When a client places an order to purchase or sell securities, the customer gives precise instructions for the order to be routed to a certain exchange or venue for execution. Because the client directs the order routing for execution, it is called a directed order. The client’s preference for a certain exchange for execution may be based on the belief that there are progressively better execution prices available there for trading a specific stock or asset. This is a factor that is far more important to a professional trader than it is to the ordinary retail investor.