Sell side brokerages are registered members of a stock exchange, and are required to be market makers in a given security.
Buy side firms participate in a smaller number of overall transactions, and aim to profit from market movements and accruals rather than through risk management and the bid–offer spread.
The 2010 Thomson Reuters Extel/UKSIF Survey shows that buy-side firms are placing more emphasis on sustainability issues in the research and advisory services they receive from brokers.
While most real estate technology currently focuses on the sell side, there are a few companies that are developing tools for the buy-side.
[citation needed] Globally buy-side asset managers are looking at increased regulation in regards to their use of financial index and benchmark data, including adhering to IOSCO Principles.