Buy Side

The segment of the financial industry that buys securities for the purpose of managing money, including mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, and insurance companies. Buy-side firms are the clients of sell-side brokerages and investment banks. Buy-side analysts do research to inform their own firm's investment decisions, in contrast to sell-side analysts who publish recommendations for external clients. Moving from the sell side to the buy side is a common and coveted career transition on Wall Street.