Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : Charles Schwab (SCH) -- A tech-stock profile? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brushwud who wrote (972)	10/14/1999 9:54:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1390

focus for the last 12 to 18 months has been on asset aggregation, not nearly as much on new accounts as it used to be Excerpts from Reuter Securities But analyst Michael Freudenstein of J.P. Morgan did not worry about Schwab's slower account growth but instead focused on the brokerage's ability to attract new customer money at a faster pace than its rivals. ``The results are exactly what distinguishes Schwab from its competitors; volumes can slow but customer assets continue to flow into the door,' Freudenstein said. ``They are a Hoover vacuum when it comes to taking in new assets.' Schwab said it attracted $24.6 billion in new customer funds in the third quarter, bringing the total to $595 billion, up from $408 billion a year ago. Customers had put a net $21.6 billion into their accounts in Schwab's second quarter. ``Our focus for the last 12 to 18 months has been on asset aggregation, not nearly as much on new accounts as it used to be,' said Schwab's chief financial officer, Christopher Dodds, in an interview. ``Which would you prefer: 500,000 new accounts with $10,000 or what you guys achieved?' Schwab's 282,000 new accounts brought an average of $44,000 each to the firm, up 42 percent from a year ago. The vast majority of the new accounts are individual trading accounts, not retirement accounts, Dodds added. Schwab's commission income rose to $383.8 million in the quarter, up from $377 million a year ago but down from $464.2 million in the second quarter. The company averaged a commission of $44.72 per trade in the quarter, down from $52.83 a year ago because it processes more trades through its Web site at $29.95 an order. ``It's a function of a typical summer slowdown, with vacations and all,' Dodds said. ``This year it was amplified a bit by a fair degree of anxiety of potential Federal Reserve interest rate moves.' Schwab's mutual fund revenues, fees money managers pay Schwab when the broker's customers put money into their funds, rose to a record $192.9 million in the quarter, up from $144 million a year ago. Revenues from Schwab's share dealing operations rose $93 million, up from 74.9 million a year ago but down from the first half because of declining share volumes. biz.yahoo.com