It's a common practice for big brokers to have a custody option where your securities are held separately (as far as you are concerned), but usually it comes wi

It's a common practice for big brokers to have a custody option where your securities are held separately (as far as you are concerned), but usually it comes with more fees. If you don't want to take the risk of brokerage lending, then you have to enable custody and agree to have some extra fees. Whether the benefits will outweight or not depends on your investment habits and which brokerage you use.