What are Full-Service Brokers? Who is a full-service broker?
A licensed financial broker/ dealer firm that provides customers with a large variety of services including research and advice, retirement planning, tax tips, and much more is called a full service broker
Full Sevice Brokers have a PAN India presence thus enabling the client to have face-to-face discussions and communications.A full-service broker also offers personalized financial and retirement planning advice, while helping you hone your investment strategy by providing proprietary research and even offering tax advice.
Such personalized service, of course, comes at a cost, as commissions at full-service brokerages are much higher than those at discount brokers.
At a full-service brokerage firm, individual stockbrokers and/or financial advisors are assigned to the client, they are the main point of contact.
Full Sevice Brokers have been a part of the Indian Stock Market for over 30 years.
Assistance provided by Full-Service Brokers
Physical Offline Presence
Research, Advisory and Stock Tips
Relationship Manager or Financial Advisor
24/7 Customer Care & Support
Training Sessions for Clients
Margin Funding Facility
Variety of Financial Products
Benefits of a full-service broker -
The biggest advantage of a Full Sevice Broker is that they offer complete hand-holding throughout their partnership with the client.
Full-service firms have large research departments that analyse and provide detailed reports and recommendations for the client.
With the added benefit of an investment banking divisions that provides accredited investor clients access to special financial products such as initial public offerings (IPOs), preferred stock, limited partnerships and various alternative investment opportunities.
One of the main advantages of full-service firms is that they mostly have their own in-house line of products like mutual funds, portfolio management, loan and insurance services, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Full-Service brokerage firms have physical office locations for clients to visit, with the added advantage of having a personal broker handle all their investment needs.
Being a one-stop shop for financial and investment management, full-service firms also provide online access and trading platforms.
This is an advantage for self-directed investors as these platforms are filled with fundamental research, order execution and technical analysis tools.
Full Sevice Brokerage firms assign their clients a relationship manager to provide individual attention to each portfolio.
The customer service provided by Full Sevice Brokerage firm is quicker and much more personalized.
full service brokerage being a one-stop shop for financial and investment management, full-service firms also provide online access and trading platforms.
This is an advantage for self-directed investors as these platforms are filled with fundamental research, order execution and technical analysis tools.
Full Sevice Brokerage firms assign their clients a relationship manager to provide individual attention to each portfolio.
The customer service provided by Full Sevice Brokerage firm is quicker and much more personalized.
Top 10 full-service broker in India
Kotak Securities
Being one of the most prominent names in stock brokering, Kotak Securities definitely has its advantages. Leveraging its banking services, Kotak offers an array of trading platforms. Clocking in more than 500,000 trades every day, Kotak has a presence in over 360 cities in India with over 12000 branches spread across the country.
As Kotak is such a large company, its service charges a relatively higher.
Kotak Securities also offers its client with an online trading platform in a mobile trading application called ‘Kotak Stock Trader’ which comes with great user experience and a large number of additional features.
ICICI Direct
ICICI Direct is one of the top stockbroker houses in India, having gained its trust factor from the parent banking service company. One of the benefits of ICICI Direct is their 3-in-1 account that helps with easy fund transfer.
Being one of the top brokerage companies, ICICI Direct has a relatively higher brokerage charge compared to other firms in India.
They also have a high-performance, well-designed trading application for expert level traders - ICICI Trade Racer.