Schwab Wealth Advisory net flows grew 55% in direct advice push

Schwab Wealth Advisory net flows grew 55% year over year in the third quarter of 2026. CEO Rick Wurster told the firm's third-quarter earnings call that direct wealth advice is a growth opportunity Schwab is investing in, alongside the custody and advisor-services business it runs for RIAs.

Schwab's wealth advice division holds about 2% of the $37 trillion advice market, the company said on the call, and 37% of its current clients report a willingness to pay for advice. Managed investing net flows reached another record of $24 billion in the quarter, up 22% from a year earlier. Schwab Wealth Advisory clients gave the unit a client promoter score of 84 in the third quarter, Wurster said.

The earnings presentation lists wealth hubs and branches, discretionary portfolios, enhanced tax, trust and estate offerings, and AI-powered planning. Schwab announced last year that it would add 16 U.S. branches to bring wealth services to retail clients. The same presentation repeated the firm's focus on RIA custody and advisor services.

On the custody side, Fidelity has told custody clients under $100 million to move by June 2027, with no fee option to stay, as this publication reported.

Wurster said at the end of the call that Schwab is working on a proprietary long-short investment strategy, with an update coming and no timing given. Schwab and Fidelity Investments have recently limited the use of long-short strategies to manage high demand, and WealthManagement.com reports the Schwab offering would be welcome by some RIAs. Wurster said Schwab expects to run the product efficiently "from a balance sheet and operational standpoint," which he said sustains its ability to deliver long-short capabilities to clients.

On AI, Wurster said Schwab was the first RIA custodian included in Claude for Financial Advisors, built by Anthropic. The tool offers notetaking assistance, alternative investment briefings, compliance and policy reviews, and estate and tax briefings.