Financial Brokers

The field of Finance is a very vague concept. It generally refers to the management money depending on the current risks and time, or the interrelation of the three. Almost everyone is affected by the movement of the financial market, which is of course more apparent at these times as the global financial crisis looms. Almost everyone will be transacting their finances in one way or another, and more often than not they will need another party to take care of their finances. The management of your monetary assets and the payment of your bills, as examples, are handled by your bank.

Personal and Business Finances

People usually engage in two types of finances, personal finances and business finances. Personal finance is the finances of individuals or their families. These include their assets and liabilities, their income generating funds, how to secure their finances, and even the matters of inheritance and bequests, among others. Business finance, on the other hand, are the more complicated finances revolving around corporations, from the raising of capital to the management of the profits.

Banks and the Finance World

Banks had been an important part of the financial world. Banks had been traditionally the place where people store their money for security. This money can later earn interest as time goes on. Later on, banks have also been active in lending of loans for entrepreneurs or other individuals. Banks are also the ones that usually provide credit in the form of personal credit cards to their clients. Banks, as mentioned before, also acts as a third party for the payment of bills of their clients for hassle-free transactions. On some countries, banks can even own and control other industrial corporations. There are also banks that deal with insurance services. Generally, banks are the main facilitators of financing. Banks, especially chartered banks, can be considered as financial intermediaries, or financial brokers.

The Middlemen

Financial brokers are people or institutions who act as the middleman between their clients and another party in terms of the financial deals between the two said parties. The two parties can be people or institutions whom the clients of the financial brokers are dealing business with. Financial brokers can even act as middlemen between their clients and the lending institutions who will lend or who loaned money to their clients. Financial brokers can also deal as middlemen in the stock market, where they can act both as financial advisors or stock brokers. Generally, financial brokers are the ones who manage the finances of their clients.

For their services, financial brokers will receive commissions in the form of a brokerage. The brokerage is usually derived from a certain percentage of the amount invested, depending on what the financial brokers and their clients had agreed upon. The commission of financial brokers can also significantly shoot up when they closed a good deal for their clients.

Stocks, Bonds and the Financial Broker

The stock market is either a public or private market company stocks and derivatives are traded. Stock market participants are the buyers, sellers, and the financial brokers who act as intermediaries between the buyers and the sellers. They can be private individual people to large institutions. Before, stock market buying was done individually by the involved people, such as wealthy people buying stocks. There were then of course financial brokers to intermediate for them. However, recently, larger financial institutions, which are usually a group of financial brokers and other finance experts, have been the one doing the buying or selling for their clients, usually on their clients’ instructions or advice. Similarly, financial brokers are also active in the bond market. They serve as the financial advisers or brokers for the debt issuers and the sellers.

By: Harold