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Schwab (SCHW) Records a Fall in April Core Net New Assets

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Charles Schwab (SCHW - Free Report) released its monthly activity report for April 2023. Core net new assets were negative $2.3 billion in the reported month. This compared with core net new assets of $53.9 billion in March 2023 and negative net new assets of $9.2 million.

Total client assets were $7.63 trillion, up 1% from March 2023 and 5% from April 2022. Likewise, client assets receiving ongoing advisory services were $3.92 trillion, rising marginally from the prior month and 6% year over year.

Schwab’s average interest-earning assets of $493.2 billion in the reported month declined 1% from March 2023 and 23% year over year. Average margin balances were $60.3 billion, decreasing 1% from the previous month and 28% on a year-over-year basis. Average bank deposit account balances totaled $104.8 billion, down 4% sequentially and 31% from April 2022.

The company opened 331,000 new brokerage accounts in April 2023, declining 12% sequentially and 14% from the year-earlier month.

Schwab’s active brokerage accounts totaled 34.2 million at the end of April 2023, which remained stable on a sequential basis and rose 1% from the year-ago month. Clients’ banking accounts were 1.76 million, up 1% sequentially and 6% from April 2022. The number of corporate retirement plan participants was up 1% from the prior-month level and 6% year over year to 2.39 million.

The company's inorganic growth efforts have reinforced its position as a leading brokerage player and are expected to be accretive to earnings. By offering commission-free trading, it has witnessed a decent rise in client assets and active brokerage accounts, which is improving its market share.

Over the past six months, shares of Schwab have declined 36.8% compared with 18% fall of the industry.

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Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Competitive Landscape

A couple of other brokerage firms that came out with monthly data are Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR - Free Report) and LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (LPLA - Free Report) .

Interactive Brokers released the Electronic Brokerage segment’s performance metrics for April 2023. The segment deals with the clearance and settlement of trades for individual and institutional clients globally. It reported a decline in client Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) on a sequential and a year-over-year basis.

IBKR's total client DARTs for the month were 1,765,000, which declined 14% from the March 2023 level and 20% year over year.

LPL Financial is likely to come out with its monthly activity report in the coming days.

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