Good News on Listing | Frost & Sullivan Assists Webull Corporation (Micro cattle company) in Successfully Going Public in the US (Nasdaq:BULL)

Webull Corporation (hereinafter referred to as 'Webull') successfully listed on the NASDAQ in the United States through a backdoor SPAC transaction on April 11, 2025. The company simultaneously issued no more than 64,221,920 common shares.

During the process of listing in the US, Frost & Sullivan mainly undertook the following tasks: helping the issuer accurately and objectively understand its positioning in the target market, using objective market data to discover, support, and highlight the issuer's competitive advantages, assisting the issuer, investment banks, and other intermediaries in completing the writing of relevant parts of the prospectus (such as the overview, competitive advantages and strategy, industry overview, business, and other important sections), helping the issuer communicate with the SEC and investors, assisting investors in quickly understanding the market ecosystem and competitive landscape, and assisting the issuer in completing feedback from regulatory authorities on various industry issues.

The securities industry refers to various venues for the issuance and trading of securities. The global securities market mainly includes markets for stocks, bonds, funds, derivatives, etc. Online securities trading refers to the method of submitting and executing transactions electronically or through online platforms. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, calculated by transaction volume, the market size of the global securities industry grew from $10 billion in 2016 to $15.34 trillion in 2020, with an annual compound growth rate of 11.3%. The market size is expected to continue growing at an annual compound rate of 9.3% from 2020 to 2025, reaching $23.97 trillion by 2025. Among them, the online market size reached $2.76 trillion in 2020, and the offline market size reached $12.58 trillion in 2020. Compared with the offline transaction volume of the global securities industry, online trading has shown a rapid development momentum due to the growing demand from individual investors. The annual compound growth rate from 2016 to 2020 reached 23.2%, and it is expected that the market size will reach $6.06 trillion by 2025, with a growth rate of 17.0% from 2020 to 2025.

Global securities industry market size, segmented by trading channels

Source: Frost & Sullivan report

According to market participants, the securities industry can be divided into individual investors and institutional investors. Individual investors refer to those who participate in the securities market in their own name, usually natural persons, who use their own funds for investment. Their investment decisions are mainly based on their personal financial status, investment objectives, and risk tolerance. Institutional investors refer to those who participate in the securities market in the form of legal entities or other organizations, typically including fund companies, insurance companies, banks, pension funds, enterprises, etc. These investors usually have professional investment teams and research support, and their capital scale is larger. In recent years, with the rapid development of Internet technology and the continuous opening up of financial markets, the Internet brokerage industry has embraced vigorous development opportunities. With its convenience, efficiency, and low cost, it has quickly attracted a large number of individual investors. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, calculated by transaction volume, the online securities trading scale of global individual investors increased from $3.5 trillion in 2016 to $8.8 trillion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.7%. The online securities trading scale of global institutional investors increased from $8.5 trillion in 2016 to $18.8 trillion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 22.1%. In the future, with the further development of technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence, the online trading volume of individual investors is expected to continue expanding. It is estimated that by 2025, the online trading scale of individual investors will reach $20.6 trillion, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.5% from 2020 to 2025, higher than the institutional investors' 16.3%.

Global online market size of the securities industry, segmented by market participants

Source: Frost & Sullivan report

According to different regional divisions, the global securities industry can be categorized into the United States, China, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and others based on the regions where their stock exchanges are located. Among them, the U.S. has the largest securities trading business volume, followed by China. Thanks to the high maturity of the U.S. capital market, as well as its complete legal framework and regulatory system, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ are the world's two largest stock exchanges. The Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China rank second, mainly due to the continuous growth of the Chinese economy over the past decade and the continuous accumulation of residents' wealth, which has provided sufficient financial support for securities trading. In addition, a series of policy supports introduced by China to promote the development of the capital market have also contributed to the prosperity of securities trading business. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, calculated by transaction volume, the U.S. had a securities trading scale of $70 trillion in 2020, accounting for 45.7% of the global securities market. China had a securities trading scale of $35.2 trillion that year, accounting for 22.9% of the global securities market. Hong Kong ranked fifth, accounting for 3.2%.

Global securities industry market size, by region

Source: Frost & Sullivan report

As the world's largest economy, the US financial market is not only massive in scale but also highly open and liquid. With the rise of internet brokerage services and transaction models with low or even zero commissions, individual investors are increasingly participating in the market. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, online securities trading by individual investors in the US stock market increased from $4.6 trillion in 2016 to $12.4 trillion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 28.2%. The online securities trading volume of institutional investors in the US stock market increased from $3.2 trillion in 2016 to $7.9 trillion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.5%. In the future, benefiting from the improved trading experience brought about by onlineization, individual investors in the US market are expected to reach a trading volume of $30.8 trillion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025 of 20.0%. The compound annual growth rate of institutional investors during this period is expected to be 15.9%.

Online market size of the US securities industry, segmented by market participants

Source: Frost & Sullivan report

As one of the world's important financial centers, Hong Kong's status is reflected not only in its massive market size and high degree of internationalization but also in its role as a bridge connecting the Chinese mainland with international capital markets. With the rapid development of fintech and investors' increasing demand for convenient and efficient trading services, Hong Kong's internet brokerage industry has risen rapidly. Through technological innovation and user experience optimization, it has provided investors with a diverse range of financial products and services. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, calculated by trading volume, the online securities trading scale of individual investors in Hong Kong's securities market increased from $226.3 billion in 2016 to $683.2 billion in 2020, with an annual compound growth rate of 31.8%. The online securities trading scale of institutional investors in Hong Kong's securities market increased from $150.2 billion in 2016 to $439.2 billion in 2020, with an annual compound growth rate of 30.8%. In the future, benefiting from the acceleration of digital transformation, individual investors in Hong Kong's market are expected to reach a trading volume of $2.2 trillion by 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of 26.7% from 2020 to 2025. The annual compound growth rate of institutional investors during this period is expected to be 24.1%.

Online market size of the Hong Kong securities industry, segmented by market participants

Source: Frost & Sullivan report

The internet brokerage industry refers to brokerage platforms that specialize in providing various product investments and trading services to individual investors through digital methods. They mainly offer brokerage and value-added services to investors via mobile terminals, and provide different pricing and subscription models. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, calculated by transaction volume in 2020, the top five internet brokers had a total transaction volume of $1.8 trillion in the US securities market. Robinhood ranked first with a total transaction volume of $1.3 trillion, followed by Webull with $169.6 billion, and it has the highest growth rate in securities trading volume among the top five internet brokers.

US internet brokerage rankings, by trading volume (2020)

Source: Frost & Sullivan report

● Constantly breaking through technical boundaries

The development of the internet has brought about tremendous changes to people's lifestyles, and the use of mobile phones has become a habit in daily life. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, the number of internet users in the United States increased from 280 million in 2016 to 300 million in 2020, with an annual compound growth rate of 1.8%. In 2020, the penetration rate of internet users in the United States exceeded 90%. At the same time, the number of active smartphone users in the United States is also growing rapidly, forming a large user base that provides a solid foundation for the internet brokerage industry. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, the number of active smartphone users in the United States increased from 262 million in 2016 to 315 million in 2020, with an annual compound growth rate of 4.7%. In addition, the smartphone penetration rate has also increased, from 77% in 2015 to 84% in 2020, with an average annual compound growth rate of 2.2%. In addition to the growth of the user base, significant technological progress has also supported innovation in the brokerage industry. Technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence have laid a solid foundation for internet brokerage trading platforms in enriching product offerings and enhancing user experience.

● Growing number of young investors

According to a Frost & Sullivan report, individual investors contribute about a quarter of the total trading volume in US financial markets. Young individual investors differ from previous generations in terms of investment choices, habits, and handling market information. The 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) survey shows that a higher proportion of investors aged 18 to 34 trade through digital platforms, while the proportion of those aged 35 and above conducting transactions this way is much lower, especially through mobile applications. This indicates that young investors tend to prefer technology-driven products because they better match their consumption patterns and provide market information more efficiently and conveniently. At the same time, young investors are keen on using platforms that offer more trading services. As shown by the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), investors aged 18 to 34 have a higher proportion of margin accounts than those aged 35 and above, and the older the sample group, the lower the proportion with these services. An increasing number of young investors will bring more business expansion opportunities to the internet brokerage industry, especially in providing a wide range of financial services and products.

● Gradually lowering investment thresholds

Technological progress has enabled internet brokerage firms to actively develop products and integrate supplementary services, such as providing investment education through online community platforms. These features not only lower the investment threshold for individual investors but also help them make high-quality investment decisions, thereby significantly enhancing their confidence in investment choices. At the same time, internet brokerage trading platforms further reduce investors' transaction commissions by offering different financial products (such as fractional shares), thereby lowering the investment threshold. As a result, more individual investors can participate in the trading market, providing a larger customer base for the development of the internet brokerage industry in the United States.

●Diversified businesses

Internet securities firms that rely solely on a single business find it difficult to support the company's long-term and sustainable development, as well as maintain market share in the face of intensified industry competition. Horizontal business expansion in financial service products has become an inevitable trend for market participants in the securities brokerage industry, covering areas such as indices, options, funds, asset management, investment consulting, etc. In addition, other related services, such as investor education through forums and online communities, can make users more inclined to participate in information exchange, stimulate trading activities, and improve customer loyalty.

● Technological innovation

With the increasing popularity of online transactions, market participants' trading proficiency is constantly improving. In order to compete with other online securities brokers, internet stockbrokers actively invest in research and development activities to create innovative products to attract investors. In addition to utilizing internal technical resources, some leading securities brokers also cooperate with internet giants such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) to integrate innovative technologies into the financial industry. High-tech such as big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing can efficiently manage customer and market data while reducing risks of threats and compliance issues.

● Enriched market information

Technological progress and the rise of online securities brokerage services have enabled investors to obtain more market data, including basic financial information such as stock price trends, relative value assessments, liquidity assessments, and other supplementary information such as company operations, background information, historical performance, related news, industry research and analysis. Investors are becoming increasingly accustomed to using market information to facilitate their investment decision-making process, making the market database capabilities of internet brokers increasingly important in retaining customers and enhancing customer loyalty.

●Investment globalization

The gradual maturity of global financial markets has enabled individual investors to construct global investment portfolios, thereby better managing asset risks and increasing the diversity of asset allocation. Compared with traditional securities brokers, online brokers have an advantage in supporting globalization investment due to their more advanced technical infrastructure, which allows them to be closely connected with different financial markets around the world. Leading market participants in the US internet brokerage industry have already provided global market trading functions through single client accounts. As customer demand for global investment increases, this is likely to shape the future trends of the online brokerage industry.