Have you ever wondered what exactly happens to your funds once you’ve decided to make an investment? An advisor’s “clearing firm” may have a lot to do with the answer. Pershing, a BNY Mellon company, (member FINRA, NYSE, and SIPC)—a trusted, established, and financially stable financial services firm— provides clearing services for my practice.
A clearing firm works with various financial exchanges to handle confirmation, delivery and settlement of your financial transactions.
Such firms employ technology and procedures designed to ensure that transactions are processed in a timely and efficient manner. Additionally, clearing firms prepare and send periodic account statements and transaction confirmations to investors. The SEC and FINRA, the regulatory bodies that oversee broker-dealers, also oversee clearing firms.
Pershing has been a leading global provider of financial business solutions for more than 75 years and serves many of the world’s most respected financial organizations. Your assets are not held at my firm, nor are they held at SagePoint. Pershing is a separate and independent entity, and a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net worth individuals.
Pershing is a member of SIPC, which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). An explanatory brochure is available upon request or at sipc.org.
In addition to SIPC protection, Pershing provides coverage in excess of SIPC limits from certain underwriters in Lloyd’s insurance market and other commercial insurers. The excess of SIPC coverage is valid through February 10, 2020 for Pershing LLC accounts. It provides the following protection for Pershing LLC’s global client assets:
- An aggregate loss limit of $1 billion for eligible securities—over all client accounts
- A per-client loss limit of $1.9 million for cash awaiting reinvestment—within the aggregate loss limit of $1 billion
SIPC and the excess of SIPC coverage do not protect against loss due to market fluctuation.
An excess of SIPC claim would only arise if Pershing failed financially and client assets for covered accounts—as defined by SIPC—cannot be located due to theft, misplacement, destruction, burglary, robbery, embezzlement, abstraction, failure to obtain or maintain possession or control of client securities, or to maintain the special reserve bank account required by applicable rules.
Lloyd’s currently holds an A+ rating from Standard & Poor’s® (S&P®), an A rating from A.M. Best and an AA- rating from Fitch. These ratings are based on the financial strength of the company and are subject to change by the rating agencies at any time. * For more information about Lloyd’s, please see lloyds.com.
* Ratings as of August 2018.
