There are a few reasons why you should spread your investments across different brokers. Among these are whether the broker handles/specializes in the type of securities you want to invest in, such as municipal tax free bonds or the broker who is handling your account seems to have more knowledge in the areas you invest in. Individual brokers within a firm increase their status by the size of their book - how much money they have under management.
Protection against bankruptcy or money missing from your account is insured by the SIPC - the SEC's equivalent of banking's FDIC.
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