Welcome to the Investors Trading Academy talking glossary of financial terms and events. Our word of the day is “Broker”
A broker is a person or firm that conducts transactions on behalf of a client. Some brokers only conduct transactions while others also offer different types of investment advisory services. Brokers derive their profit from commissions on orders given.
That is, they usually collect a percentage of the value of each transaction, though some charge flat fees. Clients may give orders in a variety of ways. One may meet with a broker, call on the telephone, or give orders over the Internet. Brokers handle two main types of brokerage accounts: advisory accounts and discretionary accounts. Brokers are only allowed to conduct transactions on advisory accounts on the specific orders of the account holder, or under very specific instructions.
On the other hand, they have much more leeway over discretionary accounts, conducting transactions not prohibited by the account holder in accordance with the holder's investment goals and the prudent man rule. In practice, most brokerage firms are in fact broker-dealer firms.
By Barry Norman, Investors Trading Academy
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