Hey guys, thanks for the comments. Yes, I guess it is pretty much as I suspected - at the end of the day it's going to come down to the relationship with the broker. I can certainly apply for accounts with some of them, but I guess they're not going to look too favourably upon me at IPO time if I don't trade with them fairly regularly between times. I guess I have to come to a decision as to whether I am happy to change my style of trading.
I spoke to a couple of brokers last week but unfortunately I suffer from being a little too honest - told them the situation and the fact that I really like to make my own trading decisions and the main reason I'd want an account was for access to IPO's. But since I am in it for capital gain they are always going to get the sell order from me (at the absolute worst case scenario).The Bell Potter lady was still happy for me to apply, but the Morgans broker changed his mind. At first he said that'd be OK but then he called back and said that basically since I don't appreciate what he does he won't make enough out of it and the relationship isn't going to work out!
It's not that I don't appreciate what he does - there is most certainly a purpose for brokers, however I guess for me personally there isn't a high level of value-add attached to it. I was totally expectant that I would need to prepare for the fact that my IPO apps might be highly scaled since I wouldn't be one of their most active customers, but must admit that I was a little surprised that he turned my business down flat out since there wasn't enough in it for him. Surely they would have plenty of Mum's and Dad's on their books who don't trade actively with them?! That'll teach me to be overly honest...