Buying Bonds through a Broker |
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You can buy virtually any type of bond through a brokerage firm. Some firms specialize in buying and selling a specific type of bond, such as municipal bonds or junk bonds. Buying anything but Treasuries and savings bonds typically requires using a broker.
You should understand that your brokerage firm is being compensated for performing services for you. If the firm acts as agent, meaning it acts on your behalf to buy or sell a bond, you may be charged a commission. In most bond transactions, the firm acts as principal. For example, it sells you a bond that the firm already owns. When a firm sells you a bond in a principal capacity, it may increase or mark up the price you pay over the price the firm paid to acquire the bond. The mark-up is the firm's compensation. Similarly, if you sell a bond, the firm, when acting as a principal, may offer you a price that includes a mark-down from the price that it believes it can sell the bond to another dealer or another buyer. You should understand that the firm very likely has charged you a fee for its transaction services.
If the firm acts as agent, the fee will be transparent to you. The firm must disclose the amount of the commission you were charged in the confirmation of the transaction. However, if the firm acts as principal, it is not required to disclose to you on the confirmation how much of the total price you paid to buy the security was the firm's mark-up; it is only required to disclose the price at which it sold the bond to you and the yield. Similarly, if you sell a security to a firm and it acts as principal, the firm is not required to tell you how much of a mark-down the firm incorporated in determining the price the firm would pay you.
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