Suddenly, trading the Dutch option market is getting serious. Getting active in low priced options isn’t a waste of money anymore. That’s good news for the retail investors, the market as a whole and for Euronext. That’s good news for everyone except for Binck and other former discount brokers.
Binck positions as luxury hotel
A spokesman of Binck made a remark that the contender DeGiro is a kind of bed & breakfast compared to Binck’s 4 star hotel. That’s interesting. The former discount broker is apparently competing on additional service instead of price these days. That’s a radical shift in strategy. I don’t want the service and analysis, only in it for the execution. Will do my own homework, don’t need a broker for that.
Wouldn’t know why anyone would still remain at Binck and Alex for the trading business.
Former AOT
The founders of DeGiro used to work for Binck, so I’ve read. That’s true, but as far as I know they have been working at the arbitrage desk, a leftover from the old AOT part. The guys behind DeGiro are known for their hedge fund HIQ invest. Inhouse matching against HIQ could be a part of the story.
From marketing perspective, I understand their story as “former Binck” staff. Saves you from a lot of explanations.
DeGiro is still in a launch phase. It’s not yet possible to enter strategy orders (straddles, strangles etc) and wasn’t able to find the daily and weekly options. There has been no negotiations with TOM yet. Connection to Eurex will follow soon.