More than six months after Schwab agreed to purchase TD Ameritrade, the U.S. Government anti-trust hurdles were cleared last week allowing the companies to continue the process of combining their resources. I was honored to be interviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice about my thoughts on the transition. While I was one of many advisors who expressed concerns about the negative impact on consumers from the combination of these two firms, our concerns did not move the government to prohibit the transaction from being completed.

The full integration of the two firms is expected to take another 18-36 months. Over the next dozen months, Oak Wealth Advisors will be evaluating options for our clients. A larger Charles Schwab is obviously one option. There are other custodian options that we are also considering.

As a fiduciary financial advisor, we are always focused on our clients’ best interests. With the upcoming loss of TD Ameritrade as our primary custodian, we will carefully evaluate the available options. We will share our research with you after we have a chance to see what the new Schwab platform will provide and how they incorporate the technology and services currently offered by TD Ameritrade.

For the remainder of 2020, we do not anticipate any changes to our custodial relationships for our clients. We will use this time to get closer to our Schwab relationships to better understand their plans for the future and will also be having discussions with the other leading asset custody providers.

If you have any questions about your planning or your investments, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.