individual authorized by another person, called the principal, to act in the latter's behalf in transactions involving a third party. Banks are frequently appointed by individuals to be their agents, and so authorize their employees to act on behalf of principals. Agents have three basic characteristics:

1. They act on behalf of and are subject to the control of the principal.
2. They do not have title to the principal's property.
3. They owe the duty of obedience to the principal's orders.

licensed real estate agent or broker who secures a listing of the property. Contrast with selling agent/selling broker

1. individual or firm acting as a principal in a securities transaction. Principals trade for their own account and risk. When buying from a broker acting as a dealer, a customer receives securities from the firm's inventory; the confirmation must disclose this. When specialists trade for their own account, as they must as part of their responsibility for maintaining an orderly market, they act as dealers. Since most brokerage firms operate both as brokers and as principals, the term broker-dealer is commonly used.
2. one who purchases goods or services for resale to consumers. The element of inventory risk is what distinguishes a dealer from an agent or sales representative.

individual authorized by another person, called the principal, to act in the latter's behalf in transactions involving a third party. Banks are frequently appointed by individuals to be their agents, and so authorize their employees to act on behalf of principals. Agents have three basic characteristics:

1. They act on behalf of and are subject to the control of the principal.
2. They do not have title to the principal's property.
3. They owe the duty of obedience to the principal's orders.

section of an insurance company that sells through brokers. Some brokerage departments are self-contained in that they have their own underwriting and marketing staffs. Brokerage departments have come into their own in recent times as even captive agent insurance companies have sought additional distribution channels that may be less expensive than the captive agent field force.

agent who arranges for the rental of lists by a list user on behalf of the list owner in return for a commission on the rental fee. List brokers perform various marketing and list consultation services in the process of bringing buyer and seller together, such as researching and recommending lists to the list user and evaluating the performance of each list after mailing. List brokers are also responsible for controlling on-time delivery of the list to the list user and usually guarantee payment for the list rental to the owner. A list broker may work exclusively with a house list or with several compiled list or lists geared to specific target markets such as people over sixty, homemakers, or executives.

salesperson whose line of merchandise represents a particular manufacturer. Some manufacturers maintain a salaried staff of sales representatives; others (usually smaller companies) offer their lines to independent salespersons, who are remunerated by commission. Thus the manufacturer's representative may be a salaried employee, or an independent broker, working on commission, who represents more than one manufacturer's line of merchandise. In the latter case, the various lines are usually compatible and may be distributed along the same channels or purchased by the same customers.

1. individual or firm acting as a principal in a securities transaction. Principals trade for their own account and risk. When buying from a broker acting as a dealer, a customer receives securities from the firm's inventory; the confirmation must disclose this. When specialists trade for their own account, as they must as part of their responsibility for maintaining an orderly market, they act as dealers. Since most brokerage firms operate both as brokers and as principals, the term broker-dealer is commonly used.
2. one who purchases goods or services for resale to consumers. The element of inventory risk is what distinguishes a dealer from an agent or sales representative.