Today, brokers are increasingly diversified in their services, with many third parties offering additional services, but the ease of integration is a major factor in their consideration。TipRanks' new MetaTrader plugin is hitting that sore point。

TipRanks, a provider of institutional-grade data and research tools for retail investors, has developed a plugin for the MetaTrader trading platform。The plugin provides access to TipRank stock screening tools, as well as analyst recommendations。CFI has become the first broker to integrate TipRanks through MetaTrader。

New new MetaTrader plugin

Joseph Craven, Global Head of Enterprise Solutions at TipRanks, noted that the TipRanks plugin can now be used under the "Expert Advisors" area of the MetaTrader platform, simplifying integration with any broker platform.。While China International Capital Corporation Limited (CFI) is the first company to use the plugin exclusively, other brokers will soon use the plugin as well.。

Craven said of the new plugin: "Now every broker can have a conversation with us.。I want to help brokers commercialize products as soon as they are launched with minimal technical effort and development effort。"

The plug-in provides the same data as TipRanks' general product, displaying complex stock research data sets in a simple and easy-to-understand format。It will also include the analyst's target price, implied ups and downs, and analyst rating consensus.。

TipRanks' clients include more than 100 banks and brokers around the world, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain。Recently, it entered the Japanese market in partnership with Rakuten.。In addition, it has partnered with Futu's Hong Kong subsidiary to enter the Chinese market.。

TipRanks specifically for brokers offering stock trading。While partnerships have been established with some large companies, the focus has been on small brokers offering hundreds of stocks.。

Craven said: "We are disrupting the research sector and TipRanks will launch Hong Kong shares soon.。"Although there is no timetable for the launch of Hong Kong stock research, it is expected that the market will be launched in the first quarter of 2024.。

Customizable products

As Craven says, TipRanks' new MetaTrader plugin can be further customized: "We can customize it to carry some of the identity of each broker and help them customize some of the user interface.。We have a professional service team of user interface and user experience experts at TipRanks, and we are happy to serve them。Of course, it depends on the level of complexity the broker wants.。"

He added: "We can add more tools and continue to add more data sets, so it doesn't have to look so single; it can look and feel slightly different.。If there is a need, they can use the ready-made version。They can also customize some things, but at some extra cost。We want to create synergies with brokers and their users.。"

In addition, the TipRanks plugin is fully synchronized with the services provided by any broker-if the broker offers 500 stocks, it will display research on 500 stocks; if the broker offers 5,000 stocks, it will also match this number。

It should be noted that TipRanks did not work with MetaTrader to develop the plugin。MetaQuotes, the developer of MetaTrader, allows any third party to seamlessly develop plugins using the tools in its library。

MetaTrader 5 Plugin

However, the plugin is currently only available for MetaTrader 5。While MetaQuotes is pushing MT5, the traditional MT4 is still popular。MT4 still dominates most of the market when it comes to forex and contract for difference (CFD) trading。The data shows that in the second quarter of 2023, MT4 still occupied about 44% of the market share, followed by MT5, occupying nearly 33% of the market share。

"We developed this special plugin for MetaTrader 5。We do have MetaTrader 4, but it hasn't been launched yet。We're in development, "Craven added.。

With this plugin, TipRanks greatly expands its target market。While its services can be integrated into any trading platform, the sheer number of brokers using MetaTrader will open up a vast market for its equity research tools.。

"There are 1,500 small brokers," Craven said.。"They may each be responsible for 100 or 500 stocks, and foreign exchange trading is their main business.。But they may consider providing data on these limited stocks and increasing participation in them。"

Talking about the way to measure the performance of the TipRanks plugin, Craven revealed that while there is no official indicator for this, he believes the number of retail brokers using the plugin could be a key parameter。

"After integrating TipRanks, the participation and trading volume of stock products will be greatly improved.。He added: "So my measure of success is that brokers who are potentially focused on stocks and think I should be involved in trading stocks start coming to us and integrating with us."。"

Continued expansion through acquisitions

Earlier this year, TipRanks acquired The Fly, a New Jersey-based digital publisher of financial news that has been around since 1998.。The two companies continue to operate independently and the acquisition is particularly strategic.。

"The Fly is an amazing brand in its own right.。As a result, we operate as two independent companies under the same。We don't want to change The Fly's brand, but there's a lot of The Fly on the platform。In our dealings with large brokers and banks, we work in tandem with The Fly to sell The Fly's market intelligence, breaking news and more as add-ons to TipRanks content, "he added.。"The Fly's breaking news is very hot, as only a single stock market is released and updated the fastest.。