Personal Capital vs Charles Schwab

Personal Capital vs Charles Schwab Comparison Table 2024
Personal Capital	Charles Schwab
Review 3.3	Review 2.8

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is a popular, SEC-regulated US financial advisory and investment platform that offers pensions, ready-made investment plans and do-it-yourself, commission-free investing through a large range of mutual funds, ETFs, individual equities and fixed-income securities. The broker has an impressive 3.4 million clients.	Charles Schwab is a large US investment broker offering a massive range of stocks, ETFs and equity derivatives in a variety of savings and investment accounts. The trustworthy brand has been offering financial services for 45+ years with over 35 million brokerage accounts and $870+ billion in assets under management. Charles Schwab is also regulated by top-tier watchdogs including the SEC and FCA.
Comment by Reviewer
"Personal Capital (now Empower) is a great option for investors seeking a flexible way to build an investment portfolio or pension plan. It is a particularly good fit for US traders owing to the SEC oversight."	"Charles Schwab will serve long-term investors looking for managed accounts, financial advice and self-directed trading opportunities. Fees are competitive, with zero-commission stock and ETF trading and no account minimums for individual brokerage accounts."
Pros
FDIC-insured cash account with no minimum balance requirement Segregated client funds with a top-tier custodian bank A wealth of free financial analysis and planning tools Easy-to-use platform and financial dashboard Well-known and popular investing platform Strong regulatory oversight from SEC Mobile app	Strong investment offerings covering stocks, mutual funds, options, bonds and cryptocurrency Powerful trading software with real-time quotes, fundamental research and investment screeners Responsive customer support team available 24/7 via live chat or telephone Competitive trading fees with no commissions on stocks and ETFs Fractional shares on the S&P 500 with a $5 minimum investment Thematic investing categories and ESG compliant portfolios Strong regulatory oversight from the US SEC and UK FCA No account minimums for individual brokerage accounts High-quality educational resources for new investors
Cons
Wealth management services only for customers with $100,000+ in invested assets No forex, futures or cryptocurrencies An annual advisory fee of 0.89% No demo account US residents only	Only US markets available (except 12 foreign markets on the Global Account) High minimum investment of $5000 to use robo-advisors Limited funding methods with no e-wallets No email support
Awards
Best for Portfolio Management 2020
Instruments
Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Fixed Income	Stocks, ETFs, Cryptos, Futures, Options, Commodities, Bonds
Demo Account
No	Yes
Minimum Deposit
$1 (Cash), $100,000 (Robo Advisor)	$0
Trading Platforms
Own	Own
Payment Methods
Wire Transfer	ACH Transfer Automated Customer Account Transfer Service TransferWise Wire Transfer
Minimum Trade
Variable	$1
Regulator
SEC	SEC, FINRA, FCA1
Margin Trading
No	No
STP Account
No	No
ECN Account
No	No
DMA Account
No	No
MAM Account
No	No
PAMM Account
No	No
LAMM Account
No	No
Demat Account
No	No
AI / Machine Learning
No	Yes
Robo Advisor
Yes	Yes
Negative Balance Protection
No	No
Market Maker
No	No
P2P Trading
No	No
Spot Trading
No	No
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android	iOS & Android
Auto Trading
Yes (Auto Portfolios)	Yes
Copy Trading
No	No
Social Trading
No	No
VPS Hosting
No	No
Tournaments
No	No
Demo Competitions
No	No
Ethical Investing
Yes	Yes
Custodial Account
No	Yes
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No	No
Islamic Account
No	No
Account Currencies
USD	USD
Stock Exchanges
Dow Jones Nasdaq New York Stock Exchange S&P 500	Dow Jones Nasdaq S&P 500 Toronto Stock Exchange
Commodities
	Soybeans
Cryptocurrency
Crypto trading not offered	Charles Schwab supports indirect crypto trading through digital coin trusts and crypto-related stocks. You can get exposure to popular digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum.
Spread
	Floating
Coins
	GBTC BITW
Crypto Lending
No	No
Crypto Mining
No	No
Crypto Staking
No	No
Auto Market Maker
No	No

Review	Review
More Comparisons
Personal Capital vs	Charles Schwab vs