MD & Head of Retail Investing, Charles Schwab
Search every verified Jonathan Craig interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Jonathan Craig, head of retail investing at Charles Schwab, appeared on NYSE TV Live on May 30, 2025, to discuss the 50th anniversary of the abolition of fixed brokerage commissions on May 1, 1975. Craig noted that Charles Schwab lowered commissions on that day and described it as part of a 50-year commitment to lowering costs for individual investors. He announced that the Charles Schwab Foundation and the Charles R. Schwab Foundation for Financial Freedom were making a $1 million donation to the Sithma Foundation to support a stock market simulation game aimed at younger investors. Craig stated that the company is focused on "ease and accessibility" for clients and emphasized the importance of combining "the best of people and technology." He reported that in the first quarter of 2025, Schwab had over 500 million logins to its website and added over a million new accounts, and that engagement with market insights had increased 40-fold. In earlier appearances, Craig discussed investor sentiment and marketing strategy. In a 2019 interview, he cited a Schwab investor sentiment study showing 45% of investors were bullish, 35% bearish, and 23% neutral, and said retirement remained the "number one financial stress" for clients. In a 2018 Forbes interview, Craig described his approach as a chief marketer, stating that marketers should be "guardians of a company's actions" rather than stewards of its words, and noted that Schwab had cut commissions in half, launched low-cost index funds, and introduced a satisfaction guarantee in 2017.
“Yeah, it really is an exciting day. 50 years ago today, May 1st, 1975, Congress eliminated the fixed rate commissions... Now, on that day, many firms have raised their commissions, but Charles Schwab did the opposite — we lowered commissions and that was really part of a 50-year commitment to lowering costs and removin...”
“The most important thing we say to investors is just get invested, stay engaged. Have a plan, be diversified, rebalance, try to minimize your cost and taxes and try to ignore the noise.”
“There's absolutely a bull market for advice — clients at all ages and all asset levels are looking for advice, not just fee‑based advice but coaching, education and support.”
“Clients are looking for new products and new innovations in financial services — new asset classes like alternative investments, crypto, options trading, thematic investing and direct indexing.”
“There's nothing more important than ease and accessibility — that's why at Schwab that's the number one priority to make sure our platforms and our technology are there for our clients, but to win you need both the best of people and technology.”
“We've seen a 40x increase in engagement with our market insights, our market education and our commentary over the last several months.”
“In Q1 we had over 500 million logins to Schwab.com and we added over a million new accounts in Q1 — we've had record trading volume and that engagement has continued into Q2.”
“For us it's about continuing to innovate, investing more in wealth management and banking, opening dozens of new branches this year and hiring more financial consultants — bringing that best of both people and technology to local communities.”
“After an eight-year bull market, investors are not just positive now, they're fairly bullish on the future. In fact, our recent investor sentiment study showed 45% were bullish, 35% a little bearish, and 23% neutral, which is a pretty high watermark for us.”
“Retirement is still the number one financial stress for our clients. While eight years of a bull market has helped, many are still concerned about how to protect and grow their wealth to get to and through a good retirement.”
“In the short term, the number one concern is potential volatility and maybe a market correction due to some unforeseen macroeconomic or political risks.”
“Regardless of the market or your concerns, the most important thing is to have a plan, get invested, diversified, keep your taxes and costs low, and really ignore the noise and get a trusted partner.”
“I tell marketers if you can't get passionate about what we're doing you shouldn't work here.”
“Great marketers in this day and age are general managers first who combine that with incredible marketing instinct and acumen.”
“We live in a world of low trust, noise, and high connectivity, and people are going to watch your actions and not listen to your words.”
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