Monex Securities Australia Making It Easy to Invest in FANGs and BATs

SYDNEY -- Buying shares in Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google (also known as the FANGs) has just become easier with the arrival of Monex Securities Australia in the local online share trading market.

“There is no question that FANGs have dominated many people’s lives,” said Alex Douglas, Managing Director of Monex Securities Australia.

“But many investors, particularly Australians, may be missing out on the massive returns from these and other internet and tech giants. It’s because most of these companies are listed in markets outside of Australia, which has not been easily accessible to local investors up until now.”

Monex Securities Australia now gives investors a platform to access 12 international stock markets including the US, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and other Asian countries.

“Many investors have found it challenging and expensive to trade overseas markets because of the complicated process of setting up different accounts,” Douglas noted.

But using the Monex multi-market trading platform, investors can buy and sell shares in those 12 international markets as easily as they can buy or sell them in Australia.

“We want to simplify the process and make it more cost-effective for Australian investors to take advantage of international investment opportunities,” Douglas said.

This means local investors who want to catch the price movements in FANGs or any of the other 50,000 listed securities across the 12 international markets offered by Monex, can now do it easily and at a much lower cost than before.

At the same time, Monex Securities Australia has identified ongoing investment opportunities in FANGs and other related international stocks.

“One way or another, millions of people have come to rely on these (FANGs) companies to keep in touch with family and friends (through their Facebook page), buy anything online (through Amazon), watching movies (via Netflix) and searching for information on absolutely anything (via Google),” Douglas said.

These companies have deservedly become household names around the globe.

In terms of investment opportunity, the FANGs have delivered healthy returns to those who have invested in their stocks over the years. The numbers don’t lie. If you look at the share price movements of these companies, you can see the big rise in value for investors.

For example, Facebook shares were trading below US$20 in 2012 and hit highs above US$190 in February this year.  Also, in 2012, you could have been buying Amazon shares for less than US$200.  In March this year, they were trading in the US$1600 region. 

Over the same time period, shares in Netflix have risen from less than US$8 in 2012 to push to all-time highs above US$335 in April this year.  And if you’d had the foresight to buy Google shares in 2012 at less than US$300, you could be sitting on some healthy profits as those shares pushed toward the US$1200 mark earlier this year.

While there is no way to predict how much higher and faster the share prices of these companies will move in the coming years, it is quite safe to say that the FANGs will continue to grow. These companies are driven by innovation, advanced technology and the desire to be relevant to their clients. And at this stage of their development, they potentially have many years ahead of them to keep growing.

Having seen the impressive growth of the FANGs, it may be worthwhile looking at some of their competitors on the other side of the globe. If America has FANGs, China has what is known as BATs – Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.

You may not be as familiar with the BATs as you are with the FANGs, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore them. Whether you’re a user of technology, a consumer of anything online or an investor, chances are that you have already dealt with the BATs in one way or another.

This is because these companies have a global presence and a plethora of business units that are interconnected and already servicing consumers globally.

Baidu. It is a multi-national technology company the specialises in delivering Internet-related products and services. It also has an online advertising platform that can be compared to Facebook. Baidu is also into apps development, downloadable content and artificial intelligence. The company claims to have about two billion users worldwide.

Baidu share price: Baidu can be traded on NASDAQ. Symbol BIDU.  Since 2013 the stock has risen from less than US$85 to probe the US$270 region in October 2017 and again in March 2018.

Alibaba is the A in BATs. At first glance, it looks like a direct competitor of Amazon in the online distribution of consumer items. But Alibaba has now expanded into other areas of online distribution including consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business transactions. At the same time, Alibaba has widened its reach in the media and financial services industry.

“So, whether you’re a consumer wanting to buy something online, or a business owner wanting to sell something online, most likely you can do business with Alibaba,” Douglas said.

Alibaba can be traded on the NYSE. Symbol BABA.  From less than US$58 in September 2015, the stock climbed to a high of US$206.20 in January 2018.

Tencent may not be as familiar as Baidu or Alibaba, but it completes the BATs and has delivered phenomenal returns to shareholders. Tencent is another conglomerate that has built a network of businesses all powered by the internet and advanced technology such as Artificial Intelligence.

Similar to Facebook, Tencent is a big player in the social media space (in China) but it also has a massive presence in e-commerce, online mobile games, payment systems, music and smartphones.

Tencent can be traded in OTC markets in the US or as a listed security on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where it trades in lots of 100 shares.  Symbol #00700.  In the first few months of 2018, the stock traded above HK$475 numerous times having traded at less than HK$100 as recently as May 2014.  Ten years earlier, in 2004, it was trading around HK$0.675

As you can see, the BATs are growing rapidly and dominating their space in the global market. They are well-entrenched in social media, online retail, financial services, music, media and other sectors that touch millions of people’s lives.

“And like their counterparts in the FANGs, the BATs are likely to remain a major influence for many years to come,” Douglas said.

As investors, it may be worth looking at the BATs which are – directly or indirectly – giving the FANGs a run for their money.

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About Monex Group International

Monex is the second largest online broker in Japan and the 6^th largest in the US. Monex was founded by Oki Matsumoto after his suggestion to set up an online broking company in Japan was ignored by Goldman Sachs.

Monex acquired TradeStation, a Florida-based online broker for about $400 million in 2011.