OptionsHouse, Inc., an online retail and institutional brokerage firm, announced the results of its first annual survey that reveals the characteristics and trading habits of online options investors; and what they seek from an online options broker.

The survey, titled "The OptionsHouse 2008 Online Options Investor Study", which was conducted by Chicago-based Monogram Group on behalf of OptionsHouse. Among the survey's key findings, 60 percent of respondents said they are trading more than they were 12 months ago. Seventy-nine percent of traders reported online trading is not their primary source of income. And only 10 percent said they find options trading stressful.

Of the 720 options traders who completed the online survey in November, 2007, most said they traded options for a variety of reasons, including:

- 74 percent said they do so for short term gains
- 59 percent said they invest in options as an alternative to buying
stock
- 34 percent said they trade as an investment hedge

Options investors share many traits, such as age, gender and education, the survey found:

- 91 percent of options traders are men
- 57 percent of options traders are between 45 and 64 years of age
- 76 percent are college graduates (32 percent have graduate degrees)
- 60 percent have traded options for 5 years or less
- 44 percent of traders have been with an online options firm for less
than 2 years
- 27 percent are retired
- 56 percent reported a household income of greater than $100,000

Scott Brueggeman, chief marketing officer of OptionsHouse, commented: "With the rapid growth and change taking place in the options industry, we felt it was time to assess the behavior and demographics of options traders. We found it encouraging that online options investors are executing more trades than they were 12 months ago. The survey also showed options trading is gaining wider acceptance among individual investors."

"At the same time, the industry needs to educate younger investors and women if it is to grow faster," Brueggeman said. "There is an opportunity to expand the options investing community beyond men in their 40's and 50's."

Online Brokerage Accounts

According to the OptionsHouse survey, there are core features that online options traders seek from their brokerage firm. On a scale from 1-10 (where 1 is not at all important and 10 is very important), the following features were rated as a 9 and 10 (top 2 box).

- 84 percent of respondents view "real time" quotes as being very
important
- 80 percent reported "reliable execution" as very important
- 69 percent viewed "customer service" as very important
- 67 percent reported "low flat-rate pricing" as being very important
- 60 percent said that "overall least expensive commissions" as being
very important

"These results show that an online options broker must, at the bare minimum, provide a reliable and transparent site to compete in the marketplace," Brueggeman said. "Online features such as 'real time data feeds', 'real time quotes' and 'strong security' proved to be important as well as low, flat-rate pricing."