SIFMA (Security Industry/Financial Market Assoc.)

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) is a not-for-profit trade association that represents securities brokerage firms, investment banking institutions, and other investment firms. SIFMA represents firms of all sizes in all financial markets in the U.S. and around the globe. The organization’s membership represents 75 percent of the U.S. broker-dealer sector by revenue and 50 percent of the asset management sector as measured by assets under management.

Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association currently represent members with a total of nearly 1 million employees, serving clients. They handle more than $185 trillion in assets and manage more than $67 trillion in assets for individual and institutional clients. These clients include mutual funds and retirement plans, as well as banks and brokerage firms.

The organization’s members consist of more than 13,000 professionals in the finance and banking industries. SIFMA members exchange ideas and support positive change on behalf of members and clients by participating in more than 100 committees and sub-groups. 

Committees focus on a wide range of critical and timely topics and challenges with a focus on priorities, concerns, and challenges faced by those in specific markets or who handle particular products, such as municipal securities, derivatives, credit markets and equity capital markets.

• Compliance and legal issues
• Federal government relations 
• International policy
• Research and surveys
• State government procedures
• Communications. 

One of SIFMA’s fundamental goals is to enhance the public's trust and confidence in the markets while delivering an efficient, enhanced member network of access and forward-looking services. The organization also helps encourage a well-informed industry by providing premier educational resources for industry professionals and the investors they serve. SIFMA staff, members, and committees focus on a wide range of pose issues that affect financial industry professionals and their clients. Some of these issues include market structure, tax reform, cyber-security, infrastructure and matters involving senior investors.

The formation of SIFMA through a merger of the two financial industry associations occurred in 2007. It traces its origins back much further, however. The organization's evolution dates back to 1912, with the formation of the Investment Bankers Association of America.

The SIA would eventually join with The Bond Market Association in 2007, to form what is now SIFMA.