As defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 section 28(e), a portion of commission dollars can be set aside to pay research-related costs incurred by advisors and fund managers. Eligible IB Clients can specify amounts that can be added to IB commissions and set aside as a pool of available money (Soft Dollars), which can be used to pay for market data and research.
IB Clients can then pay allowed expenses for market data and research subscriptions to external vendors. Allowed categories of expenses include fundamental, technical and/or quantitative analysis; portfolio management, valuation and asset allocation services; and economic forecasting.