A prime brokerage is a bundled group of services that investment banks and other financial institutions offer to hedge funds and other large investment clients that need to be able to borrow securities or cash in order to engage in netting to achieve absolute returns.

The services provided under prime brokering include securities lending, leveraged trade execution, and cash management, among other things. Prime brokerage services are provided by most of the largest financial services firms, including Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Morgan Stanley, and the inception of units offering such services traces back to the 1970s.