CMC Markets: Next Gen Finance

CMC is transitioning into a multi-asset financial platform that captures value across trading, investing, and capital markets infrastructure. Its D2C platform now spans both short-term trading and long-term investing, while its PTAS/API offering allows banks and fintechs to embed CMC’s infrastructure into their own ecosystems. This creates multiple revenue streams across retail and institutional clients. Crucially, the API model enables distribution at scale without the need for direct customer acquisition, which structurally improves margins and scalability. Over time, the addition of tokenised assets and digital infrastructure could further expand the opportunity set, positioning CMC as a gateway to both traditional and next-generation finance.

CMC’s Australian investing business is one of the most underappreciated parts of the story. It is delivering record performance, with strong growth in assets under administration, client accounts, and trading volumes. The business is now firmly established as a leading stockbroker in the region and continues to grow faster than the legacy trading division. The transformational Westpac partnership is expected to significantly expand the customer base and increase volumes by ~45% over time, creating a step-change in scale. Despite this, many investors still anchor on CMC as a UK trading business, meaning this growth is not fully reflected in valuation.

CMC operates in a highly attractive UK spread betting market that effectively functions as a duopoly. This creates strong pricing power, high margins, and a defensible competitive position. The business benefits from long-standing client relationships, brand trust, and regulatory barriers to entry, which limit new competition. This segment continues to generate consistent cash flow, even as the business evolves. Importantly, this cash flow funds investment into growth areas such as investing and B2B infrastructure, allowing CMC to transition without external capital while maintaining shareholder returns.

• TradingView Integration: The partnership with TradingView is expected to enhance visibility and onboarding of retail clients globally, particularly among active traders already using the charting platform. This should drive both client acquisition and engagement within the trading vertical.

• Bermuda Office Launch: The recent Bermuda launch opens access to new regulatory-friendly jurisdictions and international clients, supporting faster expansion into crypto and digital asset services, while providing 24/7 support for global user flows.

• Westpac & ASB Bank go-live: Both Australian stockbroking white-labels are in build phase and targeted for launch during 2027, materially scaling the investing platform.

• UK Cash ISA Growth: With strong early inflows and minimal marketing spend, CMC’s digital cash ISA offering in the UK is poised for growth. As interest rates stabilise, the platform is likely to cross-sell ISAs, general investment accounts and SIPPs to new retail clients.

• Multi-Asset Wallet Deployment: The development of a single wallet for managing fiat, crypto, equities and tokenised assets will mark a major milestone in CMC’s transformation. This interface is designed to bridge the gap between traditional investing and Web 3.0 participation.

• Tokenisation at Scale: As regulatory clarity improves and investor appetite grows, CMC plans to scale access to tokenised products across public and private markets. This initiative positions CMC as a key infrastructure provider in the next wave of financial services innovation.

Customer acquisition remains one of the most competitive dynamics in retail trading and investing. New entrants and well-funded fintech platforms continue to invest heavily in marketing, pricing incentives, and user experience. This can increase customer acquisition costs and extend payback periods, particularly in quieter market environments. While CMC’s API strategy reduces reliance on direct acquisition, the core D2C business still requires ongoing investment. If competitors continue to outspend or differentiate more effectively, growth rates and margins could come under pressure.

Client retention is a critical driver of long-term value, particularly in retail trading where activity levels fluctuate with market conditions. Churn can increase during periods of low volatility or when users migrate to alternative platforms offering new features or incentives. CMC is addressing this through broader product offerings, such as investing, ISAs, and international equities and improved platform functionality. However, maintaining high engagement and increasing lifetime value remains an execution challenge, especially as users increasingly operate across multiple platforms.

CMC’s relatively low free float reduces liquidity in its shares, which can limit participation from large institutional investors. This can suppress valuation multiples compared to more liquid peers and reduce the likelihood of index inclusion. Even as fundamentals improve, share price performance may lag if liquidity constraints remain. Over time, increased scale or structural changes could improve this, but it remains a key consideration for investors today.