I expect subscription will stick around the 5% of revenue mark, or slowly trend towards 6%+ once growth slows down (since currently they add 20%+ to members per quarter who will all be on the 90 day free trial, and haven't even had time to convert to become paying subscribers).
But I think the company hasn't focused on improving subscription for years. So in my view, it's only a minor contributor and therefore it might be better to either: improve it with better features (to convert more people), or simply make it free so all members get the benefits. Is wasn't enough features to convince me personally to pay. Maybe they could give subscription members personalised automated performance/portfolio reports every quarter - like the weekly performance emails, but more thorough.
I think management see ETF as higher value, though it's yet to prove itself. That would be the nice passive annuity style income, if it can be grown.
At least the January news is positive, moving us closer to break even, so we'll have some breathing room to wait on ETF (and advisor).
A side thought - RBA holding rates steady this week was nice. Any RBA cuts are doubly annoying, since I think every dollar from subscription or interest is worth double as much as each dollar from trade revenue, since I expect interest/subscription would have near 100% gross margin, while trades might have <50% gross margin. Because any increase in trades would have an associated variable expenses (cost of providing brokerage), while additional interest/subscription revenue is cost free. With scale, additional client cash might allow for a little improved negotiating power, and the increasing trades would hopefully allow the same.
In that regard, seeing client cash +19.9% in 1 month is sweet, and RBA holding rates steady this week takes the pressure off for a month at least, giving the company more opportunity to improve cashflow.
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