The online brokerage channel continues to attract an expanding array of investors beyond the traditional active trader cohort. The shock of the 2008 financial crisis accelerated the broadening interest in and movement to the channel as investors sought a degree of involvement and control over their investment situation. The feature research article in the Fall 2011 issue of The Retail Brokerage Report examines the drivers of growth in the online brokerage channel over the past decade. The channel’s increasingly bifurcated client profile—“investors” and “traders”—is shaping the shelf, pricing and growth strategies of its varied field of players.