newsletter whilst at the same time offering Marcus Today members extended access to a trading platform with integrity and functionality.
“We are directly responding to the very real concerns that price has blocked many direct share investors from getting professional independent advice, and professional levels of market information,” Clark said.
Marcus Today is one of Australia’s leading and most long-standing stock market newsletters, having been first published over two decades ago. Marcus Today is also known for “telling it as it is” and putting its members first, a commitment it shares with Marketech.
“This combination of a subscription for general advice, daily trading ideas and portfolio recommendations with a professional-grade trading platform is the first step towards a new direct share investment model.”
Clark said that while much attention has been given to the rise of ‘robo-advice’ and lowest-cost trading platforms, Marketech takes the view that the current advice and trading model still needs positive change.
“Rather than respond to the high-cost of advice and trading with just a low brokerage cost – at the expense of function – the combination of advice, data and insights will lead to a better version of direct share advice and trading, supporting investors to make informed and timely decisions, and removing the concern that an advisor benefits only from the transaction,” Clark said.
“There is a significant advice gap emerging in the market with the cost of professional investment advice increasingly growing out of reach of everyday Australians. By combining our technology platform with best in market insight providers like Marcus Today, and as announced previously, Sharesight for portfolio administration, we are building a new connected services model that aims to fill that gap.”
To deliver this cost-effectively, Marketech offers a Netflix-like subscription model where users pay a monthly subscription fee, largely to cover the cost of live market data, and a nominal dollar fee per trade. This gives investors access to live-streaming pricing feeds while reducing the cost per trade. It also provides individual HINs and separate individual bank accounts.
A long-term partnership to benefit investors
Marcus Padley said the partnership comes at a time when the stock market is flourishing with new investors entering the market at an unprecedented pace, but the relationship with Marketech is for the long term not the short term.
“Marketech is structured to endure and deliver across all market cycles, and I am confident they will meet the expectations of all investors, including the experienced, long-term investors and self-managed super fund trustees that populate the Marcus Today database,” Padley said.
“Marketech also offers a unique subscription model, which is similar to how we operate and could be bundled with ours at some point in the future. That model also appeals because it does not rely on investors trading as much as possible and as such Marketech, unlike many platforms, is not in the business of encouraging trading for the sake of it.”
Marcus Today was looking to develop a trading and portfolio management capability for members but found Marketech already doing the job with integrity.
“Unlike many other platforms, Marketech does not pool funds and does not hold shares in their own name – all shares traded through the Marketech platform are owned by the individual investor on their own HIN. All with a quality of data and functionality to meet our members’ needs,” Padley said.
“Outside of the major banks, Marketech stood out as the only platform with an integrity of structure that the Marcus Today team could recommend to members.”
“The partnership is in the early stages but given the shared purpose of a common prosperity for investors, I have every hope that the association of the Marcus Today content with the Marketech trading platform will deliver value for all involved,” Padley said.
