If you are knowledgeable in the field of finance perhaps you already know the differences between a broker and a trader, but for many, the two terms sort of all roll into one job description. Yes, it is true that both brokers and traders sell and buy securities, but one is also a sales agent while the other works for a large firm and takes orders from a portfolio manager from that firm.

Lets start with brokers. They have direct contact with their own clients, and they then buy, sell or trade securities based on what their clients specifically want. They also have to maintain and manage their client roster as they are working on behalf of their clients all day every day.

Brokers have to watch the markets each day like a hawk, since they have to keep their clients informed of which stocks are doing what throughout the day. If they have a specific client who only wants to buy a stock if it dips under an agreed upon price or only wants to sell a stock it goes over a certain price they need to know what the market is doing throughout the business day in order to know when to buy and when to sell. They also have to do their homework and research the market so they can make recommendations based on their expertise as well as the market trends to then relay this information to their clients.

Traders on the other hand work for a company and they sell, buy or trade those same securities on behalf of the firm and the assets managed by that firm. They will buy and sell or trade depending on what their portfolio manager tells them to do rather than go on a client by client basis.

They too have to know what’s going on with the market throughout the business trading day and they can also use their expertise to recommend buying and/or selling at certain times to their managers. The big difference is if you are a trader you aren’t dealing with clients of your own, though you are still influential in what happens to their money.

The financial markets are forever changing; what is good one day isn’t necessarily good the next, so working in the field can be stressful. A successful broker or trader can work under pressure, is a great communicator and is also a great negotiator. Could a job in the markets be the right fit for you?

Financial Services

Financial Services is a term used to refer to the services provided by the finance market. Financial Services is also the term used to describe organisations that deal with the management of money. Examples are the Banks, investment banks, insurance companies, credit card companies and stock brokerages.

It is part of financial system that provides different types of finance through various credit instruments, financial products and services.

These are the types of firms comprising the market, that provide a variety of money and investment related services. These services are the largest market resource within the world, in terms of earnings.

The challenges faced by the these Services market are forcing market participants to keep pace with technological advances, and to become more proactive and efficient while keeping in mind to reduce costs and risks.

These Services have been able to represent an increasingly significant financial driver, and a significant consumer of a wide range of business services and products. The current Fortune 500 has listed 40 commercial banking companies with revenues of almost a $341 trillion, up a modest 3% since last year.

Importance of Financial Services:-

It serves as the bridge that people need to take better control of their finances and make better investments. The financial services offered by a financial planner or a bank institution can help people manage their money much better. It offer clients the opportunity to understand their goals and better plan for them.

It is the presence of financial services that enables a country to improve its economic condition whereby there is more production in all the sectors leading to economic growth.

The benefit of economic growth is reflected on the people in the form of economic prosperity wherein the individual enjoys higher standard of living. It is here the financial services enable an individual to acquire or obtain various consumer products through hire purchase. In the process, there are a number of financial institutions which also earn profits. The presence of these financial institutions promote investment, production, saving etc.

Characteristics:-

Customer-Specific: These services are usually customer focused. The firms providing these services, study the needs of their customers in detail before deciding their financial strategy, giving due regard to costs, liquidity and maturity considerations.

Intangibility: In a highly competitive global environment brand image is very crucial. Unless the financial institutions providing financial products and services have good image, enjoying the confidence of their clients, they may not be successful.

Concomitant: Production of these services and supply of these services have to be concomitant. Both these functions i.e. production of new and innovative financial services and supplying of these services are to be performed simultaneously.

Tendency to Perish: Unlike any other service, financial services do tend to perish and hence cannot be stored. They have to be supplied as required by the customers. Hence financial institutions have to ensure a proper synchronisation of demand and supply.

People Based Services: Marketing of these services has to be people intensive and hence it’s subjected to variability of performance or quality of service.

Market Dynamics: The market dynamics depends to a great extent, on socioeconomic changes such as disposable income, standard of living and educational changes related to the various classes of customers. Therefore financial services have to be constantly redefined and refined taking into consideration the market dynamics.

Promoting investment: The presence of these services creates more demand for products and the producer, in order to meet the demand from the consumer goes for more investment.

Promoting savings: These services such as mutual funds provide ample opportunity for different types of saving. In fact, different types of investment options are made available for the convenience of pensioners as well as aged people so that they can be assured of a reasonable return on investment without much risks.

Minimizing the risks: The risks of both financial services as well as producers are minimized by the presence of insurance companies. Various types of risks are covered which not only offer protection from the fluctuating business conditions but also from risks caused by natural calamities.

Maximizing the Returns: The presence of these services enables businessmen to maximize their returns. This is possible due to the availability of credit at a reasonable rate. Producers can avail various types of credit facilities for acquiring assets. In certain cases, they can even go for leasing of certain assets of very high value.

Benefit to Government: The presence of these services enables the government to raise both short-term and long-term funds to meet both revenue and capital expenditure. Through the money market, government raises short term funds by the issue of Treasury Bills. These are purchased by commercial banks from out of their depositors’ money.

Capital Market: One of the barometers of any economy is the presence of a vibrant capital market. If there is hectic activity in the capital market, then it is an indication of the presence of a positive economic condition. These services ensure that all the companies are able to acquire adequate funds to boost production and to reap more profits eventually.

Are you among the crowd who is still thinking of where to invest the money they earned from years of working hard? There may have been unsolicited advises convincing you to put your share on various networking companies. Some may have even told you to put up a startup company. But is this the most practical thing you could probably do to your money? Perhaps, yes, if its your choice.

However, investing has its ups and downs depending on the industry you’re going to delve into. Yet, do you know that buying a house or owning one is one of the most intelligent investments you would probably make. Why?

Homes can be turned into rental properties. With necessary adjustments and with proper leasing or rental documents, you can turn your house into an additional income stream. What’s even good is rental fees tend to increase on regular intervals. There are persons who often move because of job changes. They constantly look for homes which they can rent, and yours can be their next rental homes.

Depending on a home’s location, it can also be a perfect vacation house. Typically, families, especially those with children, and those which embrace the concept of extended families – do love to have vacation houses. During specific periods of the year, the house can serve as a reunion spot for relatives to gather. So, thinking of having a vacation house? Should it be near a beach, the woods, or perhaps one that offers mountainview or cityview otherwise?

Home values typically increase. Thus, if you’re going to put your house for a resale – chances are you’re going to get good profits. So you better ask your local real estate agent which areas have markets in which home prices experience surges. Commonly, these areas include those where professionals flock because of employment opportunities.

Buying a house is also seen by financial houses as a better investment than credit cards. This is one reason why there are many lenders that charge low-interest rates on home mortgages.

Are these reasons still not enough to convince you how good of an investment is owning a house? Another bonus benefit of owning a house is the local community attachment you’re going to build. You’re start to have acquaintances who’ll later become your friends. Your neighbors will likely become close to you like family. There will be some sort of emotional attachment.

Trading and investing into the financial markets has never been more popular. More and more people are starting to see the benefits of taking a little time to, first invest in themselves through a trading and investing education, but also using that knowledge on the financial markets.

Whilst traders may take quicker positions and investor will most likely be holding positions for much longer, perhaps months or even years. So, if you fancy investing into the financial markets successfully, and profit from companies you already know about like Google, Facebook or Microsoft, then these are the ten essential things that an investor must do and know before they start. Let’s take a look…

1. What are your goals?

It sounds simple but many people start investing into a trillion dollar market without any type of plan which, let’s face it, is essentially a gamble. Whilst it can be very simple to invest profitably for the long-term you must define your goals as this will align your expectations correctly, so you don’t kick yourself in the teeth if you don’t hit a million dollars in one day. For example, knowing whether you are investing for the next five or twenty-five years can make a huge difference to how you decide to invest.

2. Start early for compound interest

The single biggest reason to the success of most billionaires is the power of ‘compound interest’. Even Albert Einstein regarded this as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. It basically means that your money makes you money as all the gains you make you put back into an investment so it compounds and builds over time. Sounds good right? It definitely is! The earlier you start the better but no matter how old you are it’s never too late to start but imperative that you do actually start!

3. Every little helps

No matter how little or how big you can invest, it is well worthwhile investing on a regular basis. It sounds so simple but most people don’t see the point in investing just $10 per month. However, if you look to the future by the time you’re very old that amounts to a lot especially if you parked it into some good investments over the years. Of course, most people have a ‘spend today and save tomorrow’ mentality and that’s the trap folks. Save and invest regularly to reap the rewards in the long run – you’ll be glad you did.

4. Diversify

It’s imperative to spread your capital across a wide range of investments to reduce your risk and increase potential returns over the long-term. Whilst some investments are doing poorly some others may be doing great, thereby balancing it out. However, if you’re fully invested into just one thing then it’s either 100% right or wrong. There are thousands of markets across currencies, stocks, commodities and indices so the opportunity is there.

5. Educate yourself

By far the most important tip. You must educate yourself and learn your craft. After all if you’re investing your hard-earned capital it makes sense to do your homework. Even if you read all the articles here and watched all the videos you’ll be doing far better than the majority of investing wannabes who simply give away their money to the markets.

6. Have practical expectations

Of course, we all want that million dollar investment and for many it will come at some point. But you can’t plan for that, if it happens great if not then you still need a plan to survive and to reach your goals as discussed in the first tip. Remember it’s the journey that’s the most beautiful part and what you do on a daily basis that makes the difference.

7. But don’t limit yourself

It’s important one must remain conservative in deciding which investment to take. However, that shouldn’t limit you to just what you know. Be creative and find opportunities no matter how uncomfortable they may be. After all if it was that comfortable everyone would be doing it. Be adventurous in finding opportunities but be conservative in deciding which ones to take.

8. Manage your risk

Successful investing is all about managing risk. If you have $1,000 to invest then there’s no point in putting all of that on just one investment. You’re basically saying it has a 100% success rate… which of course is highly unlikely. If you follow the steps above, like making sure you diversify, then you’ll be on the right path.

9. Review constantly

A very simple step to achieving more from what you are already doing is to review your investments constantly. However, this does not mean to look at your profit and loss of a five-year investment every single day – you’ll never make it to the fifth year as markets move up and down. But it’s important to review what investments have worked and have not worked. Concentrate on doing more of the stuff that has worked and find out where you’re going wrong with the stuff that hasn’t.

10. Have fun!

Sounds simple but most people forget that are best work comes from when we enjoy the process. Whilst investing is a serious process you are allowed to enjoy it too. In fact the buzz of finding an opportunity, researching it, investing into it and then seeing the result is exciting in itself.

Investing is a device for building riches, however it is not just for the well off. Anybody can begin an Investing system, and different vehicles make it simple in any case little sums and add to a portfolio occasionally. Truth be told, separates Investing from betting that it requires investment-it is not a get-rich-speedy plan.

Investing is likewise about profiting. Spending is simple and gives moment satisfaction-regardless of whether the overdo it is on another outfit, a get-away to some extraordinary spot or supper in a favor eatery. These are superb and make life more charming. Yet, Investing requires organizing our budgetary prospects over our present cravings.

Investing is an approach to set aside cash while you are occupied with life and have that cash work for you so you can completely receive the benefits of your work later on. Investing is a way to a more joyful completion.

There are a wide range of ways you can approach Investing, including placing cash into stocks, securities, shared assets, ETFs, land (and other option venture vehicles), or notwithstanding beginning your own business.

Each venture vehicle has its positives and negatives, which we’ll examine in a later segment of this instructional exercise. Seeing how diverse sorts of speculation vehicles function is basic to your prosperity. For instance, what does a shared store put resources into? Who is dealing with the store? What are the charges and costs? Are there any expenses or punishments for getting to your cash? These are all inquiries that ought to be replied before making a venture. While it is valid there are no certifications of profiting, some work on your part can expand your chances of being a fruitful speculator. Investigation, inquire about and even simply perusing up on Investing can all offer assistance.

Since you have a general thought of what Investing is and why you ought to do it, it’s a great opportunity to find out about how Investing gives you a chance to exploit one of the marvels of arithmetic: accumulating funds.

There are many sorts of speculations and Investing styles to browse. Common assets, ETFs, singular stocks and securities, shut end shared assets, land, different option speculations and owning all or some portion of a business are only a couple of illustrations.

Stocks

Purchasing offers of stock speaks to possession in the organization and the chance to take an interest in the organization’s prosperity through increments in the stock’s cost in addition to and profits that the organization may pronounce. Shareholders have a claim on the organization’s benefits.

Holders of regular stock have voting rights at shareholders’ gatherings and the privilege to get profits in the event that they are pronounced. Holders of favored stock don’t have voting rights, however do get inclination regarding the installment of any profits over normal shareholders. They likewise have a higher claim on organization resources than holders of basic stock.

Bonds

Securities are obligation instruments whereby a speculator successfully is advancing cash to an organization or office (the guarantor) in return for intermittent premium installments in addition to the arrival of the bond’s face sum when the bond develops. Securities are issued by partnerships, the government in addition to many states, districts and legislative organizations.

A run of the mill corporate security may have a face estimation of $1,000 and pay intrigue semi-every year. Enthusiasm on these securities are completely assessable, yet enthusiasm on metropolitan bonds is absolved from government charges and might be excluded from state charges for inhabitants of the issuing state. Enthusiasm on Treasuries are saddled at the government level as it were.

Securities can be bought as new offerings or on the auxiliary market, much the same as stocks. A security’s esteem can rise and fall in light of various variables, the most critical being the bearing of loan costs. Security costs move contrarily with the course of loan costs.

Common assets

A common store is a pooled venture vehicle overseen by a speculation director that enables financial specialists to have their cash put resources into stocks, securities or other venture vehicles as expressed in the reserve’s plan.

Common assets are esteemed toward the finish of exchanging day and any exchanges to purchase or offer offers are executed after the market close too.

Common assets can latently track stock or security showcase files, for example, the S&P 500, the Barclay’s Aggregate Bond Index and numerous others. Other common assets are effectively overseen where the supervisor effectively chooses the stocks, securities or different speculations held by the store. Effectively oversaw shared assets are for the most part more expensive to claim. A reserve’s hidden costs serve to lessen the net speculation comes back to the common store shareholders.

Shared assets can make disseminations as profits, intrigue and capital increases. These appropriations will be assessable if held in a non-retirement account. Offering a shared store can bring about a pick up or misfortune on the venture, similarly as with individual stocks or bonds.

Common assets enable little speculators to in a flash purchase enhanced presentation to various venture property inside the reserve’s speculation objective. For example, an outside stock shared may hold 50 or at least 100 distinctive remote stocks in the portfolio. An underlying venture as low as $1,000 (or less at times) may enable a financial specialist to claim all the hidden property of the reserve. Common assets are an incredible path for financial specialists huge and little to accomplish a level of moment broadening.

ETFs

TFs or trade exchanged assets resemble common supports in many regards, yet are exchanged on the stock trade amid the exchanging day simply like offers of stock. Not at all like shared assets which are esteemed toward the finish of each exchanging day, ETFs are esteemed always while the business sectors are open.

Numerous ETFs track inactive market files like the S&P 500, the Barclay’s Aggregate Bond Index, and the Russell 2000 list of little top stocks and numerous others.

As of late, effectively oversaw ETFs have appeared, as have alleged shrewd beta ETFs which make lists in light of “elements, for example, quality, low instability and energy.

Elective ventures

Past stocks, securities, shared assets and ETFs, there are numerous different approaches to contribute. We will talk about a couple of these here.

Land ventures can be made by purchasing a business or private property specifically. Land speculation puts stock in (REITs) pool speculator’s cash and buy properties. REITS are exchanged like stocks. There are common assets and ETFs that put resources into REITs too.

Flexible investments and private value additionally fall into the class of option speculations, despite the fact that they are just open to the individuals who meet the salary and total assets necessities of being a certify speculator. Speculative stock investments may contribute anyplace and may hold up superior to customary venture vehicles in turbulent markets.

Private value enables organizations to raise capital without opening up to the world. There are additionally private land supports that offer offers to financial specialists in a pool of properties. Regularly options have limitations as far as how frequently financial specialists can approach their cash.

As of late, option systems have been presented in common reserve and ETF designs, taking into consideration bring down least ventures and extraordinary liquidity for speculators. These vehicles are known as fluid options. BitYard Promotion | Mystery Box

Commodity markets are a little different in terms of trading from traditional equity markets and thus, here are 5 best commodity market ideas that can work in India:

Cautious to negative on MCX crude

OPEC is finding it increasingly difficult to influence crude prices, which means that MCX crude could come under pressure. Moreover, Russia has joined the OPEC consortium in terms of cuts in crude supply.However, the US appears to enjoy a few clear distinctive advantages in terms of expansion in crude supply. Further, Trump has already withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement, which opens significant opportunities for the US for undertaking substantial expansion of its shale capacity. Thus, going cautious to negative on MCX crude.

Uncertainty factors could help MCX gold

The World Gold Council has announced that the gold demand for 2017 will not be substantially more than the previous year. Although India and China are the highest consumers of gold, gold prices will not be driven by consumption demand. Moreover, volatility in North Korea and Middle East coupled with other global factors could influence the direction gold prices takes. All these uncertainty factors could help MCX gold.

Using bounces-to-sell strategy for copper might help

The fact that copper has corrected for two weeks on-the-trot gives it a weak outlook. Thus, waiting for a bounce in price to sell could be a good strategy. Moody’s recently downgrading China doesn’t help copper prices either, since China contributes more than half of global copper demand.

Going short-term negative on MCX zinc could be a good option

Owing to environmental inspections, many zinc mines in the Hunan province of China were shut down. This led to subdued supply of zinc. Post completion of inspections, zinc supplies have started flooding the markets, which has brought prices under pressure as well. Moreover, strength of the US Dollar will weigh on MCX Zinc. Thus, going short-term negative on MCX zinc could be a good option

Long trade on NCDEX cumin on shortfall in supply could be a good option

With more than 70% of the world’s supply of cumin, India is the world’s largest producer of cumin. Other cumin producer such as Syria and Turkey are much smaller. Exports of cumin in India are expected to remain buoyant despite higher prices of the commodity. The commodity saw decent open interest gains, which again indicate towards pricing heading upwards. Therefore, long trade on NCDEX cumin on shortfall in supply could be a good option.

From our childhood days, we are taught to save money from our pocket to buy the belongings we wanted the most. This casing of mind carries to the age of maturity and we try to save money for the thing we want the most. But here we commit a drastic mistake of life that makes a difference of becoming successful or reduced in terms of financial amplification.

To understand the investments; we must define the investment first.

What is Investment?

According to Investopedia, An investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or will appreciate in the future. In an economic sense, an investment is the purchase of goods that are not consumed today but are used in the future to create wealth. In finance, an investment is a monetary asset purchased with the idea that the asset will provide income in the future or will be sold at a higher price for a profit.

What are its top 5 benefits?

1) Financial Independence

Financial independence means you have enough wealth to live off of without working. Financially independent people have enough assets that generate income without any physical work as their money is doing work for them.

How to achieve Financial Independence?

Here are the best tips to become financially independent:

· Try to increase your income.

· Plan your savings every year.

· Select profitable investment options.

· Decide your financial goals.

· Try to stay away from loans and debts.

2) Safeguard against the Inflation

Inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. It can be considered as the ageing of the value of money over a time.

In Economics, Inflation reflects a reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money – a loss of real value in the medium of exchange and unit of account within the economy

The value of assets keeps on increasing due to inflation. As a result, the investments are not only safe but also increased by the time. Hence, It acts as an uphold against the Inflation

3) Achieve Financial Goals

When we invest, we put our money aside for long-term goals such as retirement, International holiday trip, Luxury home with a car or a child’s education.

The Investments ensure us to achieve all our long term and short term goals at a precise time.

4) Increase Wealth

Investing isn’t a mode to get rich quickly. It takes time, patience, and awareness. It requires analytical studies of opportunities available and makes well-versed choices of where to place your investment so it provides huge returns. If the things are performed in a spot in order the results are almost guaranteed.

5) Provide a source of Income

Some funds specifically set out to provide investors with a monthly income while others such as many property funds pay out dividends monthly, as well.

Most of the monthly income funds attempt to offer 11 monthly payments of a similar amount and a 12th that varies. The exact level of income will depend on the fund’s performance.

What are the ways of Investments?

Suitable Investment Options are stated as follows:

· Real Estate.

· Individual Stock.

· Mutual Funds.

· Corporate Debt.

· Government Bonds.

· Commodities (Gold, Silver etc).

· Liquid Funds.

· Fixed Deposits.

WHAT ARE ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS?
An alternative investment is a class of investment that are not covered under any Government regulatory like RBI, SEBI, IRDA, and PFRDA. It refers to a privately pooled investment fund – a trust or a company.

Here are some alternative investments approaches that may influence your investment decisions –

#1 FOCUS ON ABSOLUTE RETURNS
You invest to end up with more money than what you started with. It means you are looking for an absolute return: how much did you actually make, is the main focus.

Invest in assets that you believe will do well; don’t invest in a product just because it’s likely to outperform the market. Have your analysis on hand.

#2 RETURNS ARE ONE-DIMENSIONAL, RISK IS MULTI-DIMENSIONAL
When it comes to investments, returns are easy to calculate. Keep your focus on Risk involved with the alternative investment asset as well. Prepare a list of the relevant risks. You need to have a clear idea of the risks involved in your investment, as it will help you to take a calculated decision.

Also, if at all something unexpected happens, you will be more likely to make better decisions if you’ve thought about the risks before investing.

#3 KNOW THE SOURCE RETURN
Understand what will influence and drive the returns on your investment. While you hold the investment, monitor the value of your investment.

Constantly revisit your assumptions of the return drivers of investment, in case they don’t match your parameters or expectations rethink your investment.

#4 UNCLEAR IS GOOD
Anything that’s not traditional is alternative. An alternative investment is populated by investment ideas that may not be immediately obvious. For instance cryptocurrency.

Continuously learning, exploring, researching, studying, and looking outside your comfort zone is the key to financial success.

#5 DIVERSIFICATION IS A MUST
Holding a mix of assets that are equally good, but which behave differently, will leave your portfolio’s return intact, and lower its risk as well.

Diversify means constructing a portfolio with very varied return drivers and risk parameters, not just different assets.

Most of us see investing in alternative investments highly risky. However, if you desire to live a successful and fulfilling life and retire with enough money to enjoy your retirement years, you must take calculated risks. This includes risks in your relationships, risks in your career, and risks in your investments.

While taking smart calculated risks is vital to reaching your goals in life, remember that taking bad risks and losing can set you back, sometimes significantly. It may help, however, to remember that taking smart risks is as simple as making wise decisions.

A Framework for Good Decision-making

I’ve learned a lot in my life from observing others and through my personal experiences-both good and bad. Therefore, when I consider taking a risk in any area of my life, here are the questions I ask myself:
1. What are the risks? Be honest. Don’t let your emotions prevent you from carefully considering all possible risks. This is where the landmines exist.
2. What are the odds of one of the risks coming true? Be truthful. Use real data whenever you can by doing research and talking to others.
3. What are the rewards? Be realistic. Can you really quit your day job and devote ten hours a week to something and make $100,000 a year? (Probably not.)
4. What are the odds of those rewards? Be sensible. Find out how many others have done something similar and how they have fared.
5. What other options do I have? Be creative. Don’t limit yourself. Consider all possibilities.
6. Do I need to make this decision today? Probably not. Take the time you need to do your research and explore your options.