E*Trade momentum maintained

John Kavanagh
E*Trade has maintained its market-leading share of on-line broking customer acquisition since being taken over by ANZ.

The bank reported yesterday that E*Trade increased customer numbers by 25 per cent in the year to August, beating the market leader CommSec by three percentage points.

E*Trade customer numbers have doubled over the past couple of years (it bought HSBC Stockbroking during that period).

The broker lost several of its senior staff early in year - a result of uncertainty about its ownership.

Insiders said ANZ would have trouble integrating its acquisition but the bank appears to have dealt with any issues that arose from the takeover.