Schwab Announces Availability of Schwab Stock Slices

Charles Schwab today announced client availability of Schwab Stock Slices, a new service that lets investors own any of America’s leading companies in the S&P 500 for as little as $5 each, even if their shares cost more. Starting today, investors can use the new service, which Schwab pre-announced last month, to purchase a single stock slice or up to 10 different Stock Slices at once, and they can hold slices of as many S&P 500 companies in their portfolio as they wish through multiple purchases. Schwab Stock Slices are purchased commission-free online – just like regular stock trades at Schwab.

“We want to make stock ownership accessible to as many people as possible, from a new investor just getting started to someone more experienced who may find the share price of some companies out of reach,” said Neesha Hathi, executive vice president and head of Schwab Digital Services. “Stock Slices allows anyone to invest using fractional shares, and we’re excited by the possibilities inherent in this functionality to enhance how clients invest.”

Schwab Stock Slices will give investors the power to build a portfolio of stocks for a small fraction of what the total price would be otherwise. For example, for just $25, an investor could own pieces of Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Netflix when purchasing one full share of each would otherwise cost a total of approximately $4,800.*

How Schwab Stock Slices Work

Once someone selects the single stock or collection of stocks they want to purchase, the total dollar amount invested is split evenly across each stock, and slices of shares can be as narrow as four decimal places. For example, a $50 investment across five stocks would generally appear as a $10 purchase of each stock, and the order would show the number of shares or fraction of shares that $10 would buy based on stock prices at the time of execution.

When a trade order is executed via Schwab Stock Slices, each stock fraction appears in a client’s brokerage account. Schwab Stock Slices is available in retail Schwab brokerage, custodial, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Schwab clients also have access to a range of educational resources and research including stock screeners and Schwab Equity Ratings, the firm’s proprietary method for rating stock performance.

Because Schwab custodial accounts are eligible, investors can use Schwab Stock Slices to get their children or grandchildren engaged with investing in an accessible and educational way. Once a Schwab custodial account is open and funded, the custodian can purchase stocks in small dollar amounts in the same way they would in a traditional brokerage account. A downloadable card can be personalized and given to a minor to let them know about the stock purchase on their behalf.