Schwab offers a modern way to help build and manage wealth

When the SEC deregulated securities commissions, many Wall Street firms raised their commissions. Chuck Schwab cut his and established one of the first discount brokerages.

The accepted rule was that firms closed when the markets closed. Schwab understood that clients didn’t keep bankers’ hours and chose to offer 24/7 order entry and quote service.

Serving independent investment advisors, Financial Advisor Service exceeds $1 billion in client assets after just one year of business.

Mutual fund investors used to face sales loads and other transaction fees through their broker or had to set up multiple accounts with multiple mutual fund companies to buy direct without transaction fees. Schwab thought this an unnecessary compromise and created Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource a one-stop® way to invest in a wide array of no-load funds without transaction fees.

At the risk of substantial cuts to its commission revenue, Schwab embraced low-cost online investing in the early days of the internet because it benefited the consumer.

Investors deserved a fact-based system to assess whether a stock was right to consider buying, selling or holding. Stock lists at traditional firms were biased toward “buy” and depended heavily on qualitative, subjective assessments. Schwab didn’t think that benefited clients, so it launched Schwab Equity Ratings, a system that ranked over 3000 stocks, with equal numbers of buys and sells.

Clients should have easy access to their money at all times, whether depositing a check or investing in a mutual fund. That’s why Schwab Bank created its High-Yield Investor Checking account, to provide investors with banking without unnecessary costs.

Managed portfolios provide a convenient way to access professional investment advice, but the cost had been historically high. Schwab Managed Portfolio addressed this by providing broadly diversified portfolios with competitive costs.

ETFs provide a great way to get access to a range of asset classes and to build a diversified portfolio. But with commissions, an investor who dollar-cost averages can have their investment undercut by expenses. Commission-free ETFs at Schwab broke new ground by making it possible to build a low-cost diversified portfolio simply.

Schwab opened the first Independent Branch in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Personalized low-cost advice may help 401(k) participants reach their retirement goals and achieve better outcomes, but they typically receive single-factor advice found in target-date funds. Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. (SRPS) believed there was another way, so developed Schwab Index Advantage^®, a ground-breaking approach to the 401(k) combining low-cost index mutual funds or exchange traded funds offered through SRPS, an FDIC-insured deposit feature, and professional savings and investment advice provided by an independent third-party advisor.

At Schwab, we believe that every investor deserves accountability. The Schwab Accountability Guarantee^™ provides that, if for any reason, a client is not happy with one of our participating investment advisory services, we’ll refund the client’s service fee from the previous quarter.³ While it's no guarantee against loss, and other fees and expenses may still apply, we stand by our word and will work with the client to make things right.

Many investors want and need help managing their money but don’t want to spend a lot of time on it and don’t want to pay a fee for the service. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios^™, offered by Schwab Wealth Investment Advisory, Inc., is an online investment advisory service that builds, monitors, and rebalances your portfolio automatically, making access to automated portfolio management convenient and with no advisory fees, account service fees, or commissions charged.