The market for securities where institutional investors trade directly among themselves without going through exchanges or resorting to the services of a broker/dealer. For example, a mutual fund may buy securities directly from a bank or insurance company. In this market, blocks of stock are directly transferred among institutional investors and therefore it is very similar to the third market except for the fact that no intermediaries are involved in the transaction. In this sense, users of the fourth market avoid the payment of hefty brokerage fees usually required in order to transact in other market settings.