Mission Statement
Fortrend helps Australians diversify into sectors of the economy not available on the ASX. The objective is to reduce risk and improve long term returns with high conviction advice. We offer U.S. domiciled stockbroking accounts.
Due to tax incentives, franking credits in particular, the Australian stock market is Austral-centric, income focused, and protectionist:
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Austral-Centric: Imputation encourages Australian companies to earn income in Australia to generate franking credits. Income earned offshore does not generate franking credits. Therefore, Australian listed companies have become Austral Centric.
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Income Focused: Investors in Australia prefer that Australian listed companies distribute franked income today, rather than invest for growth, which would generate taxable capital gains in the future.
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Protectionist: Foreign investors do not get the benefit of franking credits and are at a competitive disadvantage to Australian investors, particularly superannuation funds which get a rebate for taxes paid at the corporate level.
The net effect is that the Australian market provides very little global growth oriented investment opportunities.
Joe Forster
Fortrend Securities Pty. Ltd., Managing Director
Joe started his career in the Research Department at Smith Barney in New York, where he developed the Relative Value Model. Now, Joe publishes an RVM research report each month with his recommended core stocks. He has beaten the market on a consistent basis since founding Fortrend in 1992.
In the late 1980’s, Joe moved to Australia with a view to bridge the US and Australian capital markets. He worked as an investment banker reporting directly to the head of Merrill Lynch Australia.
Domus Tower, Inc, Chairman and Chief Executive
Domus has built and patented scalable blockchain to settle US equities. Domus owns patents on systems and methods to settle securities on an exchange using blockchain technology. The objective is to eliminate counter-party risk.
PCG Equity LLC
PCG Equity is a privately-held investment company that owns and manages for its own account over $1 Billion in assets. We buy C-corps and defer liabilities. With offices in New York, San Francisco and Atlanta, we focus on maximizing risk-adjusted returns while protecting and growing investment capital. My roll is to source acquisition opportunities.
Organizational Structure
Fortrend Securities Pty Ltd (FSA) (ACN 055 702 693) was established in 1992. It holds an Australian Financial Services Licence issued by ASIC. Fortrend is licensed to advise and deal for wholesale clients in equities, bonds, derivatives margin and FX.
FSA introduces accounts to Fortrend Securities Inc. (FSI) which is a US Stockbroking company. It is registered with the SEC and member of FINRA and SIPC. SIPC provides insurance against theft of assets. Click on links for details. Fortrend Securities Inc provides you with an extra layer of compliance and protection. FINRA typically goes over all our books and records every two years.
FSI introduces your account to a major Wall Street financial institution, who act as the clearing firm. As the clearing firm they are responsible for custody, trade execution, reporting and servicing (eg processing dividends, corporate actions and proxy material)
This means FSA is like the branch office of a major Wall Street investment bank, where we own the branch. This gives us the flexibility to write our own research and do other things a branch office would not be able to do, such as investment banking transactions.
