More in Charles Schwab

If you think it’s taking longer to recruit clients, you’re not alone. Charles Schwab’s annual RIA benchmarking study reports that sales cycles are getting longer—a problem that can take a toll on practices’ bottom line....More

Charles Schwab remains the top custodian of advisor assets, but TD Ameritrade recruits more breakaway brokers. The two firms announced quarterly earnings results today....More

Schwab Advisor Services is signing up advisor assets at a pace that tracks its historical average, Executive Vice President of Advisor Services Bernie Clark said....More

Don’t write off merger and acquisition activity for the registered investment advisor market in 2012 yet. Sure, market volatility and foggy economic prospects dampened dealmaking last year, according to Schwab Advisor Services....More

Regional wealth management firms are accelerating their efforts to expand nationally next year. Leawood, Kansas-based Mariner Wealth Advisors exemplified the trend among well-capitalized RIAs, bringing on 20-year Fidelity veteran Brian O’Regan last month to lead its ambitious national growth strategy. Other regional RIA powerhouses including Aspiriant, Presidio Financial Partners, U.S. Capitol Advisors and Tiedemann Wealth Management all have plans to add offices in new markets next year....More

The U.S. economy is poised for improvement, but a change in national leadership is key, Charles Schwab told an auditorium of financial advisors at San Francisco’s Moscone Center who had come for the Charles Schwab Corp.’s annual IMPACT convention....More

What a difference three months can make. Summer market volatility took its toll on Charles Schwab Corp.’s third-quarter results, with sharply higher trading revenue being offset by flat asset management fees. Schwab today said its trading revenue for the third quarter rose by 36 percent year over year (21 percent sequentially), to $248 million, while asset management fees were flat, at $466 million....More

Charles Schwab has long said that it doesn’t solicit the investor clients of the financial advisors who custody assets with the firm. It’s a stance it repeated just a month ago when discussing its upcoming franchise program. And yet, just last week, Schwab found itself apologizing for violating that very policy....More

Financial advisors who are considering Charles Schwab’s new independent branch program are being told they will have to abide by the company’s contact policy, a Schwab (Ticker: SCHW) spokesman says. The policy bars Schwab employees at the firm’s 300 branches from reaching out to investor clients of registered investment advisors with sales or business development pitches or advice interactions, spokesman Michael Cianfrocca says. “It’s pretty much that straightforward,” he says. “The independent branch leaders and their staff will have the same policy that our co-managed branches have.”...More