SPANISH AND ITALIAN ONLINE BROKERS LEAPFROG AMERICAN AND UK BROKERS INTO THE TOP 15 IN EUROPE ACCORDING TO BLUESKY RATIN

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BlueSky International, a leading provider of internet market research for banks and brokers, released today its independent comparisons and ratings of European and US Internet brokers for September 2000. The quarterly BlueSky Ratings™, first launched in March this year, covers eBrokers in nine countries in Europe as well as the best of the U.S. for European Investors.

«Since June, there have been a number of improvements to eBroker sites, particularly in Spain, Italy and France,» said Suzan Nolan, President and Lead Market Analyst for BlueSky International.. «While the four largest German eBrokers – Comdirect, Consors, Direkt Anlage and Brokerage24 – continue to lead the pack, a Spanish site, eBankinter, has claimed the number 5 spot, leapfrogging over banking behemoths UBS and e-banking.com from Fortis. French, Italian and Spanish sites dominate the next 10 of the top 15, and it’s notable that none of the UK players nor the American brokers that have come into Europe, can be found in the top ranks. Conventional wisdom is that leadership in the financial world is found in the U.S. or U.K. Our wholly comparable cross-border ratings show that when it comes to multi country online broker sites in Europe, the Continental Europeans are showing the way to expand across borders. In particular, Self Trade and Deutsche Bank have been successful in exporting their know-how into multiple markets.»

Expert users at BlueSky, serving as proxies for private investors, compared more than 500 features on a select list of more than 200 eBroker sites, including ease of navigation, user friendliness, simplicity and customer service response. In the September BlueSky Ratings, additional weight was given to sites that offered trading in multiple markets, an extensive selection of funds, unit trusts and tools to select them, as well as investor education and advanced customization.

 

The Top 15 European eBrokers

According to the September 2000 BlueSky Ratings

 

The BlueSky Ratings™ cover the top seven online brokers in nine European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands , Spain, Switzerland and UK, plus the best US brokers for European residents. Eight key decision points are compared for each, such as the number of markets traded, the languages offered and the IPO and mutual fund offerings. There is also an easy link that enables the user to ask for more information. The BlueSky Ratings can be found in the «Brokers» section of the www.EuropeanInvestor.com site and on the www.TradeinEuros.com site. An explanation of the methodology and criteria used for the ratings can be found on http://blueskyinc.com/methodology.html .

 

FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES, BELOW ARE THE JUNE 2000 TOP 15

 

 

About BlueSky International Marketing, Inc.

BlueSky International Marketing Inc., is the leader in providing accurate facts and insight about the international Internet to financial services companies world-wide since 1997. BlueSky’s original research and analysis identifies competitive opportunities, provides industry benchmarks, anticipates key trends and compares market direction on the Internet across multiple countries in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. BlueSky Ratings™ is the first independent, cross- border Internet rating service that helps people find the deal and service that’s best for them.