Perth-based retail contracts for difference (CFD) provider Marketech is offering zero brokerage on its new online trading platform.
According to Marketech chief executive James Martin, rapid growth in the CFD market and the advance in software technology meant the new platform was viable to bring to market.
"With trader numbers set to explode, offering zero brokerage on the Top 500 stocks, with direct market access CFDs on every ASX-listed company is an important evolution in Australia's equities marketplace," Martin said.
"I believe this will help investors take advantage of the various hedging and investment strategies offered by CFDs," he said.
According to Marketech, an estimated 50,000 people in Australia trade CFDs with volumes estimated to be growing at around 100 per cent per annum.
CFD have been around in Australia since 2001. Developed in London in the late 1990s, a CFD is a contract between two parties to exchange the difference between the price of a security when the contract opens and when it closes.
The difference is determined by reference to an 'underlying' instrument - a share, index, foreign exchange rate or commodity.
A benefit of CFDs over options is that CFDs have no fixed expiry date and so do not suffer from time decay or a falling in price as they close in on maturity.
