Sell-Side Definition

As per the Sell-Side meaning, it is referred to as the portion of the given financial Industry that has been involved in the promotion, creation, and the overall sales of Bonds, stocks, foreign exchange, and other forms of financial instruments. Both Sell-Side firms as well as individuals are known to work towards the creation & servicing of products that have been made available to the buy-side of the given financial industry.

The Wall Street’s Sell-Side is known to feature investment bankers –serving as intermediaries between those who issue the securities and the public that invests, and the makers of the Market who offer liquidity in the given market.

Getting an Understanding of Sell-Side

The Wall Street’s buy-side and Sell-Side are regarded as two sides of a coin. One tends to be dependent on the other Factor and it is not possible for the two sides to operate without the other. The market’s Sell-Side aims at getting the highest possible price for the respective financial instruments. At the same time, it is also known to provide insights as well as analyses on the respective Financial Assets.

The players on the buy-side of the market are known to feature money managers at institutional organizations, hedge fund, pension funds, and Mutual Funds. Individual investors tend to be technically situated on the buy-side. However, the given term is typically known to apply to professional money managers. Towards the Sell-Side equation, there is the presence of market makers who serve to be the driving force of the given financial market. For instance, any organization or individual that will be purchasing stock for selling the same later at some profit tends to be at the buy-side of the market.

Foreign Exchange Sell-Side

The Foreign Exchange or FX market is regarded as the largest financial marketplace in the world. It features over an approximate value of $6.6 trillion transactions on a daily Basis. In the given marketplace, the Sell-Side is led by the leading multi-national banks like Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, and Deutsche Bank. Moreover, the scenario of bank trading rooms tends to be divided into categories as:

• Interbank traders who are known to sell and buy large amounts of currency on the respective forward and spot markets
• The end salespeople known for selling securities to the buy-side consumers –including larger corporations, mutual funds, and hedge funds. Most of the interbank traders are known to occupy proprietary positions. However, salespeople do not feature this trend.

Bond Market Sell-Side

The bond market across the globe is regarded as the 2nd largest financial marketplace in the world. It has an estimated value of around $100 trillion. The bond market of the United States has an approximate value of around $40 trillion. Investment banks are known to lead the Sell-Side –with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs being the leading names. The investment banks tend to be highly active –both in terms of taking and trading positions in the given bond market.