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Schwab Makes Expanded 24-Hour Trading Available to All Clients

The pioneering of 24/5 trading, started by Ameritrade which was acquired by Schwab in 2020, continues with the launch of an expanded range of securities in the overnight trading session. These overnight session orders (EXTO) are continuous orders that expire at 8pm ET each market day. Now, all of Schwab’s retail clients can trade an expanded list of securities including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks and hundreds of additional exchange-traded funds (ETFs) 24 hours a day, five days a week (24/5), via the thinkorswim® platform suite.

Young woman looking at her phone at night

Executive Perspectives on What's Ahead

James Kostulias, Head of Trading Services at Schwab
Jon Beatty, Managing Director, Head of Schwab Advisor Services

What’s next for the fiduciary advice model?

Jonathan S. Beatty
August 29, 2024
Lisa Kidd Hunt, Managing Director, Head of International Services, Charles Schwab
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Charles Schwab Corporation

Talk to Rick, the Next CEO of Charles Schwab

Rick Wurster, Schwab’s president since 2021, will be tasked with steering the brokerage through a transition.

Company Announcements

Charles Schwab President & CEO Rick Wurster on Yahoo Finance - March 12, 2025

 

Madison Mills: Joining us now, we've got Rick Wurster: Worcester, Charles Schwab president and CEO, and Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi is still with us, bringing us the conversation. Rick Wurster, thank you for making time for us. We really appreciate you coming in. 

 

Rick Wurster: Thanks so much for having me on. It's my pleasure. 

 

Madison Mills: So I know that you have seen a lot of activity from the brokerage and that that activity has increased this year. But talk to me about what you're seeing in terms of investor positioning amid the market volatility.

 

Rick Wurster: Well, I think investors are taking a range of activity based on what their financial plan is, what they're trying to accomplish. In general, we see a range of emotions among our clients, from nervousness to a focus on the long term. If we look specifically at what our clients are doing, we look at things like margin activity is a good pulse for what our more active traders are doing. And our margin, our level of margin, has stayed roughly the same over the last month, and our margin clients have actually bought equities in the last week. So I think clients are generally hanging in there at the moment. And the benefit of being a part of Charles Schwab is that we have the opportunity to talk with them and help them understand where they are with their plan and what they're trying to accomplish. 

 

Brian Sozzi: What are some of their biggest concerns at this moment? 

 

Rick Wurster: I think there's a variety of concerns. I think you've seen the market turn or worry about growth. You've seen in bond yields. You see it in break evens, you see it in the sectors that are outperforming. So when you look at investors broadly, I think the biggest concern on their mind is just a softer growth picture. And I think that's that's part of what's weighing on weighing on investors. 

 

Brian Sozzi: You just took over. Did you pass the 100-day mark? You just took over as CEO? 

 

Rick Wurster: I don't think I'm at 100 days yet. I still have a little ways to go. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Right. Okay. Is it hard to obviously your CEO? Is it hard to plan your business in this environment where one moment we have tariffs, next we don't? Then they're back on, then they're back off and then something else is coming. Like, what has this meant for your job? 

 

Rick Wurster: It's not hard at all to plan our business because we focus on the long run. We focus on our clients' outcomes and making sure we can get them to where they need to be in their financial life. We've been in business for 50 years, and for 50 years, we have relentlessly stood by our clients and helped them get to where they need to be. And over that time, we've seen up markets, we've seen down markets, we've seen good economic times and bad economic times. But through it all, we stand there with the client and work with them in a variety of ways. And that's what we're doing today. And this year, I call it a liftoff year for us because we're coming out of the integration we did with Ameritrade. And it's all systems go for us. And we're growing faster than we were last year. And off to a really strong start. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Have you stemmed the I guess, you know last time we talked to you. You know those customers were a little upset on that integration process with with Ameritrade. Has that stopped. Are you keeping customers on the platform now. That's over and done with. 

 

Rick Wurster: Our Ameritrade clients are as happy with us as they've ever been. Every quarter that goes by, their satisfaction scores go up. The net flows that they're bringing us, in terms of new money that they're bringing us keep rising every month. So we're in a really good a really good path with our legacy Ameritrade clients. And we're so delighted to be able to serve them. And I was in five branches yesterday in North Carolina. And what I keep hearing from those clients and our professionals who serve them is how much they value the breadth of what we can bring to the former Ameritrade client. We still have the same thinkorswim platform that we think is the best platform in the industry. 

 

Brian Sozzi: The first place I bought a stock, full disclosure and I know thats no BS.

 

Rick Wurster: That’s great, I know, and hopefully the last place you buy a stock too. And in addition to that at Schwab, they get access to all of our wealth management capabilities, all of our research, a lot more capabilities to help them get to where they need to be in their life. 

 

Madison Mills: It sounds like a pretty picture, given the uncertainty that is obviously taking place in the market. But also, so many CEOs have talked with us about just in terms of the policy backdrop. I know that you have spoken with and worked with the president specifically on the launch of their DJT fintech brand, TruthFi. Have you had any conversations with him about getting policy clarity from the White House moving forward? 

 

Rick Wurster: You know, we for 50 years have tried to work with administrators with with regulators to help them get to a place that's the best possible environment for retail investors and advisors that serve them. So we're always in active discussions with regulators and politicians, and that that won't change. 

 

Brian Sozzi: We've gotten a big uhh, I was actually talking to one of your competitors this morning on my on my podcast, and I asked them their view on cryptocurrency. And that particular CEO said, we don't view it as an asset, and they may not be getting bigger into the crypto space. What is your crypto operations look like? We've got ETFs. We've clearly passed a moment with the Bitcoin Reserve. It's been validated. How are you going to play in that space? 

 

Rick Wurster: Well, we're active in the cryptocurrency space today. We had a 400% increase in the number of visits to our cryptocurrency site in the fourth quarter of 2024, and 70% of those visits were from prospects. So what that says to us is that investors that are interested in investing in crypto they want to do it at a place that they trust, a place where they feel like their assets are going to be safe. So they're coming to Schwab, and they're investing in ETFs and getting access. At some point, we'll be in spot cryptocurrencies, and we'll make that available. Today, we're not, we have ETFs. And that's where we're seeing the most of the volume. But we are in cryptocurrencies, and our clients are interested in it. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Is the spot, Bitcoin ETF, is that is that a this year thing for your company? 

 

Rick Wurster: We hope it will be this year's thing. The regulatory environment has shifted as it relates to banks being able to offer crypto directly to clients. And because of the changing regulations, we do think it's possible that this year we would be able to offer that directly to clients. 

 

Madison Mills: And more broadly, where do you see the most growth moving forward? Obviously, you've got the Sozzi’s of the world getting ready to get into the brokerage, you know, at two years old. But beyond those initial those initial investors. Right, right. Of course, where is the most growth going to come for the business moving forward? First-time investors, retail, futures traders, options traders, crypto bros like who is the growth story? 

 

Brian Sozzi: Wait why do you point to me for crypto bro? What's up with that? 

 

Madison Mills: Because you asked. The crypto question where's where's the growth? 

 

Rick Wurster: That's that's funny. Well we do like to start young by the way. And we are winning with young clients. We had roughly a third of our client. New clients last year were under the age of 30. 60% were under the age of 40, which still seems young to me. So we are doing well with young investors, but we're really winning across the board. And the reason we're winning at all age levels, at all wealth levels, is because we put the client first and we bring everything that we have, whether it's our trading platform, our wealth management capabilities, the way we support our 16,000 advisors that are on our platform and in communities across our country. The way we serve all of them puts them first. And when you put clients first, I think you're going to have a successful business. And that's been the case for us for 50 years. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Rick, I've gotten to know Vlad and the Robinhood team really well. And, you know, over the past two years, they just seem increasingly aggressive to get into wealth management, launching new products. Their pace has picked up. Are they a nuisance to you? Are they a real competitor to what Charles Schwab has done in the past 50 years? 

 

Rick Wurster: We don't we don't see it that way. We're focused on our clients. We've got 44 million client accounts today that that have never been more satisfied than they are today with Schwab. We are focused on delivering wealth management capabilities to them and we don't see those clients interested in in other what others can do. And the reason we see that is because we can do so much for our clients. Clients can call us so last week it's been a volatile week. We had 600,000 clients call or chat us in the last week, and we pick up the phone in less than 30 seconds. 

 

Brian Sozzi: You still have humans picking up the phone?

 

Rick Wurster: We have humans picking up the phone. I was in five branches yesterday in North Carolina. We've got all kinds of clients walking in the door. It's hard for most companies to be able to match the breadth of what we can do for a client, so we worry less about competitors. I'm sure they're doing a great job for their clients. We're more focused on our clients and making sure we nail it for them every single day. 

 

Madison Mills: What's the single biggest obstacle you want to tackle in your next 100 days? 

 

Rick Wurster: The next 100 days? You know, it's about accelerating the growth of our business, deepening the relationships we have with clients, nailing the basics every day when we pick up the phones quickly, when we help remind clients why they're invested. Those basics, when our technology works incredibly well, those matter a lot to clients. And then scaling our business. The more efficient we can be with our clients time, the more they're going to enjoy their experience, and also the more efficient we can be so that we can free up money to invest in our growth initiatives. So those are the things we're focused on in the next 100 days, and maybe we'll get a little more peaceful markets in the next 100 days. We'll see. 

 

Brian Sozzi: We can hope for we can hope for that. 

 

Madison Mills: You’ll have to come back and talk to us when markets and when markets do finally recover. Rick, thank you so much for making time. 

 

Rick Wurster: Thanks for having me on,

 

Madison Mills: I appreciate it. 

 

Rick Wurster: Nice to see you both. 

 

Madison Mills: Thank you for bringing us the conversation. Really appreciate it. Markets action ahead right here on Yahoo Finance to stick around for more.

 

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Important Disclosures

This interview contains forward-looking statements relating to the company's products, growth and success with clients; investor engagement; and all-weather business model. These forward-looking statements and other comments reflect management’s expectations as of the date hereof. Achievement of these expectations and objectives is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Important factors that may cause such differences are described in the company’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on the company’s website (https://www.aboutschwab.com/financial-reports) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (https://www.sec.gov). The company makes no commitment to update any forward-looking statements.

The information here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions.

All names and market data shown above are for illustrative purposes only and are not a recommendation, offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Diversification strategies do not ensure a profit and cannot protect against losses in a declining market.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Cryptocurrency-related products carry a substantial level of risk and are not suitable for all investors. Investments in cryptocurrencies are relatively new, highly speculative, and may be subject to extreme price volatility, illiquidity, and increased risk of loss, including your entire investment in the fund. Spot markets on which cryptocurrencies trade are relatively new and largely unregulated, and therefore, may be more exposed to fraud and security breaches than established, regulated exchanges for other financial assets or instruments. Some cryptocurrency-related products use futures contracts to attempt to duplicate the performance of an investment in cryptocurrency, which may result in unpredictable pricing, higher transaction costs, and performance that fails to track the price of the reference cryptocurrency as intended. Please read more about risks of trading cryptocurrency futures here.

Investment and Insurance Products Are: Not FDIC Insured • Not Insured by Any Federal Government Agency • Not a Deposit or Other Obligation of, or Guaranteed by, the Bank or any of its Affiliates • Subject to Investment Risks, Including Possible Loss of Principal Amount Invested

 

 

 

Video Transcript

Watch Rick Wurster

Charles Schwab President & CEO Rick Wurster on Yahoo Finance - March 12, 2025

 

Madison Mills: Joining us now, we've got Rick Wurster: Worcester, Charles Schwab president and CEO, and Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi is still with us, bringing us the conversation. Rick Wurster, thank you for making time for us. We really appreciate you coming in. 

 

Rick Wurster: Thanks so much for having me on. It's my pleasure. 

 

Madison Mills: So I know that you have seen a lot of activity from the brokerage and that that activity has increased this year. But talk to me about what you're seeing in terms of investor positioning amid the market volatility.

 

Rick Wurster: Well, I think investors are taking a range of activity based on what their financial plan is, what they're trying to accomplish. In general, we see a range of emotions among our clients, from nervousness to a focus on the long term. If we look specifically at what our clients are doing, we look at things like margin activity is a good pulse for what our more active traders are doing. And our margin, our level of margin, has stayed roughly the same over the last month, and our margin clients have actually bought equities in the last week. So I think clients are generally hanging in there at the moment. And the benefit of being a part of Charles Schwab is that we have the opportunity to talk with them and help them understand where they are with their plan and what they're trying to accomplish. 

 

Brian Sozzi: What are some of their biggest concerns at this moment? 

 

Rick Wurster: I think there's a variety of concerns. I think you've seen the market turn or worry about growth. You've seen in bond yields. You see it in break evens, you see it in the sectors that are outperforming. So when you look at investors broadly, I think the biggest concern on their mind is just a softer growth picture. And I think that's that's part of what's weighing on weighing on investors. 

 

Brian Sozzi: You just took over. Did you pass the 100-day mark? You just took over as CEO? 

 

Rick Wurster: I don't think I'm at 100 days yet. I still have a little ways to go. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Right. Okay. Is it hard to obviously your CEO? Is it hard to plan your business in this environment where one moment we have tariffs, next we don't? Then they're back on, then they're back off and then something else is coming. Like, what has this meant for your job? 

 

Rick Wurster: It's not hard at all to plan our business because we focus on the long run. We focus on our clients' outcomes and making sure we can get them to where they need to be in their financial life. We've been in business for 50 years, and for 50 years, we have relentlessly stood by our clients and helped them get to where they need to be. And over that time, we've seen up markets, we've seen down markets, we've seen good economic times and bad economic times. But through it all, we stand there with the client and work with them in a variety of ways. And that's what we're doing today. And this year, I call it a liftoff year for us because we're coming out of the integration we did with Ameritrade. And it's all systems go for us. And we're growing faster than we were last year. And off to a really strong start. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Have you stemmed the I guess, you know last time we talked to you. You know those customers were a little upset on that integration process with with Ameritrade. Has that stopped. Are you keeping customers on the platform now. That's over and done with. 

 

Rick Wurster: Our Ameritrade clients are as happy with us as they've ever been. Every quarter that goes by, their satisfaction scores go up. The net flows that they're bringing us, in terms of new money that they're bringing us keep rising every month. So we're in a really good a really good path with our legacy Ameritrade clients. And we're so delighted to be able to serve them. And I was in five branches yesterday in North Carolina. And what I keep hearing from those clients and our professionals who serve them is how much they value the breadth of what we can bring to the former Ameritrade client. We still have the same thinkorswim platform that we think is the best platform in the industry. 

 

Brian Sozzi: The first place I bought a stock, full disclosure and I know thats no BS.

 

Rick Wurster: That’s great, I know, and hopefully the last place you buy a stock too. And in addition to that at Schwab, they get access to all of our wealth management capabilities, all of our research, a lot more capabilities to help them get to where they need to be in their life. 

 

Madison Mills: It sounds like a pretty picture, given the uncertainty that is obviously taking place in the market. But also, so many CEOs have talked with us about just in terms of the policy backdrop. I know that you have spoken with and worked with the president specifically on the launch of their DJT fintech brand, TruthFi. Have you had any conversations with him about getting policy clarity from the White House moving forward? 

 

Rick Wurster: You know, we for 50 years have tried to work with administrators with with regulators to help them get to a place that's the best possible environment for retail investors and advisors that serve them. So we're always in active discussions with regulators and politicians, and that that won't change. 

 

Brian Sozzi: We've gotten a big uhh, I was actually talking to one of your competitors this morning on my on my podcast, and I asked them their view on cryptocurrency. And that particular CEO said, we don't view it as an asset, and they may not be getting bigger into the crypto space. What is your crypto operations look like? We've got ETFs. We've clearly passed a moment with the Bitcoin Reserve. It's been validated. How are you going to play in that space? 

 

Rick Wurster: Well, we're active in the cryptocurrency space today. We had a 400% increase in the number of visits to our cryptocurrency site in the fourth quarter of 2024, and 70% of those visits were from prospects. So what that says to us is that investors that are interested in investing in crypto they want to do it at a place that they trust, a place where they feel like their assets are going to be safe. So they're coming to Schwab, and they're investing in ETFs and getting access. At some point, we'll be in spot cryptocurrencies, and we'll make that available. Today, we're not, we have ETFs. And that's where we're seeing the most of the volume. But we are in cryptocurrencies, and our clients are interested in it. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Is the spot, Bitcoin ETF, is that is that a this year thing for your company? 

 

Rick Wurster: We hope it will be this year's thing. The regulatory environment has shifted as it relates to banks being able to offer crypto directly to clients. And because of the changing regulations, we do think it's possible that this year we would be able to offer that directly to clients. 

 

Madison Mills: And more broadly, where do you see the most growth moving forward? Obviously, you've got the Sozzi’s of the world getting ready to get into the brokerage, you know, at two years old. But beyond those initial those initial investors. Right, right. Of course, where is the most growth going to come for the business moving forward? First-time investors, retail, futures traders, options traders, crypto bros like who is the growth story? 

 

Brian Sozzi: Wait why do you point to me for crypto bro? What's up with that? 

 

Madison Mills: Because you asked. The crypto question where's where's the growth? 

 

Rick Wurster: That's that's funny. Well we do like to start young by the way. And we are winning with young clients. We had roughly a third of our client. New clients last year were under the age of 30. 60% were under the age of 40, which still seems young to me. So we are doing well with young investors, but we're really winning across the board. And the reason we're winning at all age levels, at all wealth levels, is because we put the client first and we bring everything that we have, whether it's our trading platform, our wealth management capabilities, the way we support our 16,000 advisors that are on our platform and in communities across our country. The way we serve all of them puts them first. And when you put clients first, I think you're going to have a successful business. And that's been the case for us for 50 years. 

 

Brian Sozzi: Rick, I've gotten to know Vlad and the Robinhood team really well. And, you know, over the past two years, they just seem increasingly aggressive to get into wealth management, launching new products. Their pace has picked up. Are they a nuisance to you? Are they a real competitor to what Charles Schwab has done in the past 50 years? 

 

Rick Wurster: We don't we don't see it that way. We're focused on our clients. We've got 44 million client accounts today that that have never been more satisfied than they are today with Schwab. We are focused on delivering wealth management capabilities to them and we don't see those clients interested in in other what others can do. And the reason we see that is because we can do so much for our clients. Clients can call us so last week it's been a volatile week. We had 600,000 clients call or chat us in the last week, and we pick up the phone in less than 30 seconds. 

 

Brian Sozzi: You still have humans picking up the phone?

 

Rick Wurster: We have humans picking up the phone. I was in five branches yesterday in North Carolina. We've got all kinds of clients walking in the door. It's hard for most companies to be able to match the breadth of what we can do for a client, so we worry less about competitors. I'm sure they're doing a great job for their clients. We're more focused on our clients and making sure we nail it for them every single day. 

 

Madison Mills: What's the single biggest obstacle you want to tackle in your next 100 days? 

 

Rick Wurster: The next 100 days? You know, it's about accelerating the growth of our business, deepening the relationships we have with clients, nailing the basics every day when we pick up the phones quickly, when we help remind clients why they're invested. Those basics, when our technology works incredibly well, those matter a lot to clients. And then scaling our business. The more efficient we can be with our clients time, the more they're going to enjoy their experience, and also the more efficient we can be so that we can free up money to invest in our growth initiatives. So those are the things we're focused on in the next 100 days, and maybe we'll get a little more peaceful markets in the next 100 days. We'll see. 

 

Brian Sozzi: We can hope for we can hope for that. 

 

Madison Mills: You’ll have to come back and talk to us when markets and when markets do finally recover. Rick, thank you so much for making time. 

 

Rick Wurster: Thanks for having me on,

 

Madison Mills: I appreciate it. 

 

Rick Wurster: Nice to see you both. 

 

Madison Mills: Thank you for bringing us the conversation. Really appreciate it. Markets action ahead right here on Yahoo Finance to stick around for more.

 

++

 

Important Disclosures

This interview contains forward-looking statements relating to the company's products, growth and success with clients; investor engagement; and all-weather business model. These forward-looking statements and other comments reflect management’s expectations as of the date hereof. Achievement of these expectations and objectives is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Important factors that may cause such differences are described in the company’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on the company’s website (https://www.aboutschwab.com/financial-reports) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (https://www.sec.gov). The company makes no commitment to update any forward-looking statements.

The information here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions.

All names and market data shown above are for illustrative purposes only and are not a recommendation, offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Diversification strategies do not ensure a profit and cannot protect against losses in a declining market.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Cryptocurrency-related products carry a substantial level of risk and are not suitable for all investors. Investments in cryptocurrencies are relatively new, highly speculative, and may be subject to extreme price volatility, illiquidity, and increased risk of loss, including your entire investment in the fund. Spot markets on which cryptocurrencies trade are relatively new and largely unregulated, and therefore, may be more exposed to fraud and security breaches than established, regulated exchanges for other financial assets or instruments. Some cryptocurrency-related products use futures contracts to attempt to duplicate the performance of an investment in cryptocurrency, which may result in unpredictable pricing, higher transaction costs, and performance that fails to track the price of the reference cryptocurrency as intended. Please read more about risks of trading cryptocurrency futures here.

Investment and Insurance Products Are: Not FDIC Insured • Not Insured by Any Federal Government Agency • Not a Deposit or Other Obligation of, or Guaranteed by, the Bank or any of its Affiliates • Subject to Investment Risks, Including Possible Loss of Principal Amount Invested

 

 

 

President and CEO Rick Wurster on Yahoo!Finance

Charles Schwab President and CEO Rick Wurster joined Yahoo!Finance to address how investors are managing recent market movements and Schwab’s focus on growth.

President and CEO Rick Wurster on CNBC, 1/23/25

 

BECKY QUICK:  Shares of Charles Schwab are up more than 8% so far in 2025 and more than 26% over the last year. On Tuesday, the brokerage giant topped the street’s revenue and profit expectations for the fourth quarter pretty handily. That stock was up sharply on Tuesday as a result. I think at one point I saw it up by 7%. The company said investor engagement surged following the election. The company, of course, has a new CEO, and that would be Rick Wurster. He took the helm at the beginning of the year, and he says the company has positioned for strength and poised for liftoff in 2025. Rick Wurster joins us right now. And Rick, it’s great to see you this morning. 

 

RICK WURSTER:  Becky, really nice to see you. Thanks for having me on. 

 

BECKY:  Thanks for coming in. So let’s talk about why you think you are positioned for growth. The numbers were really strong, stronger than the street was expecting. I think you beat by 10 cents or something on the top line, 1.01 versus the 91 cents the street was expecting. Revenue was up 20%. That was a pretty strong turnaround from what we had seen in the quarter before. What happened? 

 

RICK:  Well, we have engaged clients. In terms of our being ready for liftoff, we’re number one or number two in the two fastest-growing areas of the financial services market. We have what we think is the broadest set of ways for investors to engage, and the broadest methods for people to come and find us, whether it’s digitally, whether it’s walking into a branch, and there’s a bull market for ease. And so being able to find us in multiple places and do more in one place, that’s leading to lots of client growth, and that growth is what’s accelerating our stock. 

 

BECKY:  Well, where are the clients that are coming in? Who are they? 

 

RICK:  We see clients across the board. I think a little-known fact about Schwab is that about one out of every six households that have more than $20 million in our country work with Schwab. And at the same time, we’re crushing it with younger investors. Roughly a third of our new-to-Schwab households last year were from clients under the age of 30. 

 

BECKY:  That shocked me. I was reading through some of the demographics numbers on that. A third were under the age of 30. How many were under the age of 40? 

 

RICK:  It was more than 50%, close to 60%. So we really are doing well with young clients. And our model is that we attract them, and then what we do is we try to do everything we can to delight them and grow those relationships over time, both through digital channels and through in-person interactions. 

 

BECKY:  What delights them? What makes them happy with that? What makes them stick around? And I guess I ask because if you think of younger investors, a lot of times people think it’s Robinhood, right? That stock was up about 192% last year versus the 26% that you guys were up. What are you doing to find these younger people, and how do you keep them once you find them? 

 

RICK:  Well, our success with young investors is driven by the fact that we can do so much to help them. So young investors often are figuring out how to pay off their college debt, or they’re figuring out how to buy their first home, and investing is an important part of that journey. And we can help them both with the investing part, but also the broader life, and how it’s all going to come together from a financial standpoint. That’s where we really stand apart. It’s not just about a trading app. We have what we think is the best trading app in the market… we do more trades than the next two closest competitors in the retail brokerage space… but it’s also because of we wrap around it. 

 

BECKY:  Where do you find them? Are you finding them online? You say you bring them in in person, too. Where do the majority of these new, younger customers come in? 

 

RICK:  I think our younger clients tend to engage with us first digitally. We have a great brand. We have a terrific marketing department that goes and finds young investors where they are, and introduces content to them that’s of interest to them. We have about 35 hours a week of content that is curated specifically for newer investors that are just figuring out how to invest. We have a capability in our thinkorswim trading tool that allows young investors to practice investing without using real money. So it allows them to get used to what trading and what investing is like. 

 

BECKY:  Sort of like, ‘Oops, what did I just do?’

 

RICK:  That’s a good way to learn. 

 

BECKY:  Right. So what do you think when you hear the hotshots, like a Robinhood, or an Interactive Brokers, or somebody who comes in, how do you guys measure up? How do you think of them as competitors? 

 

RICK:  We feel great about our positioning. Being number one or number two in the two fastest-growing segments of our space is a great starting point. Having the breadth of capabilities that we have, which we don’t think can be matched, in a period where people value that more because they value ease, and they want to get things done in one place, having that breadth of capabilities is very helpful. Having the lowest expense base in our industry relative to client assets is a big advantage. And being able to work with clients in multiple ways. We often find that as clients’ lives change, big moments, whether it’s paying off their college debt, whether it’s buying a home, whether it’s having their first baby or getting married, all of those things, people tend to want to come into one of our branches and have a discussion about it, or talk to one of our experts on the phone. And being there for them in multiple ways, I think, is what sets us apart. It stems from seeing through clients’ eyes, and doing right by them. 

 

BECKY:  So do you get frustrated when you see the stock gains of somebody like a Robinhood? 

 

RICK:  No, listen, I think we’re focused on delivering for our clients. So I don’t look at, you know, with envy at anyone else’s stock price. I look at nailing it for our clients. And what I feel great about… you know, we had a lot of outstanding quarterly numbers that we just reported on Tuesday. The number that gave me the greatest satisfaction was the fact that our clients’ satisfaction scores across our major businesses are all at all-time highs. That’s what I’m excited about. 

 

BECKY:  Let’s talk about some of those other numbers. Net interest income was up 19% to 2-1/2 billion. That’s the biggest portion of your revenue. What happened there? Why did it ramp up like that? Net interest income, obviously, is the difference between what you are paying, or the interest that you have to pay to people to get them to keep their deposits there, versus what you get paid on your interest. 

 

RICK:  We’ve seen a real stabilization of cash deposits at Schwab, and that’s what drives our net interest margin. And if you look back the past couple of years, what has happened is clients have been at our suggestion finding places to put their cash where they could earn more. And now we’re down to levels of cash where it’s really about their transactional needs. And so we saw in the last four months client deposits grow by about 52 billion. And so that has added to our net interest margin. 

 

BECKY:  And the net interest margin, again, with rates, let’s just talk about what the Fed has done right now, is it harder for clients to find more attractive places to put their money? And that’s just a broader example of where the Fed stands right now. 

 

RICK:  I think it’s a great time to be a fixed income investor right now because you can find yield. It wasn’t too long ago we were talking about zero rates, and now clients can find great rates in a lot of different places. You know, for me, if you’re a retiree right now, buying 30-year TIPS, you can get a 2-1/2% real yield. Not really any inflation risk and not a lot of risk generally to be able to go out and earn 2-1/2% real. It’s as high as they’ve been in a long time. It’s a good time to be a fixed income investor. 

 

BECKY:  You all have talked about some opportunistic buybacks at this point, stock buybacks. We haven’t seen that in about a year. What are you looking at? Because it would have been more opportunistic, maybe, at the end of last year than right now, just given where the stock has taken off. What would make you do the share buybacks at this point? 

 

RICK:  Well, we’ve been building capital, and we’ve been building capital towards what we expected to be the new Basel III regulations. And we’re now at a place where we meet the new Basel III regulations should they take place, and we’re at a point now where we do think we’re getting ready to be able to opportunistically buy back our stock. 

 

BECKY:  And if Basel III goes away, you would buy more aggressively? 

 

RICK:  Well, I think we would want to think about the safety and soundness of our firm and what the right level of capital is, but certainly we would be well above the capital targets that we shoot for. 

 

BECKY:  And Basel III, in your opinion, was that… I mean, most bankers will say that they thought that was too aggressive. 

 

RICK:  There were elements of it that I think made sense and other elements that didn’t. We commented on it, like many other financial institutions, and I know the Fed is thoughtfully looking at it and likely to re-propose some form of it. And I think it’s been a good example of being able to have a voice and share collectively our industry’s thoughts with the Fed. And they’ve been responsive.

 

BECKY:  You all have been looking at having spot crypto trading later this year. What has to happen before that comes out? 

 

RICK:  Well, first, crypto has been of incredible interest to our clients. We had a 400% increase in traffic to our crypto site in the fourth quarter alone, 70% of whom were prospects that we don’t work with. So what’s exciting to us about crypto right now is there’s a lot of interest. And when there is interest, they come to Schwab because they know it’s a place they can trust. And we offer lots of ways to invest in crypto at Schwab. We don’t yet offer spot crypto because of the regulatory environment. We think that is likely to change, and when it does, we’re going to be quickly… we’d like to be quickly into the market. 

 

BECKY:  Because you want to be able to offer everything if somebody is interested. 

 

RICK:  We want to be able to meet someone’s crypto needs in a variety of ways. Today, they can invest in ETFs. They can invest in futures. They can invest in closed-end funds. We’d like to add spot crypto at the right time. 

 

BECKY:  What did you see post-election, additional interest in trading, additional optimism from the retail traders that you’re dealing with? 

 

RICK:  We did. We saw one sentiment increase. So we saw in November and December… we measure sentiment among our trading activities, seeing what they’re buying and selling… trading activity increased in November, and then increased again in December. And then we saw activity increase. And so our December daily average trades were up about 30% over the prior December, and up over the prior months. So there definitely has been an increase in sentiment and activity. 

 

BECKY:  Rick, I want to thank you very much for joining us here in-house. Rick Wurster, again, the CEO of Charles Schwab. Thank you. 

 

RICK:  Thank you for having me. 

 

BECKY:  It’s great to see you. Andrew, we’ll send it back over to you.

 

 

 

This interview contains forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s expectations as of the date hereof. Achievement of these expectations and objectives is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Important factors that may cause such differences are described in the company’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on the company’s website (https://www.aboutschwab.com/financial-reports) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (https://www.sec.gov). The company makes no commitment to update any forward-looking statements.

The information here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions.

All names and market data shown above are for illustrative purposes only and are not a recommendation, offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Cryptocurrency- related products carry a substantial level of risk and are not suitable for all investors. Investments in cryptocurrencies are relatively new, highly speculative, and may be subject to extreme price volatility, illiquidity, and increased risk of loss, including your entire investment in the fund. Spot markets on which cryptocurrencies trade are relatively new and largely unregulated, and therefore, may be more exposed to fraud and security breaches than established, regulated exchanges for other financial assets or instruments. Some cryptocurrency-related products use futures contracts to attempt to duplicate the performance of an investment in cryptocurrency, which may result in unpredictable pricing, higher transaction costs, and performance that fails to track the price of the reference cryptocurrency as intended. Please read more about risks of trading cryptocurrency futures here.

 

 


 

Video Transcript

Watch Rick Wurster

President and CEO Rick Wurster on CNBC, 1/23/25

 

BECKY QUICK:  Shares of Charles Schwab are up more than 8% so far in 2025 and more than 26% over the last year. On Tuesday, the brokerage giant topped the street’s revenue and profit expectations for the fourth quarter pretty handily. That stock was up sharply on Tuesday as a result. I think at one point I saw it up by 7%. The company said investor engagement surged following the election. The company, of course, has a new CEO, and that would be Rick Wurster. He took the helm at the beginning of the year, and he says the company has positioned for strength and poised for liftoff in 2025. Rick Wurster joins us right now. And Rick, it’s great to see you this morning. 

 

RICK WURSTER:  Becky, really nice to see you. Thanks for having me on. 

 

BECKY:  Thanks for coming in. So let’s talk about why you think you are positioned for growth. The numbers were really strong, stronger than the street was expecting. I think you beat by 10 cents or something on the top line, 1.01 versus the 91 cents the street was expecting. Revenue was up 20%. That was a pretty strong turnaround from what we had seen in the quarter before. What happened? 

 

RICK:  Well, we have engaged clients. In terms of our being ready for liftoff, we’re number one or number two in the two fastest-growing areas of the financial services market. We have what we think is the broadest set of ways for investors to engage, and the broadest methods for people to come and find us, whether it’s digitally, whether it’s walking into a branch, and there’s a bull market for ease. And so being able to find us in multiple places and do more in one place, that’s leading to lots of client growth, and that growth is what’s accelerating our stock. 

 

BECKY:  Well, where are the clients that are coming in? Who are they? 

 

RICK:  We see clients across the board. I think a little-known fact about Schwab is that about one out of every six households that have more than $20 million in our country work with Schwab. And at the same time, we’re crushing it with younger investors. Roughly a third of our new-to-Schwab households last year were from clients under the age of 30. 

 

BECKY:  That shocked me. I was reading through some of the demographics numbers on that. A third were under the age of 30. How many were under the age of 40? 

 

RICK:  It was more than 50%, close to 60%. So we really are doing well with young clients. And our model is that we attract them, and then what we do is we try to do everything we can to delight them and grow those relationships over time, both through digital channels and through in-person interactions. 

 

BECKY:  What delights them? What makes them happy with that? What makes them stick around? And I guess I ask because if you think of younger investors, a lot of times people think it’s Robinhood, right? That stock was up about 192% last year versus the 26% that you guys were up. What are you doing to find these younger people, and how do you keep them once you find them? 

 

RICK:  Well, our success with young investors is driven by the fact that we can do so much to help them. So young investors often are figuring out how to pay off their college debt, or they’re figuring out how to buy their first home, and investing is an important part of that journey. And we can help them both with the investing part, but also the broader life, and how it’s all going to come together from a financial standpoint. That’s where we really stand apart. It’s not just about a trading app. We have what we think is the best trading app in the market… we do more trades than the next two closest competitors in the retail brokerage space… but it’s also because of we wrap around it. 

 

BECKY:  Where do you find them? Are you finding them online? You say you bring them in in person, too. Where do the majority of these new, younger customers come in? 

 

RICK:  I think our younger clients tend to engage with us first digitally. We have a great brand. We have a terrific marketing department that goes and finds young investors where they are, and introduces content to them that’s of interest to them. We have about 35 hours a week of content that is curated specifically for newer investors that are just figuring out how to invest. We have a capability in our thinkorswim trading tool that allows young investors to practice investing without using real money. So it allows them to get used to what trading and what investing is like. 

 

BECKY:  Sort of like, ‘Oops, what did I just do?’

 

RICK:  That’s a good way to learn. 

 

BECKY:  Right. So what do you think when you hear the hotshots, like a Robinhood, or an Interactive Brokers, or somebody who comes in, how do you guys measure up? How do you think of them as competitors? 

 

RICK:  We feel great about our positioning. Being number one or number two in the two fastest-growing segments of our space is a great starting point. Having the breadth of capabilities that we have, which we don’t think can be matched, in a period where people value that more because they value ease, and they want to get things done in one place, having that breadth of capabilities is very helpful. Having the lowest expense base in our industry relative to client assets is a big advantage. And being able to work with clients in multiple ways. We often find that as clients’ lives change, big moments, whether it’s paying off their college debt, whether it’s buying a home, whether it’s having their first baby or getting married, all of those things, people tend to want to come into one of our branches and have a discussion about it, or talk to one of our experts on the phone. And being there for them in multiple ways, I think, is what sets us apart. It stems from seeing through clients’ eyes, and doing right by them. 

 

BECKY:  So do you get frustrated when you see the stock gains of somebody like a Robinhood? 

 

RICK:  No, listen, I think we’re focused on delivering for our clients. So I don’t look at, you know, with envy at anyone else’s stock price. I look at nailing it for our clients. And what I feel great about… you know, we had a lot of outstanding quarterly numbers that we just reported on Tuesday. The number that gave me the greatest satisfaction was the fact that our clients’ satisfaction scores across our major businesses are all at all-time highs. That’s what I’m excited about. 

 

BECKY:  Let’s talk about some of those other numbers. Net interest income was up 19% to 2-1/2 billion. That’s the biggest portion of your revenue. What happened there? Why did it ramp up like that? Net interest income, obviously, is the difference between what you are paying, or the interest that you have to pay to people to get them to keep their deposits there, versus what you get paid on your interest. 

 

RICK:  We’ve seen a real stabilization of cash deposits at Schwab, and that’s what drives our net interest margin. And if you look back the past couple of years, what has happened is clients have been at our suggestion finding places to put their cash where they could earn more. And now we’re down to levels of cash where it’s really about their transactional needs. And so we saw in the last four months client deposits grow by about 52 billion. And so that has added to our net interest margin. 

 

BECKY:  And the net interest margin, again, with rates, let’s just talk about what the Fed has done right now, is it harder for clients to find more attractive places to put their money? And that’s just a broader example of where the Fed stands right now. 

 

RICK:  I think it’s a great time to be a fixed income investor right now because you can find yield. It wasn’t too long ago we were talking about zero rates, and now clients can find great rates in a lot of different places. You know, for me, if you’re a retiree right now, buying 30-year TIPS, you can get a 2-1/2% real yield. Not really any inflation risk and not a lot of risk generally to be able to go out and earn 2-1/2% real. It’s as high as they’ve been in a long time. It’s a good time to be a fixed income investor. 

 

BECKY:  You all have talked about some opportunistic buybacks at this point, stock buybacks. We haven’t seen that in about a year. What are you looking at? Because it would have been more opportunistic, maybe, at the end of last year than right now, just given where the stock has taken off. What would make you do the share buybacks at this point? 

 

RICK:  Well, we’ve been building capital, and we’ve been building capital towards what we expected to be the new Basel III regulations. And we’re now at a place where we meet the new Basel III regulations should they take place, and we’re at a point now where we do think we’re getting ready to be able to opportunistically buy back our stock. 

 

BECKY:  And if Basel III goes away, you would buy more aggressively? 

 

RICK:  Well, I think we would want to think about the safety and soundness of our firm and what the right level of capital is, but certainly we would be well above the capital targets that we shoot for. 

 

BECKY:  And Basel III, in your opinion, was that… I mean, most bankers will say that they thought that was too aggressive. 

 

RICK:  There were elements of it that I think made sense and other elements that didn’t. We commented on it, like many other financial institutions, and I know the Fed is thoughtfully looking at it and likely to re-propose some form of it. And I think it’s been a good example of being able to have a voice and share collectively our industry’s thoughts with the Fed. And they’ve been responsive.

 

BECKY:  You all have been looking at having spot crypto trading later this year. What has to happen before that comes out? 

 

RICK:  Well, first, crypto has been of incredible interest to our clients. We had a 400% increase in traffic to our crypto site in the fourth quarter alone, 70% of whom were prospects that we don’t work with. So what’s exciting to us about crypto right now is there’s a lot of interest. And when there is interest, they come to Schwab because they know it’s a place they can trust. And we offer lots of ways to invest in crypto at Schwab. We don’t yet offer spot crypto because of the regulatory environment. We think that is likely to change, and when it does, we’re going to be quickly… we’d like to be quickly into the market. 

 

BECKY:  Because you want to be able to offer everything if somebody is interested. 

 

RICK:  We want to be able to meet someone’s crypto needs in a variety of ways. Today, they can invest in ETFs. They can invest in futures. They can invest in closed-end funds. We’d like to add spot crypto at the right time. 

 

BECKY:  What did you see post-election, additional interest in trading, additional optimism from the retail traders that you’re dealing with? 

 

RICK:  We did. We saw one sentiment increase. So we saw in November and December… we measure sentiment among our trading activities, seeing what they’re buying and selling… trading activity increased in November, and then increased again in December. And then we saw activity increase. And so our December daily average trades were up about 30% over the prior December, and up over the prior months. So there definitely has been an increase in sentiment and activity. 

 

BECKY:  Rick, I want to thank you very much for joining us here in-house. Rick Wurster, again, the CEO of Charles Schwab. Thank you. 

 

RICK:  Thank you for having me. 

 

BECKY:  It’s great to see you. Andrew, we’ll send it back over to you.

 

 

 

This interview contains forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s expectations as of the date hereof. Achievement of these expectations and objectives is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Important factors that may cause such differences are described in the company’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on the company’s website (https://www.aboutschwab.com/financial-reports) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (https://www.sec.gov). The company makes no commitment to update any forward-looking statements.

The information here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions.

All names and market data shown above are for illustrative purposes only and are not a recommendation, offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Cryptocurrency- related products carry a substantial level of risk and are not suitable for all investors. Investments in cryptocurrencies are relatively new, highly speculative, and may be subject to extreme price volatility, illiquidity, and increased risk of loss, including your entire investment in the fund. Spot markets on which cryptocurrencies trade are relatively new and largely unregulated, and therefore, may be more exposed to fraud and security breaches than established, regulated exchanges for other financial assets or instruments. Some cryptocurrency-related products use futures contracts to attempt to duplicate the performance of an investment in cryptocurrency, which may result in unpredictable pricing, higher transaction costs, and performance that fails to track the price of the reference cryptocurrency as intended. Please read more about risks of trading cryptocurrency futures here.

 

 


 

President and CEO Rick Wurster on CNBC

Charles Schwab President and CEO Rick Wurster joined CNBC to share insights on our Q4 earnings, how the company is positioned for strength and helping clients invest and navigate their financial lives.

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This interview contains forward-looking statements relating to the company's products, growth and success with clients; investor engagement; and all-weather business model. These forward-looking statements and other comments reflect management’s expectations as of the date hereof. Achievement of these expectations and objectives is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Important factors that may cause such differences are described in the company’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on the company’s website (https://www.aboutschwab.com/financial-reports) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (https://www.sec.gov). The company makes no commitment to update any forward-looking statements.

The information here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions.

All names and market data shown above are for illustrative purposes only and are not a recommendation, offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Diversification strategies do not ensure a profit and cannot protect against losses in a declining market.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Cryptocurrency-related products carry a substantial level of risk and are not suitable for all investors. Investments in cryptocurrencies are relatively new, highly speculative, and may be subject to extreme price volatility, illiquidity, and increased risk of loss, including your entire investment in the fund. Spot markets on which cryptocurrencies trade are relatively new and largely unregulated, and therefore, may be more exposed to fraud and security breaches than established, regulated exchanges for other financial assets or instruments. Some cryptocurrency-related products use futures contracts to attempt to duplicate the performance of an investment in cryptocurrency, which may result in unpredictable pricing, higher transaction costs, and performance that fails to track the price of the reference cryptocurrency as intended. Please read more about risks of trading cryptocurrency futures here.