Brokerage account
An account with a licensed market participant through which orders in securities are placed.
How to read the number
The account itself holds no securities: they are recorded at the depository, and the broker merely executes instructions.
When the metric lies
The state deposit insurance scheme does not extend to a brokerage account. That does not make securities less safe — their protection works differently, through the record of ownership.
Also known as: brokerage account