Are you interested in investing in the capital market but are unaware of the process?
Many people find it challenging to understand the technicalities in selecting stocks and therefore choose not to explore the market. Well, before you get to choose from your options, it is essential to understand the basics of this industry. Who are the people you will be dealing with, and how are they going to help you in trading securities.
Let us understand these terms individually.
Who is a broker?
A broker is a market professional who buys and sells securities on behalf of the investors through a brokerage account.
A live example could be the investments people make online or through investment apps. The person or entity acting as a bridge between people and authorities to facilitate transactions can be considered a broker or an agent.
Who is a Dealer?
A dealer is also a market professional but buys and sells securities for itself and performs trades on its behalf involving its own money.
You must have often heard big financial firms buying and trading securities for themselves from their account. Individuals or companies dealing in this manner are dealers.
Now let’s look at the meaning of these terms together.
What is a Broker-Dealer?
A Broker-Dealer is a person or a firm that performs the function of both a broker and a dealer. A Broker-Dealer trades securities for its account or on behalf of its customers.
Acting as a broker, the broker-dealer purchases and makes security transactions for its customers from a brokerage account or an offshore brokerage account, but while working as a dealer, the broker-dealer is trading securities and stocks for its own firm from the company’s brokerage account.
There are two types of Broker-Dealers
- A company that sells its products and securities to investors.
- An independent Broker-Dealer or a firm that sells third-party securities to its customers.
Financial advisors are often mistaken for broker-dealers, but the main difference is that Broker-Dealers have the option to act as a dealer or an agent for their clients. In contrast, financial advisors are restricted to only providing their expert opinion to the clients, they cannot perform transactions on behalf of the investors.
Advantages of having a broker-dealer
- Broker-dealer has access to both the agent and the principal arena and its insights.
- Broker-dealers have shared liability with the investors on the security transactions.
- They provide the infrastructure that otherwise would be very expensive for the investors.
As broker-dealers, these firms in the market include the dealers and other conventional organizations, commercial banks, and investment banks. Many boutique securities broker-dealers also provide these services to various industry clients. Companies in countries like the Cayman Islands must register with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority to regulate securities trades and ensure capital safety for investors and cayman islands securities broker-dealers.
So broker-dealers are significant assets that help you multiply your portfolio by choosing suitable securities. With people looking to invest in the market due to the change of perception, now is the right time for you to hire broker-dealers to get an edge over other investors.