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Charles Schwab Corporation To Acquire Assets of USAA’s Investment Management Company

FYI: (This is a follow-up article.)

The Charles Schwab Corporation announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire assets of USAA’s Investment Management Company, including brokerage and managed portfolio accounts for $1.8B in cash. The companies have also agreed to enter into a long-term referral agreement, effective at closing of the acquisition, that would make Schwab the exclusive wealth management and brokerage provider for USAA members.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190725005916/en/Charles-Schwab-Corporation-Acquire-Assets-USAA’s-Investment

Comments

  • beebee
    edited July 2019
    hmm...so USAA nets $1.8B to hand me and 1 million other members over to Schwab. We collectively hold $90B in assets. Can't we just move (roll over) our assets ourselves to Charles Schwab (or elsewhere) and personally receive cash or other incentives for doing so?

    Schwab does offers a few things:
    https://moneysmylife.com/charles-schwab-promotions/

    TD Ameritrade will offer me up to $600 to move my assets:
    https://moneysmylife.com/td-ameritrade-promotions/

    Tiered bonus for moving your account to TD:
    https://screencast.com/t/Whk0Jc7YKP

    Looks like I will give USAA a call and ask them what they plan on doing with the $1.8B which divided amoung 1 million USAA member accounts equates to about $1900 per member account.

    A few other offers for investors:
    https://moneysmylife.com/stock-broker-promotions/
  • The Money's My Life site missed a short term "bonus" promotion by Merrill Edge. Rather than the $600 shown there, one can get as much as $1000. See the Merrill Edge promotion page: https://www.merrilledge.com/offers/1000offer

    Good through Sept. 5. Do I recommend Merrill? Hardly, except perhaps for IRAs used exclusively for holding ETFs and stocks (not mutual funds). Still, that's the most free cash I can find for a $200K transfer (and similarly high bonuses for lower transfer amounts).

    I've read rumors that Schwab will match offers if asked. I don't know if that's true, but it's worth checking out.
  • @bee: Let me know how your phone call works out.
    Thanks, Derf
  • @Derf, I shared my concerns with an IRA specialist at USAA. He was very attentive, but he had little else to share other than Schwab aligns with USAA's mission of quality service at a fair price. Presumably the $1.8B is going into improving the services for members, but he could not articulate specifically.

    In the past, I have hesitate to move my accounts (IRA roll overs) from USAA, but I might test the waters of these incentives especially if Schwab will match other offers.

    Fidelity and Schwab appear to charge to buy/sell Vanguard funds.

    Presently I am spread across four companies (USAA, Vanguard, TR Price and Bruce).

    Advice from others on completing a IRA Roll over would be helpful.

    I believe If I did decide to roll over assets the preferred method would be to complete it as " trustee to trustee transfer" and to request assets be moved "in kind" which would preserve the status of my present holdings especially those holdings that are "closed to new investors".
  • edited July 2019
    "Looks like I will give USAA a call and ask them what they plan on doing with the $1.8B which divided amoung 1 million USAA member accounts equates to about $1900 per member account."

    That's one way of looking at it, of course. But it assumes an equal payout "spiff" for all accounts, regardless of the actual account value. So an account with 5k would receive 1.9k, and an account with 500k would also receive 1.9k.

    I've no relationship with USAA, so there's no personal axe to grind here. But if I did have a 500k account there, I'd be asking some very pointed questions on all of this.

    Add- In mulling this over, I'd also have to say that if I had the 5k account there I sure wouldn't be asking any questions! :)
  • bee said:

    Fidelity and Schwab appear to charge to buy/sell Vanguard funds.

    Everybody (except for Firstrade, that sells all funds NTF) charges customers to buy Vanguard funds. In fact, at Fidelity, it costs $75 (rather than $49.95) to buy Vanguard funds because Vanguard won't pay a penny for shelf space. (Even TF funds typically pay some money to brokerages that carry them.)

    But neither Schwab nor Fidelity charge you when you sell Vanguard funds, or any other funds.

    If you're looking at an index fund for which there is an ETF, both Schwab and Fidelity have promotions where they'll give you oodles (up to 500?) stock/ETF trades free for two years. Currently, several Vanguard ETFs have ERs that are a basis point or two below the Admiral class shares of the same funds.
  • Look like USAA is getting out of the business of financial services. I understand they also have sizable insurance business, presumably more profitable.

    I am not a USAA investor but I would expect to have improved services from Schwab if I wish to stay with Schwab.
  • E-trade sells Vanguard funds ntf, with a $3,000 minimum. However, VWELX can only be bought directly at Vanguard.
  • I stand corrected. Nice to know, it might help some people thinking about which brokerage to use.

    It looks like VWELX can be bought at E*Trade if you already have a position there. (One can probably open an account at Vanguard and then transfer it to E*Trade.)
    https://www.etrade.wallst.com/v1/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=VWELX&rsO=new
  • Today I inquired with Schwab on matching Merrill Edge's offer $1,000 bonus for rolling over assets.@msf They are not presently extending that match.

    Is anyone familiar with Merrill Edge's platform, fee structure, customer service, customer experience, etc?

    I am not a huge fan of BOA (based on past experiences) on the banking side, but I am willing to listen if things are better in the Merrill Edge side of the business.
  • can you folks buy home and health /car insurances w/ schwab [usaa?] they have the best rates and car buying programs around especially made for US Veterans only. Wish we can 'dip in' also
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