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January 17, 2020 at 04:30 PM
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Charles Schwab cleared the $4 trillion in assets mark, according to its latest earnings report. That puts it at the same asset level as the Bank of America Merrill Lynch wealth unit.
The feat was praised by some industry watchers, like Morningstar Research Services’ Michael Wong, who leads its financial services equity team. “Schwab … accelerated the pace of client asset growth,” he said in a note on Thursday.
The firm “took only around three years for the company to go from $3 trillion to $4 trillion in client assets while it took closer to four years for the company to go from $2 trillion to $3 trillion,” explained Wong, a CPA and chartered financial analyst.
About $2.13 trillion is on Schwab’s DIY investor platform, with $1.91 trillion tied to advisory services.
If its deal to buy TD Ameritrade goes through in 2020, the discount brokerage firm could reach $5 trillion, the two firms said when the deal was announced in late November.
Plus, Schwab posted “one of its best quarters for net new client assets” on record, he adds, bringing in $77 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019 “amidst the $0-commission announcement and increased advertising.”
