Full Service Brokers

Full service brokers seek to offer just that: full service. If you establish an account with a full-service broker, you will be assigned an individual broker who will personally handle your account. The minimum account requirements and commissions of full-service brokers are generally higher than those for discount or deep-discount firms, and they often specialize in higher net worth clients. You may be able to negotiate lower commission rates with a full-service broker based on your account size and your frequency of trading. The payscale of brokers at full-service firms is usually based largely on commissions generated. This has the potential to create a conflict of interest between the broker´s need for commission income and your need for winning trades, which heightens the importance of recommendations from satisfied clients. The full-service firm may offer a wide variety of services and abilities that are not available at other firms, such as personal investment advice, an increased opportunity to buy Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), a fully staffed bond desk, and an in-house investment research department.