what is the difference between a broker and a transfer agent 
a transfer agent acts as a liaison between a company s registrar and an investor a broker on the other hand acts as an intermediary between an investor and an exchange buying and selling securities for its clients who needs a transfer agent publicly traded companies listed on a stock exchange need transfer agents to maintain records of shareholder accounts calculate and distribute dividends and keep investors up to date with what s going on mutual funds and issuers of debt securities also rely on transfer agents for similar reasons 