Interactive Brokers reported mixed results for its brokerage business in May. Trading volumes remained stable compared to April, but client assets witnessed a significant increase. Daily average revenues for trades (DARTs), a key measure of brokerage activity, remained flat at 2.36 million compared to April but were up 27% year over year.
More importantly, client assets under management rose 6% in May, reaching a record high of $486.3 billion. This boost exceeded the 41% annual growth rate, indicating that existing Interactive Brokers clients added to their investments.
Growth in customer accounts
The number of client accounts at Interactive Brokers continues to rise. In May, the company added another 2% to its customer base, bringing the total to 2.86 million. This represents an increase of 27% year-on-year.
Interactive Brokers reported an end-client margin loan balance of $53.1 billion, which was 33% higher than the prior year and 5% higher than the prior month. Ending customer credit balance was $106.7 billion, including $4.0 billion in insured bank deposit sweeps, growing 8% year over year, and 1% higher than the previous month.
The company's average commission per commissionable order, including exchange, clearing and regulatory fees, was $3.01. For stock trades specifically, the average commission was even lower, at just $2.12 per trade.
The average order size for stock options was 6.6 contracts, with an average commission per commissionable order of $4.04. Additionally, the average futures order size was 3.2 contracts, with an average commission per commissionable order of $4.61.
Expand offers
Recently, Interactive Brokers expanded access to European derivatives in a partnership with Cboe Europe Derivatives (CEDX). This initiative gives clients access to more than 300 equity derivative contracts in EU companies. Launched in September 2021, CEDX aims to improve retail traders' access to a variety of equity derivatives across Europe. It provides a unified trading and clearing platform for institutional and retail investors.
Recently, the brokerage introduced daily options on the CAC 40 index to help institutional and retail traders manage short-term trading strategies and exposure to the French stock market. The platform also recently launched cryptocurrency trading in the UK.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
