SCHWAB, GOING UPSCALE. STEPS ON SOME TOES

摘要

It was a small purchase. So minuscule that few analysts bothered to find out much about why Charles Schwab Corp. bought research firm Chicago Investment Analytics Inc. on Nov. 15 for under $20 million. But they should have. For the deal, to acquire a company that produces software to pick stocks based on quantitative analysis, was hardly a minor transaction. Rather, it was a major move by Schwab to appease a legion of 5,000 advisers handling its millionaire clients. Schwab will distribute Chicago Investment's analytical tools to them to help them recommend stocks to their clients. "You could call it an olive branch," says adviser John S. Scarborough in San Francisco.