Originally founded as a brick-and-mortar brokerage, the Charles Schwab Corporation is based in San Francisco, CA and is one of the largest mutual fund companies in the world today. Although the company offers the same products and services that the traditional brokerage does, they offer lower commissions and fees than the standard stock brokerage. Currently, they now serve nearly 8 million clients with their brokerage accounts. As of March of this year, they have nearly $1.5 trillion in assets.
The Charles Schwab Corporation now has roughly 300 office locations throughout the US. Additionally, they now employ 13,300 people and offer access to their products and services via the internet, telephone, and wireless devices. Besides being a discount brokerage, the company also offers the following:
- annuities
- bond trading
- checking accounts
- investment research
- mortgage loans through the Charles Schwab Bank
- mutual funds
Additionally, the corporation was originally founded as the First Commander Corporation in 1971 but changed the name to Charles Schwab & Company, Inc. two years later.
Products and services offered by Schwab
One of the benefits of establishing an account with the Charles Schwab Corporation is the variety of products and services that they offer. They currently offer 8 different categories of investment vehicles which will more than enable an individual the diversification that they need in their investment portfolio. These products and services include:
- Annuities – great for creating guaranteed monthly income and boosting your retirement savings
- Bonds and fixed-income securities – over 28,000 of these fixed-income securities to choose from
- CD’s and money market funds- high yield investments that help you maximize your money
- ETF’s or exchange traded funds – a great investment instrument for diversifying your portfolio
- Managed accounts – access to professional fund managers who can assist you in building and managing your portfolio
- Margin loans – convenient and flexible credit lines at competitive interest rates
- Mutual funds – thousands of no-load mutual funds are available with no transaction fees to be concerned with
- Stocks and options – take advantage of fast execution and trading as well as key research tools at low prices
Mutual funds offered by the Charles Schwab Corporation
There are three primary categories of mutual funds that the company offers clients. These include the Mutual Fund One Source Select List, no-load mutual funds, and the Schwab Income Mutual Fund Select List. Here are the specifics involved with each category:
Mutual Fund One Source Select List – this category includes international funds as well as large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds, specialty funds, taxable bonds, and tax-free bonds.
No-load mutual funds – more than 2,000 funds (information available at the Charles Schwab Corporation website.
Schwab Income Mutual Fund Select List – top 10 list of 3rd party funds and affiliate funds are the primary funds in this group which incorporates equity funds, mid and large-cap funds, and a few others.