What Is a Broker-Dealer (B-D), and How Does It Work?

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Gordon Scott has been an active investor and technical analyst or 20+ years. He is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT).

Ryan Eichler holds a B.S.B.A with a concentration in Finance from Boston University. He has held positions in, and has deep experience with, expense auditing, personal finance, real estate, as well as fact checking & editing.

What Is a Broker-Dealer?

A broker-dealer (B-D) is a person or firm in the business of buying and selling securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. The term broker-dealer is used in U.S. securities regulation parlance to describe stock brokerages because most of them act as both agents and principals.

A brokerage acts as a broker (or agent) when it executes orders on behalf of its clients, whereas it acts as a dealer, or principal when it trades for its own account.

Key Takeaways

• A broker-dealer is a financial entity that is engaged with trading securities on behalf of clients, but which may also trade for itself.
• A broker-dealer is acting as a broker or agent when it executes orders on behalf of its clients, and as a dealer or principal when it trades for its own account.
• There are thousands of broker-dealers comprising two broad categories: a wirehouse, which sells its own products, or an independent broker-dealer, which sells products from outside sources

Understanding a Broker-Dealer

Broker-dealers fulfill several important functions in the financial industry. These include providing investment advice to customers, supplying liquidity through market-making activities, facilitating trading activities, publishing investment research, and raising capital for companies. Broker-dealers range in size from small independent boutiques to large subsidiaries of giant commercial and investment banks.

There are two types of broker-dealers:

1. A wirehouse, or a firm that sells its own products to customers; and
2. An independent broker-dealer, or a firm that sells products from outside sources.

There are over 3,298 broker-dealers to choose from, according to a 2023 report from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Some of the largest broker-dealers include Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, and Edward Jones.

How a Broker-Dealer Works

By definition, broker-dealers are buyers and sellers of securities, and they are also distributors of other investment products. As the name implies, they perform a dual role in carrying out their responsibilities. As dealers, they act on behalf of the brokerage firm, initiating transactions for the firm’s own account. As brokers, they handle transactions, buying and selling securities on behalf of their clients.

In their dual roles, they perform a couple of vital functions; they facilitate the free flow of securities on the open market, and they buy or sell securities in their own accounts to ensure there is a market in those securities for their clients. In this regard, broker-dealers are essential, and they are also well-compensated, earning a fee on either or both sides of a securities transaction.

Special Considerations

Broker-dealers that are tied directly to investment banking operations also engage in the underwriting of securities offerings. When a broker-dealer acts as an agent of the issuing company, either as a principal underwriter of the stock or bond offering, or as a member of the underwriting syndicate, they enter into a contractual arrangement, acting on a “firm commitment” with the issuer that obligates them to distribute a certain amount of the securities offered to the public in exchange for an underwriting fee.

They may also acquire a piece of the securities offering for their own accounts and may be required to do so if they are unable to sell all of the securities.

Once the underwriting process is completed and the securities are issued, the broker-dealers then become distributors, and their clients are typically the target of their distribution efforts. In that effort, the financial advisors of the firms then act as brokers to solicit their clients and recommend the purchase of the security for their accounts. In this regard, the broker-dealers are facilitating the interests of the issuer, themselves (in the collection of a distribution fee), and their clients, although their only contractual obligation is to the issuer.