Schwab Reports Record Quarterly Net Income of $416 Million, Up 19%

The Charles Schwab Corporation announced today that its net income for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $416 million, up 11% from $376 million for the third quarter of 2015, and up 19% from $350 million for the fourth quarter of 2014. Net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 was $1.4 billion, up 10% from the year-earlier period. The company’s financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2015 include certain non-recurring items; descriptions of these items are included below.

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CEO Walt Bettinger said, “Schwab’s ‘through clients’ eyes’ strategy remains the driver of our growth. Effective execution of this strategy helped us succeed with clients throughout 2015 as they faced a generally difficult investing environment. A fundamental measure of our success is the willingness of new and existing clients to bring their hard-earned assets to us. This year, we attracted $134.7 billion in core net new assets, up 8% from 2014 and in excess of $100 billion for the fourth consecutive year. Total client assets at year-end were $2.51 trillion, up $50.2 billion or 2%, solidifying our leadership among publicly-traded US investment services firms. Clients opened 1.1 million new brokerage accounts, up 10% from the previous year. We ended 2015 with 9.8 million active brokerage accounts, 1.0 million banking accounts, and 1.5 million retirement plan participants, up 4%, 5% and 6%, respectively. Over the past 12 months, Schwab’s expanded wealth management capabilities continued to fill an important need with our growing client base; over 155,000 accounts enrolled in one of our retail advisory solutions, up 60% from 2014. At year-end 2015, approximately 560,000 client accounts were using these solutions, 14% more than a year ago.”

“We know that when we do right by clients they will choose to do more business with us, and if we manage that trusted relationship with care it will help produce strong business performance. This proved true again in 2015,” Mr. Bettinger continued. “We achieved record annual net revenues of $6.4 billion, up 5% from last year. Our consistent asset-gathering and strong growth in interest-bearing assets helped to offset the effects of sideways market returns, moderate trading activity, and continued low interest rates. As the year progressed, we kept to the expense goals we laid out in February and produced record annual net income of $1.4 billion, an increase of 10% from 2014.”

Mr. Bettinger said, “The products and services we developed this year reflect Schwab’s ongoing commitment to challenge the status quo, looking for ways to offer our clients more value and a better investing experience. As part of our dedication to offering a contemporary, full-service approach to helping clients build and manage their wealth, we launched Schwab Intelligent Portfolios™, our fully automated investment advisory service which uses sophisticated algorithms to build, monitor, and rebalance diversified portfolios. Featuring a fully online experience – supported by 24/7/365 live professional help – and zero advisory, commission, or account service fees charged, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios represents yet another option for clients who are interested in advised investing. Institutional Intelligent Portfolios™, our version for registered independent advisors, allows RIAs to customize the platform and automate portions of the investment process to complement other approaches in their businesses. Continuing our commitment to provide the greatest value for investors, we expanded Schwab ETF OneSource™ with the addition of 36 new funds over the past twelve months. As of year-end, clients could build a diversified portfolio choosing from 214 ETFs that cover 66 Morningstar Categories, all for $0 online trade commissions. Retirement savings remain the lynchpin motivation for most American investors, and this year Schwab Retirement Plan Services introduced Advisor Managed Accounts, enabling plan consultants who are RIAs to build and manage customized investment portfolios for the plans they support. These managed accounts give employers and plan consultants much more flexibility in designing advice programs to meet the specific needs of employee participants, a key criteria of retirement investing success in our view.” Mr. Bettinger concluded, “As we head into 2016, we are focused on deepening our capabilities around client relationships, financial planning, and advisory solutions.”

CFO Joe Martinetto commented, “We produced solid financial results in 2015, including meaningful operating leverage, despite a tougher than expected environment. We entered the year anticipating S&P 500 appreciation of 6.5%, client daily average revenue trade growth of 5%, and a Fed Funds rate of 0-0.25%. Based on that scenario we targeted mid-to-upper single digit revenue growth, a gap between revenue and expense growth of 150 basis points, and a pre-tax profit margin of around 36%. What we encountered was a 1% drop in the S&P, a 2% drop in revenue trades, and Fed Funds basically flat at 0.12% until the Federal Reserve announced its first rate increase on December 17th. Under these conditions we still delivered 5% annual revenue growth. Asset management and administration fee revenue of $2.7 billion grew 5% from a year ago, while net interest revenue of $2.5 billion grew 11%. Both represent annual records and helped offset a 5% decline in trading revenue. In light of the weaker than expected environment, we carefully limited expense growth to 4%, which enabled us to generate a 130 basis point revenue/expense growth gap and deliver a 36% pre-tax profit margin.”

Mr. Martinetto concluded, “We continue to manage the company’s balance sheet to support growth initiatives and to execute on our strategy of optimizing the spread earned on client sweep cash. This past year, we completed approximately $6.5 billion in bulk transfers from money market funds to Schwab Bank, including $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter. These bulk transfers were supported by a combination of organic capital growth and our issuance of $600 million of preferred stock in the third quarter. In addition, we maintained and enhanced our balance sheet liquidity in 2015. We replaced $350 million of maturing debt with cost effective ten-year notes and also issued $1 billion of new long-term debt during the year, investing the majority in term Treasury Notes. We ended 2015 with a preliminary Tier 1 Leverage Ratio of 7.1%. Overall, our 2015 results highlight the efficacy of Schwab’s financial model across a range of conditions.”

Business highlights for the fourth quarter (data as of quarter-end unless otherwise noted):

Investor Services

• New retail brokerage accounts for the quarter totaled approximately 151,000, up 3% year-over-year; total accounts were 6.9 million as of December 31, 2015, up 3% year-over-year.
• Held financial planning conversations with approximately 29,000 clients during the quarter, up 21% year-over-year. Approximately 112,000 planning conversations were held in 2015, up 3% from 2014.
• Schwab Retirement Plan Services introduced Advisor Managed Accounts. RIA retirement plan consultants can now build and manage customized portfolios for the plans they support, helping more 401(k) participants receive retirement plan advice and achieve better outcomes.
• Schwab Private Client™ Portfolio Consultants can now conduct appointments by video conference, giving clients greater time and location flexibility, and making meetings more personal.
• Launched electronic Agreements and Disclosures, enabling Schwab to send new account documents electronically and simplifying the paperless enrollment process.

Advisor Services

• Hosted over 5,000 advisors, exhibitors, sponsors, and media for our 25th IMPACT® conference. IMPACT is the largest and longest-running annual gathering of independent registered investment advisors. Schwab executives and industry leaders focused on growth, technology, leadership and talent.
• Released enhancements to PortfolioCenter®, Schwab’s desktop and cloud-based platform for portfolio management and reporting, that help advisors efficiently manage daily workflow for billing, data exporting and client reporting.
• Introduced new capabilities to Schwab OpenView Gateway® that facilitate tighter integration with Schwab Advisor Center® through increased single sign-on opportunities.

Products and Infrastructure

• For Charles Schwab Bank:
  • Balance sheet assets = $139.1 billion, up 25% year-over-year.
  • Outstanding mortgage and home equity loans = $11.1 billion, comparable to a year ago.
  • Pledged Asset Line® balances = $3.2 billion, up 39% year-over-year.
  • Delinquency, nonaccrual, and loss reserve ratios for Schwab Bank’s loan portfolio = 0.25%, 0.19% and 0.22%, respectively, at month-end December.
  • Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking® accounts = 842,000, with $12.8 billion in balances.
  • Launched Schwab Bank Investor Advantage Pricing™; clients are now eligible to receive an interest rate discount on their new mortgage based on the value of their qualifying assets at Schwab.
• Client assets managed by Windhaven® totaled $11.9 billion, down 27% from the fourth quarter of 2014.
• Client assets managed by ThomasPartners® totaled $7.3 billion, up 7% from the fourth quarter of 2014.
• Client assets managed by Intelligent Portfolios (Schwab Intelligent Portfolios™ and Institutional Intelligent Portfolios™) totaled $5.3 billion, up $1.2 billion from the third quarter of 2015.
• Client assets managed by Schwab Private Client reached a record $75.4 billion, up 4% from the fourth quarter of 2014.
• Schwab ETFs™ saw record net inflows of $4.4 billion in the fourth quarter; assets in proprietary ETFs totaled a record $39.7 billion, up 48% from December 2014.
• Expanded Schwab ETF OneSource to offer five more ETFs; at quarter-end, investors could trade 214 ETFs from 14 providers covering 66 Morningstar Categories, for $0 online trade commissions.
• Expanded Schwab’s Offshore Mutual Fund Platform to offer 51 new funds; at quarter-end, non-US resident investors in all jurisdictions could trade up to 326 funds utilizing multiple strategies and security types.
• Reduced minimum investments on most funds in Mutual Fund OneSource®, Schwab’s no-transaction-fee mutual fund platform, to $100 from $2,500, making it easier and more cost-efficient for investors to build a diversified portfolio. Subsequent investments can now begin at $1, down from $500.

Supporting schedules are either attached or located at: http://www.aboutschwab.com/investor-relations/financial-reports.

Commentary from the CFO

Joe Martinetto, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, provides insight and commentary regarding Schwab’s financial communications at: http://www.aboutschwab.com/investor-relations/cfo-commentary.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to growth in the client base and client assets; business performance; capabilities; balance sheet management; growth initiatives; optimizing the spread earned on client cash; and business positioning.

Important factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, general market conditions, including the level of interest rates, equity valuations and trading activity; the company’s ability to attract and retain clients and grow client assets/relationships; competitive pressures on rates and fees; the company’s ability to develop and launch new products, services and capabilities in a timely and successful manner; client use of the company’s investment advisory services and other products and services; the level of client assets, including cash balances; the quality of the company’s balance sheet assets; capital needs and management; the company’s ability to monetize client assets; the timing, amount and impact of bulk transfers; client sensitivity to interest rates; regulatory guidance; the company’s ability to manage expenses; the timing and amount of severance and other costs related to reducing the company’s San Francisco footprint; the effect of adverse developments in litigation or regulatory matters and the extent of any charges associated with legal matters; any adverse impact of financial reform legislation and related regulations; 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 more than 325 offices and 9.8 million active brokerage accounts, 1.5 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.0 million banking accounts, and $2.51 trillion in client assets as of December 31, 2015. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org), and 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 banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. More information is available at www.schwab.com and www.aboutschwab.com.