Schwab’s Beatty Encourages RIAs to Chase $30T Outside Independent Management

You can find original article here WealthManagement. Subscribe to our free daily WealthManagement newsletters.

Jonathan Beatty, head of Schwab Advisor Services, encouraged registered investment advisors attending Charles Schwab’s annual Impact conference to leverage the company’s capabilities to go after the $30 trillion in managed assets not being overseen by independent operators.

“There is over $30 trillion of managed wealth in the United States that still isn’t benefiting from the independent-minded guidance that you provide,” he said. “It will take all of us, every firm in this industry, to capture that opportunity.”

Beatty made the remarks at Schwab Impact in Denver, the firm’s 35th annual conference for RIAs, which he said drew more than 2,800 advisors outside the wirehouse, bank and self-directed investment markets. He also said that the Westlake, Texas-based financial firm’s focus is on allocating the majority of new investments toward streamlining services and tools for advisors.

“We’re investing 90% of our resources toward reducing friction, streamlining workflow and elevating your digital experience,” Beatty said during the conference’s opening remarks. “We’ve invested over 100,000 hours of training and development for our service professionals that you work with every day. We want to deliver brilliant experiences to you and your clients.”

Schwab’s focus on ease, as well as the breadth of RIA services, comes as the RIA space continues to grow in both scale and operating models, presenting opportunities and complexities for independent operators. 

It also comes during a year when it’s clear that Schwab is also chasing some of that $30 trillion with its own wealth services. 

In September, the firm announced it was opening 16 more retail branches in the U.S. and hiring 400 related roles. It also, following a report by trade publication Citywire on the move, confirmed that it would be raising the minimum client asset range for referrals to $2 million or more in 2026, for the roughly 100 to 150 RIAs in its referral program. 

To the RIA audience in Denver, Beatty stressed that the firm was working to advertise the message of fiduciary advice through its campaign, findyourindependentadvisor.com, as well as lobbying in Washington, D.C., alongside the Investment Adviser Association.

Schwab remains the country’s largest RIA custodian, reporting $5 trillion in assets under custody in its advisor services unit in its third-quarter earnings report.

Beatty made the case that advisors can benefit from the firm’s scale by using its added services, such as lending, trusts and banking. 

Story Continues

He pointed in particular to the access Schwab has given advisors to personalized, or direct index investing, via its managed account marketplace.

“That means that you can use personalized indexing, direct indexing, through a dual contract, and collaborate with the Schwab Asset Management team for client solutions,” he said.

He also noted that additional assistance would be available for those who pay the subscription fees for Schwab’s advisor membership program, Advisor ProDirect, which offers guidance to new breakaway RIAs, ongoing business consulting, and products from third-party vendors with potential discounts. Earlier in the day, the firm announced that the new program was open to all RIAs custodied with the firm, rather than just breakaways.

Attendee Ed Gjertsen, founder and chief engagement officer of Northfield, Ill.-based Engage Wealth, said the message of advisor service resonated with him.

Gjertsen came over via the TD Ameritrade acquisition Schwab completed in 2020. He said at the time that there was a fear of losing the responsive and unique service teams that TD was known for.

“To Schwab’s credit, they spent a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of energy getting feedback from those coming over from TD, and have executed quite well,” he said. “We had a great service team at TD, and we were fortunate to grab most of our service team from TD.” 

Brandon Hobson, chief investment officer at PracticeCFO in San Diego, which is focused on retirement plans for dental practices, said Beatty’s focus on alignment with advisors stood out to him. 

“I like how he geared it toward the idea that, in order for us [Schwab] to succeed, we need you all to succeed, so let’s work together to go get these assets,” he said.

Hobson said there are areas of friction his firm experiences regarding advising on and managing pension plans that are run through Schwab.

“Our clients don’t necessarily understand that friction,” he said. “They are asking us, ‘Why is this so hard?’”

Hobson said he and a team member had attended a presentation on Schwab tools and capabilities where they heard others with similar issues, but also “saw some things that made us pretty happy.”

View Comments