Schwab: TD Ameritrade Integration Still on Track

Meanwhile, educating advisors on the tools that are available to them is important and might help them avoid some of the pitfalls they face, including “rework,” Dooher said, adding: “You will hear this messaging just more and more prevalent as we continue to talk to advisors around planning ahead for the ultimate integration upcoming.”

But “integration’s not the only thing on the advisors’ minds” now. They are also “really keenly focused on driving adoption and more efficient processes within their own firms” and Schwab is out to find more ways to help them do that, she noted.

In addition to the focus on digital tools education, she said third-party integrations also play a key role.

“That’s why you’ll see things across our roadmap that are really intended to … provide end-to-end solutions,” Dooher explained. “We think, for example, Portfolio Connect for Ameritrade advisors could offer a portfolio management solution for particularly those who are single custody” focused, she added.

As “part of our internal preparation for the integration” to be completed and to “ensure that that goes smoothly,” she also said, “we’re engaging not just advisors, but also the third-party vendors who serve those advisors well in advance so that they are prepared for the switch to occur and for data flows to keep moving seamlessly.”

A positive sign for Schwab is “one of the great things that we hear from advisors, and particularly the top-performing advisors, is that they’re really leaning into digital workflows and digital capabilities across their firm,” she told ThinkAdvisor.

As a result, “they’re getting time back that they want to spend with clients in a more value-add way [and getting] up to 20% of time back on an annual basis,” she said, calling that a “big lift.”