JUPITERRESEARCH RANKS AMERITRADE THE TOP ONLINE BROKERAGE AND SEES MIXED IMPACT OF MERGER WITH TD WATERHOUSE
(New York, NY - July 26, 2005) - JupiterResearch, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM), today announced that a newly published report ranking online brokerages places Ameritrade ahead of all others analyzed. The JupiterResearch report entitled "Brokerage Composite Online Rating of Effectiveness (CORE)," uses a proprietary ranking method based on sophisticated site traffic variables, number of accounts, assets under management (AUM) and average daily trade figures and allows brokerage firms to assess their competitive strengths and areas of exposure online and offline. The firms analyzed in the report are Ameritrade, Fidelity, Scottrade, Charles Schwab, E-Trade, TD Waterhouse and Harrisdirect.
According to the JupiterResearch report, based on measures taken in the fourth quarter of 2004 (the most recent that were consistently available), Ameritrade returned the strongest overall results, with the best returns in measures for both customer intensity (customer minutes per month) and hyper-usage (the percentage of highly engaged site visitors). Ameritrade's high hyper-usage score suggests that its customer base has a greater percentage of active customers than the other surveyed firms. In terms of size, while Ameritrade gained a significant number of accounts through an aggressive acquisition strategy dating back to 2001, prior to the impending merger with TD Waterhouse, the firm still lags behind Fidelity in unique visitors and behind Fidelity and Schwab in number of accounts.
"The online brokerage sector is going through a rationalization process," stated Asaf Buchner, associate analyst at JupiterResearch. "The players are seeking scale and diversified sources of revenue, as they continue to confront downward pressure on trading commissions and a limited pool of active online traders," added Buchner.
A sign of this rationalization is the announcement that Ameritrade agreed to acquire the U.S. operations of TD Waterhouse. The report notes that the combined firm will have significantly greater online reach (unique visitors) because of little customer duplication across the two institutions, but will still be outpaced slightly by Fidelity. According to the JupiterResearch CORE measures, TD Waterhouse appears to attract more casual traders than Ameritrade. While the combined firm will have significantly greater assets under management, JupiterResearch expects that a decline in the percentage of customers who are active traders will jeopardize the firm's top spot on the next CORE ranking.
The complete findings of this report are immediately available to JupiterResearch clients online. For additional information on the report or JupiterResearch's Brokerage and Wealth Management research service visit www.jupiterresearch.com or contact Kieran Kelly, Vice President of Global Sales and Client Service, at 1-800-481-1212 or researchsales@jupitermedia.com.
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