One Bizarre Blip From the Schwab-TD Ameritrade Integration

News September 07, 2023 at 02:53 PM
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While Schwab Advisor Services executives said Tuesday that this past weekend's conversion of TD Ameritrade advisors to its custodian platform went had no major problems, at least one investor experienced an unusual issue.

On Monday, "I logged into my Schwab account to find not only my TDA accounts but also the Living Trust of another couple with whom I am not affiliated," Jared Schreiner, who works in the health sector, told ThinkAdvisor in a message.

The trust had a balance of more than $4 million, according to an account statement shared with ThinkAdvisor.

"I had – from what I can tell - full access to their assets and the ability to trade on them," Schreiner told ThinkAdvisor.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, he conceded that was not a certainty and he didn't make any effort to confirm he had trading ability.

"I immediately notified my financial advisor as well as Schwab," he said, noting his own advisor works for a major financial services firm that has used firms including Schwab and TD Ameritrade as custodians.

His access to the couple's account "has since been taken away, thankfully, but I have no idea why or how this occurred," he said, adding, "They said I was listed as trustee. I certainly am not!"

Schreiner told ThinkAdvisor he was concerned to "what extent this error occurred elsewhere" during the integration.

"This is not an issue we have heard about," a spokesperson for the company told ThinkAdvisor on Wednesday. The advisor declined to comment.

A Smooth Move

Fintech expert Joel Bruckenstein, producer of the annual Technology Tools for Today (T3) Conference and publisher of the T3 Technology Hub, told ThinkAdvisor on Thursday: "I have not heard any negatives yet. I've talked to vendors and to Schwab. I had two accounts of my own moved."

But he said: "I am not surprised that someone got a wrong statement. With a move of this size, they are not going to get 100% right. Compared to every other transition of this nature of this kind that I can recall, this has gone the best. I expected to hear at least a few horror stories by now, but it hasn't happened yet."

Also praising Schwab's integration performance was Joshua Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management in New York.

Brown tweeted on Wednesday: "Just want to tip my cap to @CharlesSchwab for pulling off the largest brokerage custodian merger of all time over the weekend. An almost flawless transition 4 years in the making. Worked with my ops and client service teams every step of the way. Over-delivered on seamlessness and communication."

He added: "We had 784 client households spread across 3,247 separate accounts move over without a hitch. Only minor issues to be fixed, like YTD RMD tracking or reissuing Schedule A's. All the important stuff transferred and works as promised. Clients are happy. Advisors are happy. Bravo, guys."

Credit: Chris Nicholls, ALM/Adobe Stock

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