MD & Head of Retail Investing, Charles Schwab Corporation
Jonathan Craig, Head of Retail Investing at Charles Schwab Joins NYSE TV Live
About Jonathan Craig
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.
Transcript (21 segments)
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Narrator0:00
50 years ago today, financial services firm and NYC listed company Charles Schwab challenged the status quo by lowering commissions after the SEC abolished fixed brokerage commissions on what is known as Mayday, May 1st of 1975. Today, Schwab is making headlines again, introducing a new holiday called National Investing Day. And in celebration, the company has more on this key announcement. Here's more from Jonathan Craig, Charles Schwab's head of retail investing. Let's take a look.
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Jonathan Craig0:33
In honor of National Investing Day, the Charles Schwab Foundation and the Charles R. Schwab Foundation for Financial Freedom are making a million-dollar donation to the Sithma Foundation to help support their stock market simulation game, a game designed to bring more and more younger investors into the markets and understanding the markets. Making this donation makes sense because we've had a long-term commitment to breaking down barriers and bringing in more and more investors into investing. It's also why we do work with youth organizations across the country, including the Boys and Girls Club of America, to support financial literacy. All of this is aimed at bringing more and more investors in and also ensuring that they have the education and the support they need to be successful.
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Interviewer1:21
I spoke with Craig about that National Investing Day and how the brokerage is helping investors navigate the latest volatility. Let's take a look.
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Jonathan Craig1:31
Yeah, it really is an exciting day. 50 years ago today, May 1st, 1975, Congress eliminated the fixed rate commissions in favor of more competitive negotiated commissions. And prior to that, investing was really reserved for the rich. On that day, many firms raised their commissions, but Charles Schwab did the opposite. We lowered commissions, and it was really part of a 50-year commitment to lowering costs and removing barriers for individual investors. And we've made a lot of progress as a firm and as an industry. So, National Investing Day is really an opportunity to celebrate that progress and hopefully inspire more and more people to get invested.
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Interviewer2:08
What should investors take away from this inspiration? How should they act on it?
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Jonathan Craig2:14
The most important thing we say to investors is just get invested, stay engaged. We have a set of investing principles we reiterate frequently: have a plan, be diversified, rebalance, try to minimize your cost and taxes, and try to ignore the noise. In an environment like this today, there's a lot of noise. But I think the most important thing is that investors get invested, stay invested, and work with a partner like Charles Schwab to help them do it.
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Interviewer2:44
What trends, Jonathan, are you seeing in the retail investing and trading space?
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Jonathan Craig2:49
It really is an interesting time to be an investor. There are a few trends I'd highlight. One, there's absolutely a bull market for advice. And that should not be a surprise when you look at the markets over the last several years. In 2022, all asset classes were down many double digits. 2023 we had the fastest rate rise in history and a very strong bull market similar in 2024, but a concentrated bull market in the MAG 7. Then in 2025, a lot of uncertainty and volatility. In that environment, more and more clients at all ages and all asset levels are looking for advice, and not just fee-based advice but coaching, education, and support. Another trend I'd highlight is that clients are looking for new products and innovations. Gone are the days where most investors could just invest in a 60/40 mutual fund. Clients are looking for new asset classes like alternatives, crypto, 24/5 trading, thematic investing, direct indexing. And the last thing I'd say, I'll just paraphrase our CEO Rick Wurster. He talks about a bull market for convenience. Clients want to work with a firm that respects their time, which means more consolidation. People want to do all their financial services in one place with curation and personalization in all aspects of their relationship.
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Interviewer4:30
How important are ease, especially digital ease and accessibility, to the retail trader and investor today?
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Jonathan Craig4:39
There's nothing more important than ease and accessibility. That's why at Schwab, it's our number one priority to make sure our platforms and technology are there for our clients. That's what we call the brilliant basics. But at the same time, we believe that to win in financial services and serve clients well, you need both the best of people and technology. If you look back to Mayday, investing was very much a people-based business. Over time, many talked about technology taking over. For us, it's always been both.
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Interviewer5:20
Investor education and support. What are you finding there in terms of the demand and how Schwab is delivering on that?
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Jonathan Craig5:29
The demand has skyrocketed. Given the market environment over the last couple of months, it's an understatement to say there's a lot of uncertainty and volatility. In that environment, clients are leaning in and looking for education and support. We've seen a 40x increase in engagement with our market insights, education, and commentary over the last several months. It's a focus area for us, providing not just great platforms and great service, but all the education and support critically important for folks just getting started and even the most serious investors.
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Interviewer6:14
And how are retail clients responding to this current market environment that has seen volatility pick up?
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Jonathan Craig6:20
The word I'd use is engagement. We've seen incredible engagement with the markets over the last several months. In Q1, we had two of our highest trading days ever. We had over 500 million logins to Schwab.com in Q1. Record engagement with our service, education, and insights, and we added over a million new accounts in Q1. In terms of client sentiment, it has turned a bit bearish without question. Clients have some concern given the pullback and volatility, but overall our clients remain very optimistic over the long term. At the end of the day, investing is an act of optimism.
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Interviewer7:15
What has the volatility meant for trading volume? Have you seen more of it?
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Jonathan Craig7:20
Absolutely. We had record trading volume in Q1 and that has only accelerated into Q2. We are prepared to serve those clients with robust and resilient platforms and great digital experiences. Without question, clients are trading more as they experience the volatility.
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Interviewer7:44
And has it led to more brokerage accounts, more platform logins as the volatility has picked up?
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Jonathan Craig7:49
Without question. We added over a million new accounts in Q1, and that has continued into Q2. Record logins in Q1 and that has continued as well. Engagement is a good thing. We tell our investors to start early, stay invested, stay engaged, but also don't react to every single piece of news because that can be distracting to your long-term plan. It's about getting that balance right.
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Interviewer8:24
We've talked about the services that Schwab provides, Jonathan. Are there other ways that Charles Schwab, with its decades of experience, is stepping in to help clients amid this active environment?
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Jonathan Craig8:41
A couple things. First, continuing to innovate and bring more capabilities to market to serve these clients in environments like this. More in wealth management to serve that bull market for advice, more in banking to address clients who want to consolidate and simplify their lives with one provider, and continuing to support the traders in our population. We have a very significant active trading business. It's also about investing more in our local communities. We'll open dozens of new branches this year and hire more financial consultants. Finally, it's about having available, resilient, strong digital platforms, which is fundamental to serving clients in 2025.
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Interviewer9:41
All right. Thanks again to Jonathan Craig and Charles Schwab for that.