Investing for Beginners , investing

A broker is an intermediary that helps for retail or other investors buy their investments. Broker can be as a person (job title) or a brokerage company that acts as a financial intermediary between the seller and the buyer. Even if investor is a large one, it has to be a member of a stock exchange to buy and sell securities directly. Brokers (firms) become members of stock exchanges or alternatively create inner OTC markets and acts as an intermediary for the clients who want to buy or sell stocks or other securities. 

Some time ago ‘broker’ was very popular position in brokerage companies. Such broker had been taking orders from their clients by phone and been working the transactions out in client’s behalf. But when trading platforms and online investing took strong positions, investors don’t want to pay anymore for brokers just as an intermediary. And now most of investment banks’ and brokerage companies’ brokers changed their job positions in to investment consultants or financial advisors. Discount brokers also have changed brokerage market.