The Trading Online Expo goes digital

- Brand new digital look for Borsa Italiana’s Trading Online Expo that will be held on 20, 21 and 22 October. Over 60 seminars and training sessions and more than 25 online brokers, issuers and partners

- Today, IDEM launches microFIBs, smaller futures derivatives contracts on the FTSE MIB index. A one-of-a-kind product in the European derivatives markets

- TOLIS research data: online trading soaring in 2020 whereby accounting for 11% of Borsa Italiana’s main equity market

TOL EXPO

Starting Tuesday, 20 October and ending Thursday, 22 October, the top training and update event for online trading will host industry players and enthusiasts to discuss current trends and examine financial markets.

"The main goal of the Trading Online Expo is to raise investors’ awareness about the opportunities offered by the online trading. It will also be the opportunity to championing active management of investors’ financial resources and empowering investors with respect to the risk profiles and returns of the multitude of financial products available on regulated markets. A moment to explore market trends in an uncertain time, which makes the analysis even more challenging and calls for specific knowledge and expertise."

Entirely online for the first time in its history, the TOL Expo will focus on technology and it will last three days instead of the usual two.

This market culture and financial education event, stocked with seminars, roundtables, international speakers and training sessions, will give retail investors the chance to talk with professional traders, brokers and national and international market experts on macroeconomics, trading strategies and portfolio management. In addition, there will be discussions on the complex backdrop caused by the pandemic and panels dedicated to sustainable finance.

Over the course of three days, participants will be able to watch - in real time - any of several channels broadcasting webinars, courses, panels, interviews and even the opening bell of Wall Street with a special commentators.

Again this year, the expo will feature the TOL Contest, a simulated online trading competition.

Furthermore, starting today, IDEM, Borsa Italiana’s derivatives market, is launching MicroFIBs, new futures contracts whose underlying index is the FTSE MIB, i.e., the main benchmark index for Italian equities, constituting roughly 80% of the domestic market. The only product of its kind in the European universe of derivatives markets, it reflects the characteristics of the Italian market, it is an accessible initial investment, is managed by a regulated stock exchange and guaranteed by Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia.

Technically, the MicroFIB is similar to the already well-known FIB and miniFIB, but the value of the micro contract is one-fifth that of the miniFIB, which is, in turn, one-fifth the value of the FIB. The new IDEM market’s contract has a value of 0.2 euro cents per index point, or approximately 4.000 euros. This will allow the product to be accessible also to small portfolios.

The product will be supported by four market makers that will provide liquidity starting from the first day of trading (Banca Sella Holding, Hudson River Trading, Jump Trading and Optiver). In addition, leading online brokers (Banca Sella, Directa, Fineco, IWBank, We Bank) will offer microFIBs on their trading platforms.

The 2020 event comes in a year of soaring trading volumes on Borsa Italiana markets. Stock trades between January and 15 October 2020 reached a daily average of 2.4 billion euros, with over 346,000 contracts (+12.0% in terms of value and +39.0% by number of contracts compared to the average for the same period of 2019).

In particular, on the stock market, which registered peaks in daily traded value equal to 6 billion euros, the main online brokers contribution represented 11% of total exchanges on the Main Market and 58% on the After Hours Market (TAH).

Online trading posted a substantial growth in the past year. The TOLIS survey conducted by Borsa Italiana in collaboration with major Italian online brokers, which will be presented at the TOL Expo 2020, highlights how the percentage weight of retail trading grew extensively across all major Borsa Italiana markets and products compared to 2019. In particular the AIM Italia market where online trades account for 38.2% of contracts, and the miniFIB, with contracts executed by online traders coming to nearly 23% of all trades.

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