Charles Schwab Creates Brokerage Giant
Charles Schwab finalized the creation of one of the largest brokerage firms in the world Tuesday when it finalized its $22 billion dollar acquisition of TD Ameritrade. The two companies will not become one overnight. Integration could take up to three years, but when complete the company will have 28 million brokerage accounts, 5 million daily trades and $6 trillion of client assets.
The acquisition is Schwabโs fourth this year. The company believes that the greater scale will lower its operating expenses as a percentage of client assets, and it hopes to provide a broader range of services to its clients.
Investors are watching the merger to see not only how Schwab performs, but also trying to understand the future of investing. Recent years have brought incredible change to how people can invest with innovations like no commission trading. This significant change in the structure of the brokerage industry could mean changes for individual investors are on the horizon.
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.