Reflections from Mumbai: Choosing the Right Broker

The questions traders ask at the beginning are rarely the ones that matter when markets become difficult. One of the most important early decisions is choosing the right broker.

The Jio World Convention Center brought together more than 20,000 traders, investors and industry professionals for Money Expo India 2026. But after two days of conversations, what stayed with me was not the scale of the event. It was the questions people were asking.

First-time investors wanted to know where to begin. Experienced traders were comparing execution, costs and technology. Industry professionals were looking at how regulation and new infrastructure are changing access to global markets.

I attended Money Expo India last year as an exhibitor. This year, I returned as a keynote speaker to address a deceptively simple question: How should you choose a broker?

It is a question many people answer too quickly.

Commissions, an attractive interface and a convenient app matter. But they are only the visible layer. A broker also determines how orders reach the market, where assets are held, how margin is managed, what happens during periods of volatility and whether a real person can act when something goes wrong.

The central point of my keynote was straightforward:

Choosing a broker is not merely a purchasing decision. It is part of risk management.

The headline price is only the beginning

One of the strongest themes across Money Expo India was access. Technology has made it easier for more people to participate in financial markets. But easier access can also create the impression that brokerage services have become interchangeable. They have not.

A low or zero headline commission does not necessarily tell you the total cost of a trade. Spreads, execution quality, foreign exchange conversion, financing rates, market data charges and slippage can all affect the final result.

Some of these costs appear clearly on a statement. Others are embedded in the price received or become noticeable only after repeated trading.

That is why investors should look beyond the advertised fee and understand the all-in economics of trading.

How are orders routed? Where are they executed? Does the broker act as principal in certain transactions? How does the execution received compare with the market at the time the order was placed?

A fraction on a single trade may appear immaterial. Repeated across hundreds of trades, it can become a meaningful drag on performance.

The price on the screen is an invitation. The fill is the economic reality.

Know where your money and assets actually sit

Another important question is often postponed until much later: Who is actually holding your assets?

The broker’s brand name alone is not a complete answer.

Clients should understand how their assets are held, whether client assets are segregated, whether securities may be lent or re-hypothecated, which legal entity holds the account and what protections apply if that entity fails.

Regulation deserves the same scrutiny. Investors should verify a firm’s regulatory status independently through the relevant regulator rather than relying solely on statements made on a broker’s website or in its marketing.

Clearing is another part of the relationship that many retail clients rarely consider. Investors should understand whether their broker self-clears or uses a regulated third-party clearing firm and, if so, who that firm is.

These are not dramatic questions. They are basic due diligence.

A robust brokerage relationship should make the answers easy to find and easy to understand.

A broker proves its value when markets stop behaving normally

The most revealing test of a broker is rarely a quiet trading day.

It comes when liquidity thins, prices move quickly or a leveraged position comes under pressure.

In those conditions, traders need to understand how their broker handles margin and liquidation. How quickly can margin requirements change? Can positions be liquidated without prior consultation? What happens when a large position moves sharply outside regular trading hours?

The answers are part of the risk profile of the account, even though they have nothing to do with predicting what the market itself will do.

Support matters for the same reason.

A chatbot or ticketing system may be adequate for routine administration. During a fast-moving market or an urgent funding problem, however, traders may need access to someone capable of understanding the issue and acting on it.

Before committing significant capital, investors should understand the support model. Who can resolve an urgent trading or funding problem? When are they available? Is there a live trading or risk desk when markets become volatile?

This point felt particularly relevant in Mumbai. India’s rapid expansion in market participation has brought more people into increasingly sophisticated financial products. At the same time, SEBI found that nearly 91% of individual traders in India’s equity derivatives segment incurred net losses in FY2025.

That figure should not be interpreted as a verdict on market participation, or as something a broker alone can solve. But it is a powerful reminder that trading requires discipline, risk management and a clear understanding of the infrastructure supporting every position.

A broker cannot remove market risk. But traders should understand exactly how the brokerage relationship affects the way that risk is managed.

Choose for the investor or trader you may become

A broker that works well at the beginning can become restrictive as a client’s portfolio, strategies and requirements develop.

A client who begins with straightforward equity investing may later want access to options, international markets, more sophisticated order types, margin capabilities or professional trading tools.

That does not mean investors should simply choose the broker with the longest feature list.

A first-time investor does not need the same infrastructure as an active trader, just as an active trader does not necessarily require the same setup as an institutional fund.

The objective is to find a broker whose capabilities, regulation, service and economic model fit your current needs while leaving reasonable room for those needs to evolve.

Before opening an account, it is worth asking not only:

“What can I trade today?”

but also:

“Will this relationship still work when my needs become more complex?”

My lasting impression from Mumbai

Money Expo India 2026 showed an investment community that is large, curious and increasingly sophisticated.

The conference programme ranged across trading technology, artificial intelligence, wealth platforms, regulation, market structure and cross-border access. On the exhibition floor, the conversations were equally practical.

People wanted better tools. But they also wanted clarity and trust.

For me, that was the most encouraging part of the event.

The quality of a market is not measured only by how many people can enter it. It is also reflected in the quality of the questions they ask once they arrive.

Thank you to the organizers, fellow speakers, everyone who joined my keynote and all those who visited the Alaric Securities team at Booth 48.

The conversations did not end when the doors closed in Mumbai. They reinforced a responsibility shared across our industry: to make the structure behind trading more transparent and to help clients assess a brokerage relationship before they are forced to test it under pressure.

The cost of choosing the wrong broker is seldom paid at the start. It is paid in difficult markets, when the client can least afford it.

That is precisely why the choice deserves more thought at the beginning.

About the author

Yanko Hristov is Head of Institutional Sales & Business Development at Alaric Securities. He has more than a decade of experience in prime brokerage, institutional sales and capital markets, including senior roles at Barclays Investment Bank. A CISI-certified professional, he is an author, speaker, strategic adviser and mentor focused on market structure, risk management and institutional finance.