In the firm's first quarter of 2024, Charles Schwab saw $14 billion in net inflows to its advisory solutions businesses, including managed portfolios and personalized investment advice. This was a 60% increase year-on-year, according to the company's profits.
Schwab reported $4.74 billion in net income for the first three months of 2024, a 7.3% decline from the first quarter of 2023. However, the firm beat analysts' estimates.
In particular, Schwab Wealth Advisory (formerly Schwab Private Bank and the name for the firm's cadre of in-house advisors) had a record $4.4 billion net inflow this quarter, with Charles Schwab Corp. president Rick Wurster attributed that in part to “heritage Ameritrade families,” which accounted for about 30% of registrations.
Net flows of $14 billion in the firm's “advisory solutions” included Schwab Wealth Advisory, Schwab Managed Portfolios and Schwab Advisor Network, among other tracts, and some legacy no-fee advisory solutions, according to a Schwab spokesman.
Schwab bought TD Ameritrade in 2019, with the deal is finally closed in October next year. Although the Schwab/TD integration it was originally expected to be completed by 202310% of TD customers and their accounts will convert to Schwab in May, Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger said on the company's earnings call.
According to Wurster, most TD Ameritrade clients who signed up for some of Schwab's wealth solutions opted for full-service segments, such as the in-house Schwab Wealth Advisory group or the Schwab Advisor Network, which works with RIAs. Some also requested custom indexing and Wasmer Schroeder, which offers clients fixed income strategies.
“So those would be four, but most of the flows will go into full service of the estate,” Wurster said. “And that's exactly the power of the combination that we thought we'd see, and we're seeing it.”
In total, the firm's net new assets totaled $88.2 billion in the first quarter, a marked decline from the first quarter of 2023, though up from $66.3 billion in new assets last quarter. According to Bettinger, part of that decline stemmed from TD's continued integration, though he expected the customer damage to diminish over time.
Active brokerage accounts grew 3% year-over-year, according to the first-quarter earnings report, and a 20% increase in new brokerage accounts from the fourth quarter of 2023 (and 5% year-over-year, according to profits).
Information from Bloomberg News contributed to this report.