9. Revenue Recognition

Overview of Revenue

The primary sources of revenue for the Company are as follows:

Margin Interest, Marketing and Distribution fees

Margin interest, marketing and distribution fees consists of two components: margin interest and 12b1 fees resulting from rebates in money market funds. Margin interest is the net interest charged to customers for holding financed margin positions, and 12b1 fees are fees paid to the Company related to trailing payments from money market funds. Margin interest, marketing and distribution fees are recorded as earned.

Commissions and Fees

The Company earns commission revenue for executing trades for clients in individual equities, options, insurance products, futures, fixed income securities, as well as certain third-party mutual funds and ETFs. Commission revenue associated with combined trade execution and clearing services, as well as trade execution services on a standalone basis, is recognized at a point in time on the trade date when the performance obligation is satisfied. The performance obligation is satisfied on the trade date because that is when the underlying financial instrument or purchaser is identified, the pricing is agreed upon and the risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred to / from the customer.

Principal Transactions

Principal transactions primarily represent riskless transactions in which the Company, after executing a solicited order, buys or sells securities as principal and at the same time buys or sells the securities with a markup or markdown to satisfy the order. Principal transactions are recognized at a point in time on the trade date when the performance obligation is satisfied. The performance obligation is satisfied on the trade date because that is when the underlying financial instrument or purchaser is identified, the pricing is agreed upon and the risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred to / from the customer.

Market Making

Market making is revenue generated from the buying and selling of securities. Market making transactions are recorded on a trade-date basis as the securities transactions occur. The performance obligation is satisfied on the trade date because that is when the underlying financial instrument or purchaser is identified, the pricing is agreed upon, and the risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred to / from the counterparty. Securities owned are recorded at fair market value at the end of the reporting period.

Stock Borrow / Stock Loan

The Company borrows securities on behalf of retail clients to facilitate short trading, loans excess margin securities from client accounts, facilitates borrow and loan contracts for broker-dealer counterparties, and provides stock locate services to broker-dealer counterparties. The Company does not utilize stock borrow / stock loan activities for the purpose of financing transactions. Stock borrow / stock loan revenue is reported on a monthly basis net of expense.

For the three months ended March 31, 2020 stock borrow / stock loan revenue was $444,000 ($1,663,000 gross revenue less $1,219,000 expenses). For the three months ended March 31, 2019 stock borrow / stock loan revenue was $581,000 ($3,439,000 gross revenue minus $2,858,000 expenses).

Advisory Fees

The Company earns advisory fees associated with managing client assets. The performance obligation related to this revenue stream is satisfied over time; however, the advisory fees are variable as they are charged as a percentage of the client’s total asset value, which is determined at the end of the quarter.

Interest Income

The Company earns interest from clients’ accounts, net of payments to clients’ accounts, and on the Company’s bank balances and is recorded as earned.

Other Income

Other income represents fees generated from correspondent clearing fees, corporate services client fees, payment for order flow, and transactional fees generated from client accounts. Transactional fees are recorded concurrently with the related activity. Other income is recorded as earned.

Categorization of Revenue

The following table presents the Company’s major revenue categories and when each category is recognized:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
Revenue Category	2020		2019		Timing of Recognition

Trading Execution and Clearing Services
Commissions and fees	$	5,583,000	$	2,268,000	Recorded on trade date
Principal transactions		3,203,000		1,890,000	Recorded on trade date
Market making		470,000		563,000	Recorded on trade date
Stock borrow / stock loan		444,000		581,000	Recorded as earned
Advisory fees		262,000		168,000	Recorded as earned
Total Trading Execution and Clearing Services		9,962,000		5,470,000

Other Income
Margin interest, marketing and distribution fees
Margin interest		2,506,000		2,817,000	Recorded as earned
12b1 fees		788,000		739,000	Recorded as earned
Total Margin interest, marketing and distribution fees		3,294,000		3,556,000

Interest income		1,331,000		1,173,000	Recorded as earned
Other income		214,000		79,000	Recorded as earned

Total Other Income		4,839,000		4,808,000

Total Revenue	$	14,801,000	$	10,278,000

The following table presents each revenue category and its related performance obligation:

Revenue Stream	Performance Obligation
Commissions and fees, Principal transactions, Market making, Stock borrow / stock loan, Advisory fees	Provide financial services to customers and counterparties
Margin interest, marketing and distribution fees, Interest income, Other income	n / a

Soft Dollar Arrangement

As a result of the acquisition of WP, the Company has soft dollar and commission sharing arrangements with customers that fall both within, and outside of, the safe harbor provisions of Rule 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Rule 28(e)"), as amended. These soft dollar arrangements were determined to be a separate performance obligation that should be allocated a portion of the transaction price.

Under these arrangements, the Company charges additional dollars on customer trades and uses these fees to pay third parties for research, brokerage services, market data, and related expenses (“research services”) on behalf of clients. The Company is an agent in these arrangements, as it does not control the research services before they are transferred to the customer. As such, the revenue from these agreements are recognized net of cost in the statements of income in the line item “Commissions and fees.”

The Company paid client expenses approximately $218,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and had an outstanding receivable and payable of approximately $16,000 and $186,000, respectively, as of March 31, 2020. The receivable and payable are in the line item “Other receivables” and “Accounts payable and accrued liabilities,” respectively, on the statement of financial condition.

As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, no allowance for uncollectible commissions was necessary as management believes all commissions receivable and prepaid research services expenses will be realized.

Other Items

For the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, there were no costs capitalized related to obtaining or fulfilling a contract with a customer, and thus the Company has no balances for contract assets or contract liabilities.

The Company concludes that its revenue streams have the same underlying economic factors and as such no disaggregation of revenue is required.