You won't find a single broker that provides every service to everyone. Different brokers have features that are appealing to different types of investors. Full service brokers are the oldest and most popular type of brokers. A broker is not an advisor in the same way that a financial advisor is. In addition to a personal representative, clients of a full service brokerage generally have access to the firm's proprietary research.
Clients also have the advantage of having their orders executed through the firm's own traders.
Having this type of service can be highly useful to investors who are concerned about getting the best execution price on large trades. Full service brokers generally charge much higher commissions than discount brokers, although their commissions are negotiable, unlike discount brokers'. Discount Brokers Discount brokers offer trading services that are comparable to those of full-service brokers. They generally don't offer much detailed research or personalized advice. Some discount brokers only trade online, some only offer phone trading, and some offer both online and phone trading.