Leading financial services company, The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) in Westlake, Tex., recently unveiled a new direct indexing solution, Schwab Personalized Indexing™, which brings powerful tax management and portfolio management capabilities to a wider spectrum of registered investment advisors and retail investors. The solution is expected to be available to the public by the end of April. In addition, SCHW has filed for a crypto economy ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that, if approved, will enable Charles Schwab’s clients to speculate on the index without holding any assets. SCHW is seeking opportunities in digital currencies, but it would not directly track the cryptocurrencies like traditional ETFs. It aims to track the Schwab Crypto Economy Index, which comprises companies engaged in some of the other areas of crypto-related activities.
However, the firm’s activities have been compromised by the recent market downturns that have “weighed on client asset levels and margin balances.” SCHW’s total client assets stood at $7.69 trillion as of the close of February, up 11% from February 2021 but down 2% versus January 2022. Its clients' average margin balances were $84.4 billion in February, down 3% from the prior month. Its new brokerage accounts opened in February declined 16% compared to January 2022 and down 71% from the prior-year month, while its core net new assets in February increased 21% from the previous month but decreased 21% year-over-year.
