Even in a year full of surprises on Wall Street, this one stands out: A Chinese-owned brokerage has quietly built one of the fastest-growing retail trading platforms in the U.S. Webull, founded by Alibaba alum Wang Anquan, has increased its roster of brokerage clients by about tenfold this year, to more than 2m, by offering free stock trades with a slick online interface.
“Retail users focus more on whether their brokers’ trading systems and data are reliable and user-friendly,” says May Zhao, the deputy head of research at Zhongtai Financial International Ltd., a Hong Kong-based brokerage. “Political tension is a secondary concern.”