Schwab Reports Second Quarter Results

The Charles Schwab Corporation announced today that its net income for the second quarter of 2023 was $1.3 billion compared with $1.8 billion for the second quarter of 2022. Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2023 was $2.9 billion, compared with $3.2 billion for the year-earlier period.

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Co-Chairman and CEO Walt Bettinger noted, “Schwab’s modern approach to wealth management continues to resonate with investors, helping to sustain our strong client momentum. During the second quarter, we gathered $52 billion in core net new assets – bringing year-to-date asset gathering to over $180 billion and keeping us squarely within our long-term organic growth range of 5% – 7%. While we observed signs of typical tax seasonality, as well as softer investor sentiment at the beginning of the quarter, we still attracted nearly 1 million new brokerage accounts and finished the period serving $8.02 trillion in total client assets across 34 million accounts.”

“Against an improving, yet still somewhat unsettled backdrop, clients increased their utilization of help and advice at Schwab during the quarter, reflecting investors’ continued trust in us to support them on their journey towards a better financial future,” continued Mr. Bettinger. “Year-to-date net flows into our retail Managed Investing solutions were up 35%, and when including relationships with Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), approximately half of the firm’s client assets are now receiving some form of ongoing advisory service. More importantly, even with the still shifting environment, satisfaction within these areas remains strong as Client Promoter Scores for both Schwab Wealth Advisory™ and our RIAs have been near recent highs.”

Mr. Bettinger added, “Further advancing our three strategic initiatives of scale and efficiency, win-win monetization, and segmentation helps reinforce our advantages within the marketplace. In late May, we completed the conversion of over 5 million Ameritrade accounts to the combined platform. Successfully transitioning what is believed to be the largest number of client accounts in the history of the industry over a single weekend is a testament to the team’s diligent preparation and the tireless work of our dedicated employees. With approximately 30% of client accounts converted thus far, we are on-track to move nearly all of the remaining Ameritrade clients over before year-end – with the final transition group scheduled for the first half of 2024. During the quarter, we also took steps to supplement our asset management and personalized investing products by announcing a new proprietary high-yield bond exchange-traded fund and rolling-out enhancements to Schwab Personalized Indexing™ (SPI). The new features included a digital onboarding experience, expanded customization capabilities, and dynamic reporting tools for RIAs utilizing SPI. Most recently, we announced the launch of branded and differentiated experiences for our High Net Worth and Ultra-High Net Worth clients. While the go-forward service model is built upon the foundation of our firm-wide 'no trade-offs' approach, it includes many new benefits aimed at meeting the specific needs of these investors – including an integrated experience that offers specialized support and dedicated relationships across wealth management and banking.”

Mr. Bettinger finished, “Schwab continues to operate from a position of strength, as our 'Through Clients’ Eyes' strategy and distinct competitive advantages enable us to meet the ever-evolving needs of individual investors and the advisors who serve them. In addition, our consistency of mission and long-term management orientation allows us to stay focused on pursuing the tremendous growth opportunities still in front of us.”

CFO Peter Crawford stated, “While navigating significant near-term headwinds, we generated second quarter revenues of $4.7 billion, down 9% on a year-over-year basis. This top-line result was driven primarily by a temporary increase in the utilization of supplemental funding to facilitate client cash allocation decisions during the current rising rate cycle. Net interest revenue declined 10% from the prior year to $2.3 billion as the incorporation of higher cost liabilities brought our net interest margin down by 32 basis points sequentially to 1.87%. While anticipated client cash realignment, along with net equity buying during June, pushed cash levels lower, we observed a continued and substantial deceleration in the daily pace of cash outflows versus prior months. The continuation of this trend through the end of the quarter further strengthens our conviction that this realignment activity will inflect before the end of 2023, unlocking growth in client cash held on the balance sheet.”

“Managing expenses in a manner that allows us to balance appropriate investment to support long-term growth while generating near-term returns has been a core tenet of Schwab’s business model since its inception over 50 years ago,” Mr. Crawford added. “GAAP expenses for the quarter grew 5% year-over-year to $3.0 billion – including $130 million in acquisition and integration-related costs and $134 million in amortization of acquired intangibles. Exclusive of these items, adjusted total expenses ⁽¹⁾ equaled $2.7 billion, also up 5% versus the prior year. Our commitment to expense discipline yielded a pre-tax margin of 36.3%, or 42.0% adjusted ⁽¹⁾, as we continued to produce profitability levels beyond those observed at nearly all publicly-traded wealth management firms.”

Mr. Crawford concluded, “Effective balance sheet management remains central to our strategy as we seek to optimize capital and liquidity levels to sustain ongoing business momentum. In May, we issued $2.5 billion in long-term debt which provided incremental liquidity to support growth and helped us further bolster our capital ratios at the banks. Concurrently, driven by a combination of healthy profitability and a smaller balance sheet, our consolidated Tier 1 Leverage Ratio moved higher to 7.5%. While recent results have been negatively influenced by a number of temporary factors, we remain extremely well-positioned heading into the years to come. As we look forward, our confidence in the future is based on the resiliency of Schwab’s core earnings power as demonstrated by our diversified model’s ability to deliver long-term value to all of our stakeholders – clients, employees, and owners – over the past five decades.”

Commentary from the CFO

Periodically, our Chief Financial Officer provides insight and commentary regarding Schwab’s financial picture at: https://www.aboutschwab.com/cfo-commentary. The most recent commentary, which provides perspective on the recent client cash realignment trends and second quarter revenue expectations, was posted on June 14, 2023.

Summer Business Update

The company will host its Summer Business Update for institutional investors this morning from 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. CT, 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. ET. Registration for this Update webcast is accessible at https://www.aboutschwab.com/schwabevents.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the company’s momentum; client asset growth; strategy and approach; competitive advantages; Ameritrade client transition; positioning; opportunities; success with clients; client cash realignment activity and trends; growth of client cash on the balance sheet; expense discipline; balancing investment to support long-term growth with generating near-term returns; profitability; balance sheet management; capital and liquidity; earnings power; and stakeholder value. These forward-looking statements 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 from the expressed expectations.

Important factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the company’s ability to attract and retain clients and independent investment advisors and grow those relationships and client assets; develop and launch new and enhanced products, services, and capabilities, as well as enhance its infrastructure and capacity, in a timely and successful manner; hire and retain talent; support client activity levels; successfully implement integration strategies and plans; monetize client assets; and manage expenses. Other important factors include client use of the company’s advisory solutions and other products and services; general market conditions, including the level of interest rates and equity valuations; client cash allocation decisions; client sensitivity to rates; level of client assets, including cash balances; competitive pressures on pricing; the level and mix of client trading activity; market volatility; securities lending; margin loan balances; capital and liquidity needs and management; balance sheet positioning relative to changes in interest rates; interest earning asset mix and growth; new or changed legislation, regulation or regulatory expectations; and other factors set forth in the company’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with 34.4 million active brokerage accounts, 2.4 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.8 million banking accounts, and $8.02 trillion in client assets. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiaries, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc., and TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc., (members SIPC, https://www.sipc.org), and their affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent, fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank, SSB (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. More information is available at https://www.aboutschwab.com. TD Ameritrade, Inc. and TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. are separate but affiliated companies and subsidiaries of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation. TD Ameritrade is a trademark jointly owned by TD Ameritrade IP Company, Inc. and The Toronto-Dominion Bank.