Mark Christopher Gerard

We charge a fee for some, but not all, of our investment advisory services, including asset-based fees and fixed one-time and recurring fees. Some of these fees may be negotiable.

• Our asset-based or wrap fees are calculated based on the amount of assets in your account and usually billed on a quarterly basis. These fees include most transaction costs, and could be higher than fees charged for investment advisory services that do not include such costs. There are other fees that will apply to your account, such as mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) operating expenses (including management fees paid to CSIM for funds managed by them), costs for trades executed at a firm other than Schwab, and account services fees.

• The more assets in your accounts, the more money Schwab and its affiliates earn, so we have an incentive to encourage you to invest more assets. We earn money from third parties or affiliates on certain products, including cash, mutual funds, and ETFs held in your accounts, so we have an incentive to encourage such investments.

• You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.

• You will be charged interest on the amount borrowed through margin loans and securities-based loans.

All recommendations regarding your advisory account will be in an adviser capacity. When we, CSIM, or SWAI act as your investment adviser, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests.
You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the recommendations we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means. We and our affiliates earn money from:

• Shareholder service fees paid to us by third-party fund providers and affiliated mutual funds, and management fees paid to CSIM by affiliated mutual funds and ETFs, that are based off the shares which are held in your accounts.

• Marketing and promotional fees paid to us by T. Rowe Price for our promotion of their mutual funds and ETFs to our clients, and for providing additional mutual fund and ETF marketing support to T. Rowe Price.

• The “spread” on cash in your accounts—i.e., the difference between what we earn and what we pay you in interest

• Fees from third-party advisers participating in our referral service.

• Other compensation and conflicts that are specific to the different programs.

Our representatives include branch-based Financial Consultants and phone-based representatives who help you select the program or service that best meets your needs. They receive cash payments based on factors like the amount of assets you have with us and the time, complexity, and expertise required to help you with any of the services we provide; specifically, they receive compensation to navigate you to our investment advisory services and service your accounts once enrolled in such services. They do earn more for recommending certain services over others, but what they earn is not directly based on the revenue the firm earns. CSIM Portfolio Managers and SWAI Wealth Advisors receive a fixed base salary and may earn a discretionary bonus based on the financial performance of The Charles Schwab Corporation (CSC). They may also have the potential to participate in discretionary equity awards. For certain CSIM Portfolio Managers managing strategies within Schwab’s Managed Account Services, their discretionary bonus is funded on the financial performance of CSC, their strategy’s performance results, their strategies’ asset growth or a combination of the above.

If you place a trade, you will pay a commission or transaction fee in some cases. There can also be expenses built into the trade price or the investment itself.

• The fee you pay is the same whether we recommend an investment to you or not. We earn money from third parties and affiliates on certain products, including cash, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) held in your account(s), so we have an incentive to encourage investment in those products.

• You may also pay account- or transaction-related fees.

• You will pay fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. Fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.

All recommendations for your brokerage account will be made in a broker-dealer capacity unless otherwise expressly stated. When we provide you with a recommendation, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests.
You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the recommendations we provide you. Here are some examples to help you understand what this means. We and our affiliates earn money from:

• Shareholder service fees paid to us by third-party fund providers and affiliated mutual funds, and management fees paid to our affiliate adviser by affiliated mutual funds and ETFs, that are based off the shares which are held in your account(s).

• Marketing and promotional fees paid to us by T. Rowe Price for our promotion of their mutual funds and ETFs to our clients, and for providing additional mutual fund and ETF marketing support to T. Rowe Price.

• The “spread” on cash in your accounts—i.e., the difference between what we earn and what we pay you in interest.

• Dealer concessions or transaction fees when trading as principal in your accounts.

• Commissions or trail commissions paid to us by insurance companies when you purchase an annuity or other insurance products.

• Order routing revenue from third-party broker-dealers and exchanges when you place trades and we route your order to the centers.

Our representatives receive cash payments based on the amount of assets you have with us and the time, complexity, and expertise required to help you with any of our services; specifically, they receive compensation to navigate you to our investment advisory services and service your accounts once enrolled in such services. They earn more for recommending certain services over others, but what they earn is not directly based on the revenue the firm earns.