What Is a Pershing Account?

A Pershing account is a financial account with Pershing LLC, a clearing firm headquartered in Jersey City, N.J. According to Pershing, InvestmentNews stated in December 2013 that it is the number one clearing firm in the United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

Pershing notes that it serves a variety of financial firms, including those that are full-service, institutional, and independent. Additionally, it serves broker-dealers who are self-directed and bank-affiliated, and it offers a variety of services. For broker-dealers, Pershing offers accounts that provide operational support, trading services, flexible technology, investment solutions, practice management and service excellence. Some of the specific trading services that a Pershing account offers a broker-dealer include equity trading, fixed income trading and best execution. Pershing also offers accounts for Registered Investment Advisors. It strives to help RIA firms serve their high-net-worth clients with excellence by providing support in multiple areas, including operational support with clearing and settlement, compliance tools and custody services. Pershing indicates that it was founded on Jan. 1, 1939. It began with $200,000 in capital and was originally named Pershing & Company. While its headquarters is in New Jersey, it has multiple locations around the world, including locations in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe.