Prime brokers cover all the major asset classes including:
- Forex Trading
- Equity Trading
- CFD Trading
- Futures Trading
- Options Trading
- Bond Trading
Forex
Forex prime brokers provide access to tier 1 liquidity venues with low latency and execution facilities for institutional forex traders as well as small brokers, funds and banks. Forex prime brokers can also provide pre-trade risk analysis and control for multiple liquidity providers cross margining and collateral reducing the need for additional credit lines.
Equities
Equity prime brokers provide their clients with direct market access to global equity markets and stock exchanges. Hedge funds can trade physical equities (shares) or DMA CFDS through an equity prime broker directly or through give-up agreements with executing brokers. Equity prime brokers also prove corporate action services and stock lending services (for short positions) as well as access to IPOs and new issues.
Direct market access
Prime brokers provide direct market to the underlying markets their clients trade derivatives contracts on. DMA (Direct Market Access) is available on equities through stock exchanges, commodities and indices through futures and options exchanges foreign exchange through multiple liquidity providers.
CFD (contracts for difference)
Prime brokers that offer CFDs (contracts for difference) enable their clients to trade directly on a stock exchange’s order book by buying and selling the underlying shares and wrapping the client’s positions in a CFD. This enables hedge funds to build up large equity positions without having to disclose underlying ownership. Prime brokers may also allow clients with large equity CFD positions to vote on corporate actions by taking instructions to vote a specific way on their client’s behalf.
Futures & Options
Futures brokers and options prime brokers provide direct market access to futures exchanges like ICE, CBOE, EUREX and CME. Futures and options prime brokers will either deal direct for customers or act as a middle man for smaller brokerages that use a prime brokers exchange membership to provide access to the exchange for their clients.
- Need a prime broker? Compare the best prime brokers here
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
You can contact Richard at richard@goodmoneyguide.com
