Full Service Brokers
Read this tip to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Choosing Investment Brokers and other Investing topics.
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.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Sherril Steele-Carlin |
