It is of interest to customers that IB is growing quickly and is financially secure. If IB were not growing I would know IB was not competitive and would look for a better deal.
Customers who care, though, would already know and see this without having to read about it here. Also, growth in customer assets is not necessarily indicative of anything. For example, I currently have an account with a broker with a balance sheet so small, it's scary. Yet, it's worth the risk for what they offer. A broker works well for me based on what they offer and how they operate. Once they are over a certain size (which IB passed long ago), their size has little to do with it.
True. Sure but it's not so much the size as IB's rate of growth. The rate of growth is impressive, no doubt. And it says a lot about IB. But... I worry that they might be growing faster than their systems can handle. Especially worrisome should a market event occur in the near future. In any event, of course not all of the growth (customer accounts) is in their retail arm given that retail accounts average $5-10k. With that in mind, I believe IB would make every effort to accomodate the needs of their institutional clients especially in the technology department.