Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: IBKR) an automated global electronic broker, today reported its Electronic Brokerage monthly performance metrics for December.

Brokerage highlights for the month included:

  • 699 thousand Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs), 18% higher than prior year and 12% lower than prior month.
  • Ending client equity of $124.8 billion, 46% higher than prior year and 3% higher than prior month.
  • Ending client margin loan balances of $29.5 billion, 52% higher than prior year and 9% higher than prior month.
  • Ending client credit balances of $47.1 billion, 13% higher than prior year and even with prior month.
  • 483 thousand client accounts, 25% higher than prior year and 2% higher than prior month.
  • 342 annualized average cleared DARTs per client account.
  • Average commission per cleared client order of $4.00 including exchange, clearing and regulatory fees. Key products:
December 2017       Average Commission per       Average
Cleared Client Order Order Size
Stocks $2.46 2,340 shares
Equity Options $6.05 8.8 contracts
Futures $6.35 3.6 contracts

Futures include options on futures. We estimate exchange, clearing and regulatory fees to be 57% of the futures commissions.

Other financial information for Interactive Brokers Group:

  • GLOBAL1: The value of the GLOBAL, reported in U.S. dollars, increased by 0.20% in December. In 2017, the value of the GLOBAL increased by 3.06%.
  • Mark to market on U.S. government securities portfolio2 was a loss of $12.2 million in 2017.

In the interest of transparency, we quantify our clients’ all-in cost of trade execution below.

For the full multimedia release with graph see link:

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/MonthlyMetrics

  • In December, clients’ total cost of executing and clearing U.S. Reg.-NMS stocks through IB was 1.5 basis points of trade money3, as measured against a daily VWAP4 benchmark (1.3 basis points for the rolling twelve months).
             
Interactive Brokers Clients' Reg.-NMS Stock Trading Expense Detail
All amounts are in millions, except %
            Previous

Jan '17

Feb '17

Mar '17

Apr '17

May '17

Jun '17

Jul '17

Aug '17

Sep '17

Oct '17

Nov '17

Dec '17

12 Months

#1a - Number of orders
Buys 1.99 2.03 2.33 1.93 2.43 2.42 2.14 2.56 2.21 2.62 2.81 2.41 27.88
Sells 1.82     1.85     2.13     1.77     2.18     2.19     1.94     2.31     1.99     2.31     2.49     2.14     25.12  
Total 3.81 3.88 4.46 3.70 4.61 4.61 4.08 4.87 4.20 4.93 5.30 4.55 53.00
 
#1b - Number of shares purchased or sold
Shares bought 1,183 1,201 1,456 1,154 1,384 1,392 1,118 1,362 1,132 1,338 1,458 1,229 15,406
Shares sold 1,149     1,166     1,430     1,097     1,326     1,370     1,099     1,342     1,104     1,272     1,416     1,195     14,965  
Total 2,332 2,367 2,886 2,250 2,710 2,761 2,216 2,703 2,236 2,610 2,874 2,425 30,371
 
#2 - Trade money including price, commissions and fees
2a Buy money $37,640 $39,001 $45,935 $41,106 $49,315 $51,866 $43,360 $52,861 $43,069 $48,216 $52,730 $44,598 $549,697
2b Sell money $37,283     $38,352     $44,595     $39,680     $47,307     $51,049     $42,579     $52,151     $41,959     $46,505     $51,090     $43,199     $535,749  
2c Total $74,923 $77,353 $90,530 $80,786 $96,622 $102,915 $85,939 $105,013 $85,027 $94,720 $103,821 $87,797 $1,085,446
 
#3 - Trade value at Daily VWAP
3a Buy value $37,636 $39,002 $45,927 $41,098 $49,309 $51,867 $43,354 $52,852 $43,060 $48,209 $52,717 $44,594 $549,624
3b Sell value $37,284     $38,361     $44,598     $39,679     $47,316     $51,053     $42,584     $52,157     $41,959     $46,517     $51,096     $43,209     $535,812  
3c Total $74,920 $77,363 $90,526 $80,777 $96,625 $102,919 $85,937 $105,009 $85,019 $94,726 $103,813 $87,803 $1,085,436
 
#4 - Total trade expense, including commissions and fees, relative to Daily VWAP
4a Buys (2a-3a) $4.4 ($1.1 ) $7.6 $8.6 $6.2 ($0.3 ) $6.0 $9.1 $8.7 $6.6 $13.6 $3.9 $73.1
4b Sells (3b-2b) $0.4     $9.4     $3.3     ($0.8 )   $8.5     $4.0     $4.3     $5.5     $0.4     $12.2     $6.0     $9.5     $62.7  
4c Total trade expense $4.8 $8.3 $10.8 $7.9 $14.6 $3.7 $10.2 $14.7 $9.1 $18.8 $19.6 $13.4 $135.9
 
Trade expense as percentage of trade money
4c/2c 0.006 % 0.011 % 0.012 % 0.010 % 0.015 % 0.004 % 0.012 % 0.014 % 0.011 % 0.020 % 0.019 % 0.015 % 0.013 %
 
#5 - Trade expense categories
5a Total commissions & fees $9.3 $9.5 $11.4 $9.1 $10.8 $10.9 $9.3 $10.9 $9.3 $10.8 $11.8 $10.1 $123.2
5b Execution cost (4c-5a) ($4.6 ) ($1.2 ) ($0.6 ) ($1.3 ) $3.8 ($7.2 ) $1.0 $3.7 ($0.2 ) $7.9 $7.8 $3.3 $12.4
 
#6 - Trade expense categories as percentage of trade money
Total commissions & fees (5a/2c) 0.012 % 0.012 % 0.013 % 0.011 % 0.011 % 0.011 % 0.011 % 0.010 % 0.011 % 0.011 % 0.011 % 0.012 % 0.011 %
Execution cost (5b/2c) -0.006 %   -0.001 %   -0.001 %   -0.001 %   0.004 %   -0.007 %   0.001 %   0.004 %   0.000 %   0.009 %   0.008 %   0.003 %   0.002 %
Net Expense to IB Clients 0.006 % 0.011 % 0.012 % 0.010 % 0.015 % 0.004 % 0.012 % 0.014 % 0.011 % 0.020 % 0.019 % 0.015 % 0.013 %
 

The above illustrates that the rolling twelve months’ average all-in cost of a client U.S. Reg.-NMS stock trade was 1.3 basis points.

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Note 1: In connection with our currency diversification strategy, we have determined to base our net worth in GLOBALs, a basket of 14 major currencies in which we hold our equity. The total effect of the currency diversification strategy is reported in Comprehensive Income; the components are reported in (1) Other Income in the corporate segment and (2) Other Comprehensive Income (“OCI”) on the balance sheet. The effect of the GLOBAL on our comprehensive income can be estimated by multiplying the total equity for the period by the change in the U.S. dollar value of the GLOBAL during the same period.

Note 2: Mark to market gains and losses on investments in U.S. government securities and associated hedges are included in Other Income. In the general course of business, we hold these investments to maturity. As a result, accumulated mark to market gains or losses should converge to zero at maturity. Accounting conventions require broker-dealers, unlike banks, to mark all investments to market.

Note 3: Trade money is the total amount of money clients spent or received, including all commissions and fees.

Note 4: Consistent with the clients’ trading activity, the computed VWAP benchmark includes extended trading hours.

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More information, including historical results for each of the above metrics, can be found on the investor relations page of the Company’s corporate web site, www.interactivebrokers.com/ir.

About Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.: Interactive Brokers Group affiliates provide automated trade execution and custody of securities, commodities and foreign exchange around the clock on over 120 markets in numerous countries and currencies from a single IB Universal AccountSM to customers worldwide. We service individual investors, hedge funds, proprietary trading groups, financial advisors and introducing brokers. Our four decades of focus on technology and automation has enabled us to equip our customers with a uniquely sophisticated platform to manage their investment portfolios at the lowest cost according to Barron’s Best Online Brokers review, March 20, 2017. We strive to provide our customers with advantageous execution prices and trading, risk and portfolio management tools, research facilities and investment products, all at low prices, positioning them to achieve superior returns on investments.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

The foregoing information contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views with respect to certain current and future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are and will be, as the case may be, subject to many risks, uncertainties and factors relating to the company's operations and business environment which may cause the company's actual results to be materially different from any future results, expressed or implied, in these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to the company on the date of this release. The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any statements expressed or implied therein will not be realized. Additional information on risk factors that could potentially affect the company's financial results may be found in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.