CMC Markets Wins 'Cheapest Online Broker' Award From Money Magazine

SYDNEY, Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, CMC Markets has been named cheapest online broker by prestigious personal finance magazine, Money magazine.

In the 2012 Best of the Best awards for Money magazine, Canstar supplied all data from which the awards were decided.  Senior Analyst from Canstar, Mitchell Watson supported CMC Markets win by saying, "CMC have demonstrated that they are able to offer outstanding value not just by being the lowest-prices broker but also through a strong feature offering....the features CMC offer are normally those you would associate with a higher cost product, not the cheapest in the market."

This award tops off a year of achieving industry accolades, with the most recent accolade being the Canstar award for 'Best Value Australia Online Share Trading' which was awarded to CMC Markets.

Louis Cooper, Head of CMC Markets in Australia and New Zealand, believes the landscape for broking is changing: "Big brokers dominated the market for some time, and now with newer entrants in the market the landscape has shifted considerably.  When we dropped our brokerage rates to $9.90, this forced some brokers to drop their brokerage lower.  There is an evolution occurring in the market - we put significant pressure on pricing in the market and we increased traders' awareness of the importance of low brokerage."

In the latest Investment Trends Online Broking Report (released in August 2011), customer satisfaction fell for all brokers in Australia, except for CMC Markets which remained level at the top of the league table.  Other results from the Investment Trends online broking report (2011) include:

• CMC Markets awarded 'best charting' in online trading
• Top three providers online traders voted as 'easy to deal with' were CMC Markets at 54%, Bell Direct at 32% and CommSec at 25%.
• Wide range of products: 47% CMC Markets, 38% CommSec
• Comprehensive range of online tools: 46% CMC Markets, 29% ETrade, 28% CommSec, 21% Macquarie Edge

What are online share traders looking for?

CMC Markets believe that active traders are looking not only for low brokerage but also account and trading features which help them take control of their own decisions, such as unlimited free conditional orders.  Other features include on demand videos, market analysis and trading set ups via social media, live charting and trading tip blog posts to help investors stay informed, feel confident and manage their risk levels.

"We are constantly developing different education initiatives, for example Investing IQ, an introductory program for newer online traders. Trader education is for life, so our strategy is to offer something for all levels of experience.  At CMC Markets we are constantly adding new services to meet the needs of our varied customer base, for instance, we will be launching a new major trading feature early in 2012 that we have been working on for over 12 months," said Mr. Cooper.

Please visit CMC Markets blog, talk to us on Twitter or view our YouTube channel.

CMC Markets' education team is also on Twitter: David Land (@DaveCharts), Ric Spooner (@RicCharts) and Michael McCarthy (@Michael_CMC)

For further information please contact :
Jane Bryant
CMC Markets
(02) 82212124
0409 099 397
Email : [email protected]

About CMC Markets

The CMC Markets Group, a leading independent financial services provider, offers a range of investment products and investment tools including shares, options, listed managed investments, warrants, interest rate securities and Contracts for Diffe3rence (CFDs).  Through our partnerships we can also provide access to managed funds and margin lending execution. In 2007 CMC Markets launched its broking service with the acquisition of Andrew West Stockbroking and CMC Markets Stockbroking is now one of the only non-bank aligned, online stockbrokers in Australia.

CMC Markets is a pioneer of CFD trading in Australia and a world leading CFD provider.  With offices in London, Frankfurt, Dublin, Madrid, Vienna, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Beijing, Auckland, and Singapore, CMC Markets represents clients in over 70 countries. The company was founded in 1989 and is regulated by ASIC in Australia. CMC Markets Stockbroking is a participant of the ASX Group.

SOURCE CMC Markets