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Booming Growth for Independent Investment Advisors Served by Schwab Institutional Client Assets Custodied with Schwab Institutional Increase to $348 billion SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Client assets associated with Schwab Institutional, a leading provider of custodial, operational and trading support for independent fee-based investment advisors, increased 21 percent to $348 billion between December 2003 and December 2004, while the number of individual client accounts associated with Schwab Institutional increased six percent to 1.3 million. "This has been an incredible growth year for independent investment advisors of all sizes, as they continue to gain market share and provide formidable competition for banks and wirehouses," said Deborah McWhinney, president of Schwab Institutional. "We are gratified that advisors have entrusted us with their clients' assets and are committed to delivering the right platform, products and services to help them sustain their success." In the past year, Schwab Institutional introduced a number of tools to help advisors manage the growth of their businesses. The new offerings included Career Opportunities, an online job posting service; Profiles, an online client information tool; improved online compliance resources; and the latest in the series of Schwab Market Knowledge Tools(TM) reports, "Best Management Practices of Independent Advisory Firms: The Path to Profitable Growth." In addition, advisors gained access to resources available through partnerships with other enterprises within The Charles Schwab Corporation, including PortfolioCenter, a scaleable desktop portfolio management system from Schwab Performance Technologies; private banking services from U.S. Trust; a new pledged asset mortgage product from Schwab Bank; and a new individual 401(k) product from Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.* Through its subsidiaries, The Charles Schwab Corporation gathered $50.3 billion in net new assets in 2004. Schwab Institutional represented more than 50 percent of this total, and its total client assets represented just under one-third of The Charles Schwab Corporation's $1.081 trillion in total client assets. About Schwab Institutional Schwab Institutional, a division of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., is a leading provider of custodial, operational and trading support for independent fee-based investment advisors. Client assets custodied with Schwab Institutional increased 21 percent to $348 billion between Dec. 31, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2004. These assets, managed by the approximately 5,000 independent advisor firms Schwab Institutional serves, represent approximately one-third of total customer assets custodied with The Charles Schwab Corporation as of Dec. 31, 2004. About Charles Schwab The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCH) Nasdaq, through its operating subsidiaries, provides securities brokerage and financial services to individual investors and the independent investment advisors who work with them. With over 7 million individual investor accounts and more than $1 trillion in client assets, The Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the nation's largest financial services firms. Its subsidiary Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) provides a complete range of investment services and products, including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plans; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent fee-based investment advisors. Its subsidiary Charles Schwab Bank, N.A. (member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) provides banking products and services. The Corporation's other operating subsidiaries include U.S. Trust Corporation (member FDIC) and CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC). These companies' Web sites can be reached at http://www.schwab.com/, http://www.schwabbank.com/, http://www.ustrust.com/, and http://www.cybertrader.com/. (0105-00087) * Investment products offered by Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. are not FDIC insured, not a guaranteed deposit or obligation of Schwab Bank, and are subject to investment risk. DATASOURCE: Charles Schwab CONTACT: Alison Wertheim of Charles Schwab, +1-415-636-5812, or Web site: http://www.schwab.com/

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