Schwab Reports Record Quarterly Earnings Per Share

Core Net New Assets Rise 28% Sequentially to $139.0 Billion, a Third Quarter Record

Total Client Assets Reach $7.61 Trillion, up 14% Year-to-Date

The Charles Schwab Corporation announced today that its net income for the third quarter of 2021 was a record $1.5 billion compared with $1.3 billion for the second quarter of 2021, and $698 million for the third quarter of 2020. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was $4.3 billion, compared with $2.2 billion for the year-earlier period. The company’s financial results include TD Ameritrade from October 6, 2020 forward, as well as certain acquisition and integration-related costs and the amortization of acquired intangibles. For the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, these transaction-related expenses totaled $257 million and $828 million, respectively, on a pre-tax basis. In addition, the company’s results for the first nine months of 2021 included a non-deductible charge of approximately $200 million regarding a previously disclosed regulatory matter.

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CEO Walt Bettinger said, “Guided by our "Through Clients’ Eyes" strategy, Schwab continues to drive robust business momentum as we support investors through an uneven economic recovery. While bullish sentiment largely persisted throughout the third quarter, debates regarding the overall pace of economic growth, the potential path of inflation, and the ultimate impact of certain global market disruptions weighed on this optimism – contributing to the S&P 500® ending September essentially flat versus June 30. Through it all, investors consistently turned to Schwab as a trusted financial partner, opening over a million new brokerage accounts for the fourth consecutive quarter – bringing year-to-date new brokerage accounts to 6.0 million. We generated core net new assets of $139.0 billion in the quarter, pushing asset gathering for the first nine months of the year to $396.0 billion, representing an 8% annualized organic growth rate. Total client assets ended September at $7.61 trillion, up from $6.69 trillion at year-end 2020. In addition, while the third quarter is often viewed as a slower period for client activity, engagement levels showed persistent strength through the summer months – daily average trade volumes softened only modestly versus the prior quarter to 5.5 million.”

Mr. Bettinger continued, “We believe our ‘no trade-offs’ approach to combining value, service, transparency and trust has enabled us to continue meeting the needs of the expanding population of individual investors and independent investment advisors who look to Schwab for support. Clients remained highly engaged with our banking services during the third quarter, as demonstrated by a 21% increase in mortgage originations and 66% growth in Pledged Asset Line® balances on a year-over-year basis. Additionally, investor interest in low-cost investing solutions elevated our Schwab-managed ETFs to a record $251.6 billion in assets, up 49% year-over-year. Retail clients also sought out our help and guidance; over $437 billion of assets were enrolled in one of our advisory offerings at month-end September, representing an increase of 24% from a year ago. Finally, in support of our independent investment advisors we further enhanced the digital onboarding experience for new accounts to include integrated funding, end-client editing capabilities, and detailed status tracking, among other improvements. This streamlined and collaborative functionality minimizes the potential for errors and delays, saving advisors time to focus on creating and building relationships.”

“I am incredibly proud of all the great work our team of talented employees have poured into serving our clients and each other this year and throughout the pandemic,” Mr. Bettinger concluded. “Their unwavering focus has kept the TD Ameritrade integration on track, helped advance our other key strategic initiatives, and yielded outstanding operating and financial performance for our company. As such, we rewarded them by implementing a special 5% pay increase, effective at the end of September. Additionally, to better reflect the changing ways our employees live and work, we introduced a hybrid workplace program designed to provide greater flexibility while still maintaining our strong, interconnected culture. Investing in our talent, alongside other platform and service investments, allows us to continue building the future of modern wealth management.”

CFO Peter Crawford added, “Consistent execution of our strategy and sustained business momentum, in combination with our diversified revenue model, helped produce impressive financial performance in the third quarter. Net interest revenue grew 4% versus the second quarter of 2021, driven by further expansion of our interest-earning asset base, including strength in lending activity and rising investment portfolio balances. This expansion more than offset a decline in securities lending revenue as well as a lower average yield on outstanding margin loans. Asset management and administration fees increased 5% sequentially, driven by rising balances in both proprietary and third-party mutual fund and ETF offerings and advisory solutions. Trading revenue edged up 1% as a higher proportion of derivatives bolstered revenue per trade in the third quarter, offsetting the impact of an 8% slowdown in activity overall. Turning to expenses, our total GAAP spending declined 9% sequentially to $2.6 billion, which included $104 million in acquisition and integration-related costs and $153 million in amortization of acquired intangibles. Exclusive of these items (1), adjusted total expenses were down 8% quarter-over-quarter. The sequential declines in GAAP and adjusted expenses largely reflect lower Other expenses due to the non-recurring nature of the regulatory charge in the second quarter. The combination of our revenue growth and steady expense discipline enabled us to produce a 44.0% pre-tax profit margin – 49.6% on an adjusted basis (1) – our highest quarterly level since late 2019.”

Mr. Crawford concluded, “As we navigated the third quarter’s mixed macroeconomic environment, we worked to further enhance our liquidity position and streamline our capital structure. In August, we issued $850 million in long-term senior notes, marking our third debt issuance in 2021. We also completed a tender offer to exchange nearly $2 billion of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation debt for an equal amount of equivalent Charles Schwab Corporation debt. Both organic client activity and the previously announced bank deposit account migrations helped our consolidated balance sheet reach $607.5 billion as of September 30, and the company’s preliminary Tier 1 Leverage Ratio was 6.3%. Our ongoing ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet and strong capital base enabled us to deliver a 12% return on equity and 23% ROTCE (1) for the quarter. Supported by the outstanding work of the entire Schwab team, we continue to operate from a position of strength, leveraging our sustained business momentum to keep building long-term stockholder value.”

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 recent account activity, was posted on May 14, 2021.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to business momentum; growth in the client base, accounts and assets; integration of TD Ameritrade; strategic initiatives; investments to attract and retain talent, improve service and the client experience, expand products, services and offerings to meet client needs, diversify revenues, and drive scale and efficiency; balance sheet and capital base strength; and stockholder 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 general market conditions, including equity valuations, trading activity, the level of interest rates – which can impact money market fund fee waivers, and credit spreads; market volatility; client use of the company’s advisory solutions and other products and services; client sensitivity to rates; level of client assets, including cash balances; capital and liquidity needs and management; the migration of bank deposit account balances; balance sheet cash; the scope and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken by governmental authorities to contain the spread of the virus and the economic impact; adverse developments in the resolution and settlement amount of the pending regulatory matter; 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 32.7 million active brokerage accounts, 2.2 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.6 million banking accounts, and approximately $7.61 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.