Episode summary
How Charles Schwab Is 'Crushing It' With Young Investors | At Barron's
At Barron's
· · Hosts: Andy Serwer · Guests: Rick Wurster
Summary
Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster says the firm is winning across retail, advisor, and workplace channels, with $11.8 trillion in assets, 46 million client accounts, and about 400 locations. He argues Schwab’s growth comes from being a nationwide, service-heavy platform that helps investors at different stages, from self-directed traders to clients who want fiduciary advice.
A major theme is Schwab’s momentum with younger investors. Wurster says the company is “crushing it” with Gen Z and that one in six new clients this year are Gen Z, while 60% of new clients are under 40. He credits educational content, phone support from former traders, and Schwab’s reach on YouTube. He also says through October Schwab generated about $400 billion of net new assets and is adding more than a million new accounts a quarter.
Wurster draws a sharp line between investing and gambling, saying long-term investing builds wealth while gambling destroys it. He is skeptical of prediction markets that have shifted toward sports betting, and he warns that apps are blurring the line for younger users. He also outlines Schwab’s plans for alternatives, spot crypto in 2026, and AI-driven efficiency, while saying branches still matter because personal relationships bring in more assets and higher client satisfaction.
Key takeaways
- Wurster says one in six new Schwab clients this year are Gen Z, and 60% are under 40, showing the firm is leaning into younger investors.
- Schwab generated about $400 billion of net new assets through October and is adding more than a million new accounts a quarter, according to Wurster.
- Wurster argues investing and gambling are fundamentally different, warning that sports-betting-style app design is especially risky for young investors.
- He says Schwab clients already own 20% of all crypto exchange-traded products in the U.S., and Schwab plans to offer spot crypto in 2026.
- Wurster says branch relationships matter because they bring in 2.5 times more assets and produce client promoter scores 11 points higher.
Notable quotes
“we are crushing it with the young investor. And and we're crushing it with the young investor because no one can match what we can do for the young investor”
“One one in six of our new to firm clients this year are uh Gen Zers. Uh 60% of our new to firm clients are under the age of 40”
“we've uh this year to date through October we've generated about $400 billion of net new assets which is a lot of money”
“I think they're really different. And we've been trying to get the message out as loudly as we can about the merits of investing”
“our clients own 20% of all the crypto exchange traded products in in our country”
How the episode opens
Hello everyone and welcome to At Barons. I'm Andy Serwart and welcome to our guest Rick Worester, CEO of Charles Schwab. Rick, great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us. — Andy, thanks for having me on. It's great to be here.
So tell us about Schwab. How big is it these days in terms of assets, customers, geographic footprint, etc.
Yeah, we're 11.8 8 trillion dollars of assets, 46 million client accounts, and we're all over the country. We're in about 400 locations. We're in a lot of people's neighborhoods where we like to serve them and help them meet their financial dreams.
We work with 16,000 independent adviserss across the country and we support their businesses and they're in most local communities across the country. So, we're very much a US company in every pocket of our country trying to help investors live out their financial dreams. So you mentioned the adviserss the RAAS and you also have direct customers.
So talk to us about that mix. Why do some people go directly and some people go through RAAS?
Sure. So our business of the 11.8 trillion a little bit more than half is in retail and a little bit less than half in our uh uh with our independent advisors and we have a workplace business and so that's how our business is split up. An individual investor has many choices for how they want to how they want to invest.
And and we encourage our retail investors can be active traders. They can be self-directed investors. Some retail investors want help and they want the help of a fiduciary.
And I think one of the reasons why the independent advisor channel has been so successful and has outgrown the market is because they are fiduciaries.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- gen z investors
- client growth
- retail investing
- brokerage strategy
Companies and tickers mentioned
- SCHW
- Charles Schwab
Watch the episode
Watch “How Charles Schwab Is 'Crushing It' With Young Investors | At Barron's” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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