SEBI-registered intermediaries that route your orders to exchanges (NSE / BSE / MCX / NCDEX). The 11 names a retail trader actually picks from are at /brokers.

NSE alone has ~1,300 active member brokers; BSE adds more. SEBI's master list is bigger because many are inactive.

Manage IPOs, FPOs, rights issues, buybacks, M&A advisory, and act as Book Running Lead Managers (BRLMs). Different licence from a stockbroker; some firms (ICICI Securities, Motilal Oswal, JM Financial) hold both.

Agents that hold your demat account on behalf of NSDL or CDSL. Your broker is usually your DP. See /depositories for the explainer.

Provide investment advice (specific stocks, allocations, portfolios) for a fee. RIAs cannot also earn distribution commissions per SEBI rule.

SEBI tightened qualification rules in 2020 (NISM certifications + experience).

Publish stock research, recommendations, and price targets. Cannot give personalised advice (that's an RIA). Newsletter writers and influencers giving 'buy/sell' calls legally need this licence.

Manage discretionary or non-discretionary portfolios for HNI clients. Minimum ticket size ₹50 lakh per SEBI rule. Different from mutual funds (no pooled vehicle, segregated accounts).

Pooled funds for sophisticated investors. Category I = VC / SME / social impact. Category II = PE / debt / fund-of-funds. Category III = hedge funds (long-short, complex strategies). Minimum ticket ₹1 crore.

Asset Management Companies that run mutual fund schemes. Every SIP, lump sum, and ELSS investment sits in a scheme run by one of these AMCs.

Rate corporate debt, bank loans, and structured products on the AAA → D scale. Used for bond pricing, FD comparison, and regulatory capital under Basel III.

Hold securities on behalf of FPIs, mutual funds, and large institutional clients. Not retail-facing. Provide safekeeping + corporate-action handling + post-trade settlement.

Independent fiduciary that protects bondholders / debenture holders in a public debt issue. Mandatory on every listed corporate bond.