Buy-side vs. Sell-side

You may have heard about the terms 'buy-side' and 'sell-side' while talking with investment professionals. Here we discuss what these terms refer to, what is the dissimilarity in the job activities, and how do they relate to each other.

The sell-side is related to activities of an investment bank. Investment bankers, traders and research analysts are the job positions in the sell-side. Sell-side professionals are responsible for issuing, suggesting, trading and selling securities to the investors on the buy-side. The sell-side can be considered principally as a catalyst of buy-side investments.

In simple words, the buy-side is related to the asset managers who correspond to individual as well as organizational investors. The buy-side obtains investment products like stocks and bonds on behalf of their customers. Here, we will discuss types of career or jobs on both sides.

In general, the roles and responsibilities associated of buy-side and sell-side analysts seem to be similar. However, there is difference in terms of the day to day activities that they perform. Sell-side analysts are not only responsible for producing investment proposals but they also have to promote their ideas. This includes issuing complicated and extensive investment reports, and meeting with buy-side customers.