The management of a client's investments by a financial services company, usually an investment bank. The company will invest on behalf of its clients and give them access to a wide range of traditional and alternative product offerings that would not be to the average investor. An account at a financial institution that includes checking services, credit cards, debit cards, margin loans, the automatic sweep of cash balances into a money market fund, as well as brokerage services.
When an individual investor builds a portfolio of financial instruments and securities, he or she typically allocates a certain percentage of funds towards the safest and most liquid vehicle available: cash. This cash component may sit in his or her investment account in purely liquid funds, just as it would if deposited into a bank savings or checking account. However, investors are much better off placing the cash component of their portfolios into the money market, which offers interest income while still retaining the safety and liquidity of cash. Many money market instruments are available to investors, most simply through well-diversified money market mutual funds. Should investors be willing to go it alone, there are other money market investment opportunities, most notably in purchasing T-bills through Treasury Direct.