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Stephen Klein: LOYAL3 is turning IPO stock into a powerful, new brand engagement currency

LOYAL3 first burst onto the investing scene a couple of years ago with a simple premise: connecting people with the brands they love and providing an easy, cheap way to invest in them. The company provides a creative model that's fee-free for investors. LOYAL3 has grown to include IPO and secondary stock offerings to its investors.
Stephen Klein, Chief Marketing Officer of LOYAL3, joins Tradestreaming for an interview about the company's roots, how investing in stocks has changed and is changing, and how LOYAL3 is approaching product and distribution in 2016.
Stephen Klein, LOYAL3[/caption]
LOYAL3 is a financial technology company that is transforming the capital markets and concept of stock ownership. For small retail investors, our platform provides a new, easy and affordable way to invest in today’s top brands, and gain access to IPOs at the same time and price as large institutions and investors, with no fees to buy or sell stock. And for companies, we provide an innovative way to engage their affinity groups and allocate IPO and public stock to their employees, customers, partners and fans.
The idea for LOYAL3 stemmed from the thesis that ownership builds loyalty, and that enabling employees, customers, etc., to own shares of a company’s stock creates a net positive— for companies, individual investors, and the investing model as a whole. Ownership is a powerful branding and behavioral currency, and everyone should have the ability to invest in the companies they have an affinity for. In short, people care more about things they own than things they don’t, and this principle works for brands.
What is LOYAL3 and what was the genesis story (what was the inspiration the founders had to start the company)?
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Has electronic trading and indexing changed the way investors think and behave with individual stocks?
Definitely. There’s been a fundamental shift in the way individuals invest. Investors are more engaged and want to have greater direct control over how they invest. There used to be a very limited set of investing options. But now, there’s a growing array of solutions that simplify the process, reduce or eliminate the fees charged by traditional brokerages, and cater toward each individual’s own personal investment needs.Are you targeting experienced investors or investors newer to the markets?
We believe investing should be easy and affordable for everyone, so we designed our platform with newer and smaller investors in mind—ease of use, no fees to buy or sell stock, and the ability to purchase fractional shares of coveted stocks with high per-share prices. LOYAL3’s platform also attracts more experienced investors, but because we do not permit short selling or share lending and batch our trade orders, this limits the appeal to institutional investors or active traders.