You have decided to invest in securities — this means that you cannot do this without a broker: according to the law, it is not possible to trade on the stock exchange without an intermediary. Transactions can only be carried out by legal entities that have a brokerage license — banks, investment, and brokerage companies. How to choose a reliable and appropriate broker for you.

What a broker does

A broker executes orders for transactions on the exchange; prepares reports on transactions and movements of funds, counts, and remits taxes on profits. A good example is Pelliron. The broker also develops investment and trading strategies, creates asset portfolios, and offers personal financial advisors.

What do you expect from a Pelliron.com broker or other companies? 

Think about why you want a broker, other than formal access to the stock exchange. It is better to choose a broker with a clear idea of your goals. For example, broker Pelliron.com will suit you for all purposes. 

What do you need to pay attention to?

The license

This is the first thing to check: without a license; no company has the right to conduct operations on the stock exchange. The regulator conducts regular inspections and, if it notices violations, withdraws the license. 

Reliability

Legislation strictly regulates brokerage activities, and any unauthorized action with customer assets entails criminal liability. Large brokers with a long history and serious turnover do not benefit from it. To study the rating and at the same time the statistics (the volume of client operations, the number of registered and active users) is available on the website of the Moscow Exchange.

Markets

Find out what markets are available. Find out what assets the broker has access to. For example, you want to invest in the securities of U.S. companies. You can do this directly on one of the American stock exchanges. In the latter case, the commission will be lower and the selection of securities will be larger.

If you are a beginner and haven’t yet figured out exactly which securities you need, you can invest in ETFs (funds that hold a portfolio of assets and trade them in pieces) or in a ready-made portfolio with predictable income and risk levels.

Rates

Some people want to earn from intraday currency trading, while others want to buy bonds and leave them untouched for several years. Portfolio composition, returns and fees depend on the choice of tariff. If you are just starting to invest, choose the easiest one.

The broker earns a commission on the transaction amount, and the commission will vary depending on the tariff. Brokers can also charge a commission for depositing and withdrawing funds, using a trading platform, voice orders for a transaction and so on. 

Training

If you are new to the securities market, a little education on the subject will be useful to you. Many brokers offer webinars, seminars, and personal consultations. Classes may be paid or free, and sometimes brokers offer promotions and give away paid classes. You can practice on a demo account.

Advice

Talk to the broker’s support service before opening an account. Pay attention to how quickly and informatively they answer you. For example, the Pelliron review states that this company cares about its clients and tries to quickly resolve any questions they may have. A prompt response is not just an important part of the company’s image, but also a guarantee that problems are resolved quickly.

Briefly

• Before choosing a broker, think about what purposes you need it for, besides the obvious one — access to the exchange.
• Examine the documents confirming the reliability of the broker. First check the availability of the license.
• Familiarize yourself with the rates: different rates are appropriate for different purposes. Also, the amount of commission depends on your choice of rate.
• Free training is a good bonus if you are a beginner.