Schwab Institutional Adds New Services to Improve Advisor Efficiency
22 September 2005 - 4:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Enhanced Online Trading, Improved Cashiering and Electronic
Statements Designed to Streamline Advisor Workflow SAN FRANCISCO,
Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a drive to help advisors
increase back office efficiency so they can spend more time on
client service, practice management and business development,
Schwab Institutional, a leading provider of custodial, operational
and trading support for independent fee-based investment advisors,
has introduced several new services -- enhanced online trading
services, improved cashiering, and electronic statements -- to help
advisors expedite their administrative processes. "We know that
advisors have a passion for working with their clients, managing
their investments, and being responsive to their needs," said Myra
Rothfeld, senior vice president of Schwab Institutional. "But
advisors are burdened by labor-intensive tasks that can become
productivity roadblocks. We continuously look for ways to help
advisors run their businesses more efficiently, and we're pleased
to offer new services that complement our existing account service
and trading tools." Online Trading Enhancements Schwab
Institutional has rolled out enhanced trading capabilities,
enabling advisors to conduct a broader array of mutual fund trades
online via http://www.schwabinstitutional.com/. Features include
consolidated equity and mutual fund trade order entry, as well as
the ability to carry out both linked and single order trades and to
place mutual fund trade orders either for individual client
accounts or across multiple accounts. "More than 92% of the
advisors who custody with us trade both mutual funds and equities,"
said Marjorie Qualey, vice president of Schwab Institutional. "This
improved trading capability means that advisors now have one
consolidated platform through which to trade equities and mutual
funds, which should greatly reduce the amount of time they have to
spend entering and processing trades." Later this year, Schwab
Institutional will be introducing more comprehensive fixed income
trading capabilities. This enhancement will enable advisors to
access deeper inventory of more types of instruments online and
view more detailed information about each bond so that they can
easily select the appropriate products for their clients. Features
will include an enhanced interface and trading functionality,
including a dedicated fixed income window and the ability to sell
U.S. Treasuries; daily listings of 15,000 - 20,000 instruments from
over 300 dealers; a broad product selection, including high yield
bonds, mortgage backed securities, hybrid preferred securities and
Treasury Inflated Protected Securities; and expanded search and
filtering capabilities. "Move Money" Feature Online Schwab
Institutional has recently added the ability for advisors to view
clients' money movement (also known as cashiering) activity online
so advisors can provide faster and more detailed answers when their
clients ask for the status of money movement requests. "Due to the
time sensitive nature of these kinds of transactions, advisors
value having the power of more information and more control at
their fingertips," said Qualey. Instead of calling to check the
status of a request, advisors can check online for all eligible
active, pending and recent money movement requests such as checks,
journal entries and wire transfers. Advisors can obtain the Federal
Reference Number for completed wire requests, view standing letters
of authorization and recurring transactions, and find out why a
particular request is pending and what action needs to be taken.
Later this year, the functionality on
http://www.schwabinstitutional.com/ will be further expanded to
include the ability for advisors to place new money movement
requests for checks and cash-journal entries, edit or cancel
existing requests or recurring transactions, and create standing
letters of authorization. eDelivery Developments In addition to
current paperless services such as eConfirms and e1099s, Schwab
Institutional now provides advisors a secure and efficient way to
access recent and historical copies of their client statements and
tax reports via http://www.schwabinstitutional.com/. "The ability
to access client information on demand is of critical importance to
advisors," said Steve Hirsch, vice president of Schwab
Institutional. "Instead of manually searching through filing
cabinets for old statements when a client calls with an urgent
question, advisors will have up to three years of information at
their fingertips in electronic format. This tool will help advisors
provide the kind of superior client service that affluent investors
expect and demand. In addition, electronic document receipt and
retrieval will eliminate the need for advisors to manage and
archive paper copies that their clients receive from Schwab,
resulting in a time and effort savings for them." In the fourth
quarter of 2005, advisors will be able to download their clients'
monthly statements and tax reports and to archive these documents
on their local computer networks. In addition, Schwab Institutional
will provide the means for advisors' clients to view, print and
save their own statements via http://www.schwaballiance.com/, a
special web site designed for clients of advisors doing business
with Schwab Institutional. About Schwab Institutional Schwab
Institutional, a division of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., is a
leading provider of custodial, operational and trading support for
independent fee-based investment advisors. Client assets custodied
with Schwab Institutional increased 18 percent to $365 billion
between June 30, 2004 and June 30, 2005. These assets, managed by
the approximately 5,000 independent advisor firms Schwab
Institutional serves, represent approximately one-third of total
customer assets custodied with The Charles Schwab Corporation as of
June 30, 2005. About Charles Schwab The Charles Schwab Corporation
(NYSE / Nasdaq: SCH), through its operating subsidiaries, provides
securities brokerage and financial services to individual investors
and the independent investment advisors who work with them. With
over 7 million individual investor accounts and more than $1
trillion in client assets, The Charles Schwab Corporation is one of
the nation's largest financial services firms. Its subsidiary
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) provides a complete
range of investment services and products, including an extensive
selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment
advice; retirement plans; referrals to independent fee-based
investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support
for independent fee-based investment advisors through its Schwab
Institutional division. Its subsidiary Charles Schwab Bank (member
FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and products.
Brokerage products and services are offered by Charles Schwab &
Co. Brokerage products are not FDIC insured, offer no Bank
guarantee and may lose value. The corporation's other operating
subsidiaries include U.S. Trust Corporation (member FDIC) and
CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC). These companies' Web sites can
be reached at http://www.schwab.com/, http://www.schwabbank.com/,
http://www.ustrust.com/, and http://www.cybertrader.com/.
(0905-1796) IMPACT 2005 More information about all the services
cited in the release can be found at the annual conference for
independent investment advisors - IMPACT 2005, Sep. 25-28 at the
Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle. Hosted
by Schwab Institutional, this year's conference is titled "Smart.
Faster. Further: Winning Strategies to Manage Your Business to
Success." DATASOURCE: Charles Schwab CONTACT: Lindsay Tiles of
Charles Schwab, +1-415-667-3997, or Web site:
http://www.schwab.com/
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