Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR), Inc, a discount brokerage firm based in Connecticut, US, has recently established a brand new arm: Interactive Brokers Central Europe Zrt (IBCE). This new company will have its offices based in Hungary, and stands as its continued bid to grow IBKR’s international business.
10 Branches Spread Across The Globe
With this latest branch included, IBKR boasts a grand total of ten entities holding a physical presence across the globe. Other countries with an IBKR headquarters are Canada, Australia, Japan, India, Singapore, Luxembourg, and the UK. Through these offices and more, IBKR serves more than 220 countries, catering to an excess of 1 million client accounts.
The company made a public statement about the matter at large, explaining that the new offices in Budapest come as a result of the Central European region showing higher levels of demand than before. In fact, more than a quarter of all accounts of Interactive Brokers are within the Europe and Africa regions. As it stands now, its US client base consists of only 20% of the new clients coming into the fold.
Coming From Budapest And Expanding Back Into It
Through its new Hungary offices, one could go as far as to say that IBKR has gone full circle. The Group itself was founded back in 1977 by one Thomas Peterffy, a US billionaire businessman born in Budapest, Ukraine, in 1944. After 55 years since his emigration to the US, doing so to escape communism at the time, Peterffy comes back to his homeland.
Peterffy gave a public statement about IBKR’s new Budapest offices, explaining that it will become the center of the company’s Central European operations. This move comes as a way to meet the pace of growth of accounts, which Peterffy said had been increasing across the globe. Through these new offices, Peterffy explained that capital markets could have their understanding and knowledge be spread all across IBKR’s current and future clients across Central Europe.
IBKR Making Hard Expansion Push
As it stands now, IBKR is pushing hard for international growth outside of the US, but that doesn’t mean that it’s abandoned its US roots. Indeed, a recent agreement was made between IBKR and Folio Investing to buy Folio’s self-directed retail brokerage segment. This comes as part of IBKR’s push to reach the Main Street investors.
The latest takeover from IBKR stands as a swirl of M&A comes within the industry at large. As it stands now, a possible deal earlier this year regarding IBKR and E-Trade forced the IBKR Founder to openly state that they had to pass on the chance after consideration, deeming it a risky bet.