Conifer, CO Office

Schwab Wealth Advisory, Inc. provides non‑discretionary fiduciary investment advice to clients enrolled in the Schwab Wealth Advisory (SWA) program sponsored by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Its services include annual financial reviews, retirement and planning discussions, investment recommendations across stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and recommendations of separately managed accounts (SMAs) and other point‑in‑time wealth management education.

The firm’s advice is delivered through CS&Co.’s standard asset allocation models and Schwab research tools (including Schwab Equity Ratings®), with SWAI Associates recommending allocations and specific investments but leaving final trading decisions to clients; SWAI conducts at least annual account reviews and does not monitor accounts between reviews or exercise discretionary trading authority. When discretionary management is used, that discretion generally resides with affiliated or third‑party money managers (for example, Schwab Asset Management for Schwab Wealth Portfolios) rather than with SWAI.

Compared with many enterprise wealth managers, SWAI is structured as an internal advisory unit within the Schwab ecosystem and is paid by Charles Schwab & Co. under a cost‑and‑expense plus arrangement rather than contracting and billing clients directly, so SWAI itself does not directly charge percentage‑of‑AUM or fixed fees to clients. The firm also has an uncommon affiliation with a registered futures commission merchant (Charles Schwab Futures and Forex LLC) and does not act as a discretionary portfolio manager or regularly serve certain institutional client types (e.g., corporate, charitable, or pension plans), which distinguishes its operating model from many peers.