• Plan Sponsor and Beneficiaries
• Investment Manager
• Custodian
• Consultants

• Issuers (e.g. companies, Treasury, municipalities)
• Underwriters
• Brokers and Dealers

• Exchanges
• Specialists

• SEC, PBGC, Fed, Treasury, IRS

In the investments industry, it is customary to describe different professionals as working on the buy side or on the sell side. On the buy side, we have the people who work on behalf of the beneficiaries and represent them in the investment in securities. On the sell side, we have professionals who are trading with the managed portfolio.

On the buy side, the plan sponsor is directly responsible for the portfolio and makes overall allocation decisions. The investment managers choose the specific securities to be held and arrange for trades when securities are bought and sold. The custodian holds the securities, collects dividends and interest in the account, accepts funds for investment, and provides funds for trades authorized by portfolio managers and withdrawals authorized by the plan sponsor.

On the sell side, underwriters represent the issuers, such as companies or governments, who issue the securities that will be held in the portfolio. Brokers and dealers stand ready to trade previously-issued securities with the portfolio or execute the portfolio's trades on an exchange.

Exchanges are organizations that facilitate trade in securities by bringing buyers and sellers together. Specialists are exchange members who stand ready to buy and sell from inventory in order to maintain continuity in the market. Specialists and exchanges are not traditionally thought of as being either on the sell side or on the buy side.

Governments have an extensive role in monitoring and regulating various aspects of trading. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates all the professionals, including the exchanges, broker-dealers, issuers, underwriters, and investment advisors. Under the terms of ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) provides required insurance for a fee, and works to maintain uninterrupted payment of pension benefits. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) monitors and rules on the conditions under which a pension plan is tax-exempt.