Editing Security (finance) (section)

== Type of holder ==
Investors in securities may be [[retail]], i.e., members of the public investing personally, other than by way of business. 

In distinction, the greatest part of investment in terms of volume, is [[wholesale]], i.e., by financial institutions acting on their own account, or on behalf of clients. 
Important [[institutional investor]]s include [[investment bank]]s, [[insurance]] companies, [[pension fund]]s and other managed funds. 
The "wholesaler" is typically an [[underwriter]] or a [[broker-dealer]] who trades with other broker-dealers, rather than with the retail investor.<ref>[https://people.duke.edu/~charvey/classes/wpg/bfglosw.htm "Wholesaler"], Hypertextual Finance Glossary ([[Campbell Harvey]])</ref>

This distinction carries over to [[banking]]; compare [[Retail banking]] and [[Wholesale banking]].