The Schwab Impact annual conference is always a big show, with many attendees in a big space, and Schwab tends to announce big initiatives for its advisors at the conference. Schwab Impact 2012 in Chicago, which formally began Wednesday morning, was no exception.
Schwab Advisor Services said that 4,600 people, including 1,684 advisors, are attending Impact 2012 this year at the mammoth McCormick Convention Center; among the big-name speakers are Chuck Schwab himself, Robert Gates and Richard Haass, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles and Alan Alda as the closing keynote speaker.
On Wednesday morning, the head of Schwab Advisor Services, Bernie Clark, greeted attendees by calling advisors ‘explorers’ in the vein of other great pathfinders through the ages. He said that Wall Street competitors to RIAs “ recognize your success; they want what you’ve created,” calling on advisors to “go back to your essence” to successfully continue their growth and beat back the challenge of the Wall Street firms.