Difference Between Full Service and Discount Brokerage Account

Opening a brokerage account is the first step in your investment journey. A brokerage account acts as a bridge between you –the investor- and the market. Thus, it is important to pick the right broker to build a strong foundation for your trading journey.

This is where the long-standing ‘full-service vs. discount brokerage’ debate becomes prominent. While the former offers both access to an investment platform and advisory services to their clients against high brokerage, the latter provides clients with only the basic tools needed to trade in the market, that too, at a discounted rate.

To understand full-service brokerage vs. discount brokerage debate better, we look at the key differences between the two:

Full-service Brokerage vs. Discount Brokerage: Key Differences

Fees Charged

- While full-service brokerage firms charge a fee or commission for the plethora of services they offer clients, a discount brokerage firm only extends the basic toolkit investors need to start investing against very nominal fees like AMC charges and transaction fees.

Service Baskets Offered

- As mentioned before, discount brokers only offer you the trading tools you may need to start investing in the market. However, a full-service broker provides its clients with both a trading platform and trading expertise to better navigate through the market. Their additional services include wealth management, stock research, etc.

Brokerage Charges

- Discount brokerage firms charge a nominal transaction fee from their clients. Usually, a flat transaction fee is levied on every executed order. However, full-service brokers charge a certain percentage of the trade value as brokerage.

Accessibility

- While full-service brokerage firms have multiple branches that cater to the needs of the investors in person, discount brokerage firms are only accessible online and do not have any such branches.

Target Group Of Traders

- Full-service brokerage firms are better suited for those who need in-depth advice on how to invest their capital. If you are an amateur stepping into the world of trading for the first time, full-service brokers might be the right guides for you.

Alternatively, discount brokers are better suited for investors who enter the market with a smaller portfolio and trade more frequently. They are perfect for those who are comfortable relying on their own expertise and market knowledge to navigate the waters, rather than spending extra on advisory services offered by full-service brokerage firms.

Accessing your investment needs and goals is the best way to resolve the ‘discount brokerage vs. full-service brokerage’ debate. The size of your capital, coupled with your market knowledge reserves and financial maturity will be key parameters to assess before picking either.

While well-informed decisions can help you avoid losses, high brokerage charges can eat into your profits. Knowing the difference between the two can surely help you understand the pros and cons of both, however, the final choice remains personal as there’s no universal answer to the discount vs. full brokerage dilemma.