SKN | Charles Schwab Reprices Wealth Advisory as High-Net-Worth Clients Face Higher Fees

Key Takeaways:

• Charles Schwab will raise the marginal advisory fee for Wealth Advisory clients with $10 million to $25 million from 0.30% to 0.45% beginning in 2027, a 50% increase for that tier.
• Schwab will also raise the threshold for referring investors to outside RIAs from $2 million to $5 million, keeping more affluent clients within its in-house advisory platform.
• With Schwab Wealth Advisory managing approximately $218 billion and managed-investing inflows up 50% year over year to $41 billion through H1 2026, the changes signal a broader push to capture more revenue from high-value relationships.

Charles Schwab is changing the economics of its wealth-management proposition for affluent households, with a fee restructuring that will be particularly relevant to clients with portfolios above $5 million.

Beginning in 2027, Schwab Wealth Advisory clients with $10 million to $25 million will face a marginal advisory rate of 0.45%, up from 0.30%. The 50% increase is concentrated in one of the firm’s highest-value client tiers, while accounts between $5 million and $10 million will see their marginal rate rise from 0.50% to 0.55%.

The changes arrive as Schwab increasingly emphasizes fee-based advice as a growth engine rather than relying exclusively on its traditional brokerage model.

Schwab Is Increasing the Economics of Its Highest-Value Relationships

The repricing is structured around marginal rates, meaning the higher percentage applies only to assets within the applicable tier rather than the entire portfolio. Schwab has indicated that most existing clients will see no change in their overall fees, while asset aggregation could reduce costs for some households.

The firm is also eliminating the quarterly minimum fee for smaller accounts beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026 and introducing separate product fees for certain third-party asset-management products.

Those fees include 0.35% for equities held in third-party separately managed accounts, 0.15% for bonds and other fixed-income holdings, and 0.10% for municipal bond ladders.

For HNWIs, the important issue is therefore not simply the headline advisory rate. The total cost of the relationship will increasingly depend on portfolio construction, external managers and the services being used alongside the core advisory arrangement.

The RIA Referral Model Is Becoming Less Accessible

A potentially more consequential strategic change comes on January 5, 2027, when Schwab raises the threshold for referring investors to outside registered investment advisors from $2 million to $5 million.

Previously, Schwab Advisor Network served as a pathway connecting qualifying investors with independent fiduciary firms. Under the new structure, investors below $5 million will generally be directed toward Schwab branch consultants or, where eligible, Schwab Wealth Advisory.

The shift effectively keeps more affluent households inside Schwab’s own ecosystem.

For independent RIAs, this represents a change in the economics of client acquisition. For investors, it means the choice between Schwab’s in-house advice and an independent advisory relationship will increasingly have to be made directly rather than through Schwab’s previous referral channel.

Fee-Based Advice Is Becoming More Important to Schwab’s Growth Strategy

The strategy aligns with Schwab’s broader effort to convert more retail households into paid advisory relationships. CEO Rick Wurster said during the second-quarter 2026 earnings call that only 5% of retail households currently pay for fee-based advice, while internal polling indicated that 31% would be willing to do so.

That gap represents a substantial potential growth opportunity.

Managed-investing inflows across Schwab’s advisory platform reached $41 billion through the first half of 2026, an increase of 50% from the prior year. Schwab Wealth Advisory managed approximately $218 billion in client assets at the end of 2025.

The economics explain the strategic focus. According to the source material, SWA clients generate approximately three times the return on client assets of standard retail clients, giving Schwab a strong incentive to increase penetration among households with substantial investable assets.

The Strategic Risk Is Client Attrition

The central question is whether higher fees will strengthen Schwab’s economics without undermining client retention.

Affluent investors above $5 million have substantially more choice than mass-affluent households. They can compare Schwab’s advisory proposition with independent RIAs, multifamily offices and other private wealth platforms, particularly when portfolio complexity increases.

The new 0.45% marginal rate for the $10 million-to-$25 million tier also brings Schwab’s pricing closer to the range that some independent fee-only RIAs charge for comparable relationships. That makes service breadth, fiduciary structure, customization, tax planning and access to specialized investment capabilities increasingly important parts of the comparison.

For HNWIs, the practical calculation has consequently changed. The relevant question is no longer simply whether Schwab offers competitive brokerage economics, but whether the total value of its advisory platform justifies the incremental cost relative to independent alternatives.

Closing Insights

Schwab’s repricing represents a broader strategic shift toward monetizing its wealthiest client relationships while directing more households into its proprietary advisory ecosystem. Strong advisory inflows provide evidence that demand for managed investing remains robust, but the higher-end client base is also the segment most capable of evaluating alternatives. For global wealth investors, the 2027 changes make total relationship costs, fiduciary structure, customization and service breadth increasingly important when comparing Schwab with independent wealth-management providers.

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