Compare These Top Vendors for Institutional Brokerages


Institutional brokerage firms.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Offers Industry-Leading Retirement & Benefit Plan Solutions. Find Out How Our Vast Resources, Personalized Advice & Thought Leadership Can Help Your Employees Achieve Financial Wellness Today.

Bank of America Merrill LynchVisit www.benefitplans.baml.com

Search Results

401k Plans

Information on 401(k) plans.

www.business.com/finance/401k-plans/
401k Rollover

Business directory to 401k rollover information and advice.

www.business.com/finance/401k-rollover/
403(b) Plans

Resources and services for 403(b) plans.

www.business.com/finance/403b-plans/
Retirement Consultants

Retirement industry advisers and consultants.

www.business.com/finance/retirement-consultants/
Retirement Plans

Companies that provide retirement plan benefits, including 401k plans and pensions. Get information on corporate retirement plans, or how to offer retirement benefits for employees.

www.business.com/finance/retirement-plans/
401k

401(k) plans allow employees to save for their retirement by contributing a portion of their wages to an individual account. Employers can also contribute to 401(k) plans in the form of employee benefits; be sure your 401(k) vendor can manage your employees’ investments wisely.

www.business.com/finance/401k/
401(k) Plans Key Terms

Source: /guides/401-k-plans-key-terms-33062/

Learning about 401(k) plans key terms is a good place to start if you're considering starting up a retirement fund for your employees. From automatic enrollment to matching, after-tax and pre-tax contributions, 401(k) plans have several terms you may want to know before beginning one of these programs. Read More »

401(k) Plans Industry Overview

Source: /guides/401-k-plans-industry-overview-21253/

The 401k plan grew from a little known tax code loophole--which is where the 401k name came from--to the most common way workers invest for their retirement. This industry possesses trillions of dollars in allocated 401k retirement plan contributions. Read More »

Institutional Brokerages


You won’t have a problem finding institutional brokerages - many have sprung up in recent years. Others, such as Instinet, have been in business for many years; they’ve just used the web to expand their institutional clients.

Institutional brokerages work specifically with institutional clients. Institutional clients may be corporations, pension funds or insurance companies. They have tremendous influences on the financial markets because they can either buy or sell a large volume of shares. When looking to do business with institutional brokerages, consider the following:

1. Make sure the institutional brokerage firm offers electronic trading.

2. Ensure your institutional broker dealer provides comprehensive investment research.

3. Consider whether the institutional brokerages provide research publications.

Ensure your institutional brokerage firm offers electronic trading

Electronic trading is important when it comes to institutional agency trading. As previously stated, institutional traders place large amount of orders. That's why it's important for institutional brokers to have the latest and most advanced trading platform. Electronic trading platforms should be able to work with various order types, have cutting edge routing capabilities, and have access to Level I and Level II data.

Make sure the institutional broker dealer provides you with comprehensive investment research

You'll want to see how an institutional broker dealer gets information. Good institutional brokers should have not only their own research analysts, but also have strong relationships with other research firms. The institutional brokerage firms should also meet with representatives from the company's investor relations department. This will enable institutional brokers to have firsthand knowledge as to whether the company is a good investment.

Ensure institutional brokerages keep you abreast of government policies

Another tool institutional traders should use is research publications. For example, research publications enable institutional brokers to keep abreast of tax or governmental policies. Institutional brokers can determine whether a certain policy will have an effect on an industry. Having this information will help institutional brokerages develop strong strategies for investing.

  • Know and understand all of the risks, as well as the costs, involved when it comes to investing in various securities. Your institutional broker should provide that information.