DIRECTED ORDER

A customer order to buy or sell securities, wherein the customer gives specific instructions to the broker or dealer for the order to be routed to a particular exchange or venue for execution. A directed order is so named because the client directs the order routing for execution. The client preference for a particular exchange for execution may be based on the view that incrementally better execution prices are available there for trading a particular stock or security. This is a factor that is of significantly greater importance to the active trader than it is to the average retail investor.