Interactive Brokers Group Reports Brokerage Metrics and Other Financial Information for February 2021, Includes Reg.-NMS Execution Statistics

Rhea-AI Summary

Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR) reported significant growth in its February metrics. Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) reached 3,695K, up 175% year-over-year and 12% month-over-month. Ending client equity soared to $329.9 billion, reflecting a 94% increase from the prior year. Client margin loan balances grew to $42.1 billion, a 46% rise year-over-year. Additionally, client accounts increased to 1,265K, a 76% year-over-year rise. The average commission per cleared order was $2.30, and trade execution costs for IBKR PRO clients were about 4.6 basis points of trade money.

Positive

• DARTs increased 175% year-over-year to 3,695 thousand.
• Client equity rose to $329.9 billion, up 94% from the previous year.
• Client margin loan balances reached $42.1 billion, a 46% increase year-over-year.
• Client accounts grew to 1,265 thousand, a 76% year-over-year rise.
• Average commission per cleared order was $2.30.

Negative

• N/A

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

Brokerage highlights for the month included:

• 3,695 thousand Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs)¹, 175% higher than prior year and 12% higher than prior month.
• Ending client equity of $329.9 billion, 94% higher than prior year and 5% higher than prior month.
• Ending client margin loan balances of $42.1 billion, 46% higher than prior year and 3% higher than prior month.
• Ending client credit balances of $85.0 billion, including $2.8 billion in insured bank deposit sweeps², 43% higher than prior year and 3% higher than prior month.
• 1,265 thousand client accounts, 76% higher than prior year and 6% higher than prior month.
• 679 annualized average cleared DARTs¹ per client account.
• Average commission per cleared Commissionable Order³ of $2.30 including exchange, clearing and regulatory fees. Key products:

February 2021		Average Commission per			Average
		Cleared Commissionable Order			Order Size
Stocks		$1.81			2,830 shares
Equity Options		$3.55			6.7 contracts
Futures		$4.29			2.9 contracts

Futures include options on futures. We estimate exchange, clearing and regulatory fees to be 56% of the futures commissions.

Other financial information for Interactive Brokers Group:

• GLOBAL⁴: The value of the GLOBAL, reported in U.S. dollars, decreased by 0.14% in February.

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

For the full multimedia release with graph see link:
https://www.interactivebrokers.com/MonthlyMetrics

• In February, IBKR PRO clients’ total cost of executing and clearing U.S. Reg.-NMS stocks through IB was about 4.6 basis points of trade money⁵, as measured against a daily VWAP⁶ benchmark (2.4 basis points net cost for the rolling twelve months).

IBKR PRO Clients' Reg.-NMS Stock Trading Expense Detail
All amounts are in millions, except %
																										Previous
	Mar '20		Apr '20		May '20		Jun '20		Jul '20		Aug '20		Sep '20		Oct '20		Nov '20		Dec '20		Jan '21		Feb '21			12 Months
#1a - Number of orders
Buys	8.15		7.22		6.61		8.47		7.75		7.19		8.12		7.86		9.77		11.49		15.46		18.42			116.51
Sells	6.37		5.64		5.12		6.60		5.95		5.53		6.09		6.01		7.61		8.25		11.33		13.19			87.69
Total	14.52		12.86		11.73		15.07		13.70		12.72		14.21		13.87		17.38		19.74		26.79		31.61			204.20
#1b - Number of shares purchased or sold
Shares bought	3,835		3,530		2,896		4,004		3,376		2,742		2,614		2,834		3,778		4,166		5,907		6,417			46,097
Shares sold	3,698		3,258		2,649		3,779		3,165		2,620		2,512		2,660		3,574		3,824		5,488		6,052			43,278
Total	7,533		6,787		5,544		7,784		6,541		5,361		5,126		5,493		7,352		7,990		11,395		12,469			89,375
#2 - Trade money including price, commissions and fees
2a Buy money	$146,660		$121,940		$105,972		$131,186		$119,673		$109,579		$124,497		$110,098		$132,293		$136,858		$161,779		$171,280			$1,571,816
2b Sell money	$149,232		$118,489		$101,705		$126,528		$115,442		$105,936		$122,504		$107,298		$128,291		$130,548		$156,739		$167,064			$1,529,777
2c Total	$295,892		$240,429		$207,677		$257,713		$235,115		$215,515		$247,002		$217,396		$260,584		$267,406		$318,518		$338,344			$3,101,593
#3 - Trade value at Daily VWAP
3a Buy value	$146,684		$121,907		$105,961		$131,167		$119,639		$109,540		$124,425		$110,073		$132,284		$136,867		$161,613		$171,092			$1,571,250
3b Sell value	$149,238		$118,459		$101,741		$126,570		$115,479		$105,953		$122,523		$107,317		$128,297		$130,658		$156,683		$167,032			$1,529,951
3c Total	$295,921		$240,366		$207,702		$257,737		$235,117		$215,494		$246,947		$217,390		$260,581		$267,524		$318,296		$338,124			$3,101,200
#4 - Total trade expense, including commissions and fees, relative to Daily VWAP
4a Buys (2a-3a)	($23.5)		$33.5		$11.0		$18.6		$34.8		$39.0		$72.7		$25.5		$9.1		($9.2)		$166.5		$187.9			$565.7
4b Sells (3b-2b)	$5.2		($29.3)		$36.0		$42.7		$36.7		$17.8		$18.1		$19.1		$6.4		$109.1		($55.7)		($32.5)			$173.5
4c Total trade expense	($18.3)		$4.2		$47.0		$61.2		$71.5		$56.8		$90.8		$44.5		$15.5		$99.9		$110.8		$155.5			$739.2
Trade expense as percentage of trade money
4c/2c	-0.006%		0.002%		0.023%		0.023%		0.030%		0.026%		0.037%		0.020%		0.006%		0.037%		0.035%		0.046%			0.024%
#5 - Trade expense categories
5a Total commissions & fees	$31.9		$27.8		$24.2		$31.8		$26.8		$23.3		$23.8		$23.9		$29.3		$33.1		$45.8		$49.1			$370.8
5b Execution cost (4c-5a)	($50.2)		($23.6)		$22.8		$29.4		$44.6		$33.5		$67.0		$20.6		($13.9)		$66.8		$64.9		$106.4			$368.3
#6 - Trade expense categories as percentage of trade money
Total commissions & fees (5a/2c)	0.011%		0.012%		0.012%		0.012%		0.011%		0.011%		0.010%		0.011%		0.011%		0.012%		0.015%		0.015%			0.012%
Execution cost (5b/2c)	-0.017%		-0.010%		0.011%		0.011%		0.019%		0.015%		0.027%		0.009%		-0.005%		0.025%		0.020%		0.031%			0.012%
Net Expense to IB Clients	-0.006%		0.002%		0.023%		0.023%		0.030%		0.026%		0.037%		0.020%		0.006%		0.037%		0.035%		0.046%			0.024%

The above illustrates that the rolling twelve months’ average all-in cost of an IBKR PRO client U.S. Reg.-NMS stock trade was 2.4 basis points.

________________
Note 1: Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) – customer orders divided by the number of trading days in the period.

Note 2: FDIC insured client bank deposit sweep program balances with participating banks. These deposits are not reported in the Company’s statement of financial condition.

Note 3: Commissionable Order – a customer order that generates commissions.

Note 4: In connection with our currency diversification strategy, we have determined to base our net worth in GLOBALs, a basket of 10 major currencies in which we hold our equity. The total effect of the currency diversification strategy is reported in Comprehensive Income and the components are reported in (1) Other Income 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 5: Trade money is the total amount of money clients spent or received, including all commissions and fees.

Note 6: Consistent with the clients’ trading activity, the computed VWAP benchmark includes extended trading hours.

_________________
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 135 markets in numerous countries and currencies, from a single IBKR Integrated Investment Account to clients 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 clients with a uniquely sophisticated platform to manage their investment portfolios. We strive to provide our clients with advantageous execution prices and trading, risk and portfolio management tools, research facilities and investment products, all at low or no cost, positioning them to achieve superior returns on investments. Barron’s ranked Interactive Brokers #1 with 5 out of 5 stars in its February 26, 2021, Best Online Broker Review.

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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005778/en/

FAQ

What were Interactive Brokers' February 2023 DARTs figures?

In February 2023, Interactive Brokers reported DARTs of 3,695 thousand, which is a 175% increase compared to the same month last year.

How much did ending client equity increase in February 2023 for IBKR?

Ending client equity for Interactive Brokers in February 2023 reached $329.9 billion, a 94% increase from the prior year.

What are the margin loan balances reported by Interactive Brokers for February 2023?

The ending client margin loan balances for February 2023 were $42.1 billion, showing a 46% increase from the same month last year.

How many client accounts did Interactive Brokers have in February 2023?

Interactive Brokers reported having 1,265 thousand client accounts in February 2023, a 76% increase compared to the previous year.

What was the average commission per cleared order for IBKR in February 2023?

The average commission per cleared order for Interactive Brokers in February 2023 was $2.30.