● Iress users across institutional, retail and online stockbroking and financial advice now have access to real-time Australian bond monitoring and transaction capabilities
● Bond investing enables private investors to diversify income sources and reduce portfolio risks
A new partnership announced today between the Australian Bond Exchange (ABE) and Iress (ASX:IRE) enables Australian private investors, self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) trustees, brokers, financial advisers, and other market participants to digitally invest directly in Australian bonds, diversifying their sources of income and reducing their portfolio risks.
The Australian Bond Exchange is Australia’s pre-eminent marketplace for investing in Australian bonds, enabling private investors to transact in parcels as small as A$10,000 without the fees of managed funds or exchange-traded funds or the high costs of the over-the-counter market.
“We’re pioneering a new bond market for all Australians, giving private investors access to opportunities previously the domain of large institutions. This has meant that until now most Australians have been unable to participate in this very important investment market,” said Bradley McCosker, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Australian Bond Exchange.
“As the recent coronavirus-driven market volatility and the preceding Global Financial Crisis showed, the fact that private investors’ portfolios are dominated by equities exposes them to significant risks of loss of capital and income. During the GFC, bonds outperformed most other asset classes and that is also proving to be the case now.
“Increasing numbers of Australians are now entering retirement, and their ability to generate sustainable retirement income is severely compromised by substantial falls in their superannuation balances as a result of recent sharemarket volatility. By investing directly in bonds, Australians can now diversify their sources of income, reduce portfolio risks, and benefit from the security and peace of mind that bond investors enjoy,” McCosker said.
Users of Iress Pro, ViewPoint and Xplan will be able to access all the bonds admitted to trading status on the Australian Bond Exchange platform through integration with Iress’ software. This provides clients with the ability to view real-time pricing data, subscribe to datafeeds and directly place execution orders, making the process of researching, tracking and trading corporate bonds as simple and easy as trading shares.
“Driven by demand from users across our client base, we’re excited to have built a simpler, more efficient way to access the corporate bond market,” said Kirsty Gross, Managing Director, Financial Markets, Iress. “The new electronic interface removes inefficient, manual data entry processes, making it easier for brokers to see their clients’ total position as well as place orders and receive execution messages from the Australian Bond Exchange.”
About Iress
Iress (IRE.ASX) is a technology company providing software to the financial services industry.
Iress provides software and services for trading and market data, financial advice, investment management, mortgages, superannuation, life and pensions and data intelligence.
Iress’ software is used by more than 9,000 businesses and 500,000 users globally. The firm has over 2,000 people based in the Asia-Pacific, North America, Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe.
www.iress.com
Questions/More Information
Australian Bond Exchange
Phillip Gray
Financial & Corporate Relations (FCR)
Iress
Kelly Fisk
Head of Communications, Iress