A good Bloomberg article on the origin and growth of Futu during COVID. Futu was founded by Tencent’s 18th employee who left to start the business after growing frustrated with the software he used to trade Hong Kong stocks.
Retail investors have always been a driving force in China’s stock market, but with the pandemic keeping people home, more amateur traders have emerged. Futu reported a 60% surge in new paying clients -- those with assets in their trading accounts -- in the first quarter, with much of it coming from Hong Kong. Big-name stocks like Tencent, Tesla and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. fueled the surge during the peak of China’s coronavirus crisis in February, according to a statement.