XTB and an association defending private investors to promote traders' rights

XTB (WSE: XTB), one of Poland's largest brokerage houses, has announced a strategic partnership with the local self-regulatory association of individual investors (SII). This new collaboration aims to improve the standards of the Polish financial market, in particular by the creation of a "spokesperson for the rights of individual investors".

The XTB sees an explosion in the number of retail investors
Recent years have been marked by a dynamic increase in the number of retail investors in Poland, as evidenced by the ever-increasing number of brokerage accounts. XTB and SII believe that to maintain this trend, it is necessary to modernize and raise the working standards of stock market investors. There is a need to modernise and improve the working standards of stock market investors.

“At XTB, we've invested in free and accessible education for investors and to improve market access” says Paweł Szejko, Member of XTB's Board. "We often cooperate with the Association of Retail Investors in this area. From our joint observations, it turns out that Polish investors also need support to defend their rights."

This is how the initiative to establish a spokesperson for the rights of retail investors was born. This role aims to emulate similar institutions in safeguarding the rights and obligations of individual investors while striving to improve standards within the industry.

During the first quarter of 2023, XTB recorded a large influx of new customers, with 104,000 additional customers. This growth brought the total number of customers to 704,000, representing an increase of 46% year over year and more than 100% quarter over quarter.

An impressive highlight is the increase in active clients, which climbed 44% year-on-year, from 150,000 in Q1 2022 to 215,800 in the same period of 2023. This confirms that the number of retail traders and individual investors is growing dynamically following the covid pandemic, at a time when people are looking for proactive ways to protect their savings and wealth from record inflation.

What is the role of the XTB spokesperson?
The Spokesperson is expected to act as an independent mediator, working to amicably resolve major disputes between retail investors and financial institutions.

In addition, SII and XTB plan to implement joint initiatives to serve individual investors. This includes supporting the development of financial education, promoting issues related to the functioning of the capital market in the public arena and working towards universal access to reliable information on the financial market. capital.

"We believe that the arrival of such a powerful strategic partner opens new perspectives for the community of Polish individual investors," says Jarosław Dominiak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Individual Investors. "We have ambitious plans on many fronts."

The Polish investment platform has also lowered entry barriers for new investors in the past. Recently, XTB launched the InvestResponsibly.com project to promote responsible investing.

XTB launches savings account and increases dividend
Given the evolving nature of the investment industry and the growing number of people looking to hedge their wealth against inflation, XTB has decided to introduce a new investment savings product by the end of the year. year.

Last month, XTB CEO Omar Arnaout said that to capture a wider audience, the broker is focusing on offering products that attract potential new clients, including excluding contracts for difference (CFDs) .

"We want to expand our product offering to reach more customers," says Arnaout. "New products are essential for us to break the barrier of 40 to 55,000 new accounts. Only new products, combined with strong marketing efforts, can allow us to achieve this goal."

In a recent announcement, the listed brokerage firm revealed that it had abandoned the share buyback plan it had proposed. Instead, the company decided to distribute its record 2022 profits as dividends. The company plans to increase its dividend payout to PLN 4.85 per share from the previously proposed PLN 3.20 per share.

About XTB

XTB Group is a leading provider of crypto CFDs alongside 2,100 forex, stock, index, commodity and ETF CFDs. The multi-regulated broker holds licenses with several trusted agencies, including the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC).

Clients can invest and speculate with up to 1:30 leverage and can use the broker's mobile trading alert service to gain market insight. XTB offers two real accounts, aimed at retail traders and professional investors.