CHARLES Schwab finished cutting as much as 6 per cent of its 35,900-member workforce, amid efforts to curb costs as it continues to integrate TD Ameritrade, according to a company spokesperson.

The number of cuts, ranging from 5 per cent to 6 per cent of staff at the Westlake, Texas-based company, translates to as many as 2,154 employees, based on a corporate fact sheet that put the company’s overall headcount at 35,900 at the end of September.

“These were hard but necessary steps to ensure Schwab remains highly competitive, with industry-leading levels of efficiency, well into the future,” the spokesperson said. “We worked diligently to ensure affected employees were treated with care and respect throughout this difficult process.”

The cuts were reported earlier on Wednesday (Nov 1) by MarketWatch.

Schwab said in August it planned to cut jobs and close or downsize offices to achieve at least US$500 million in annual cost savings amid efforts to strip complexity from the firm. Schwab said at the time that it would incur costs of roughly US$400 million to US$500 million, “primarily related to employee compensation and benefits and facility exit costs”.

The firm has experienced temporarily lower net flows of client money amid attrition of some retail and advisory clients’ assets as it folds TD Ameritrade into its business. The firm reported US$46 billion in core net new assets for the third quarter, including US$27 billion for September alone, which was a decline of 32 per cent from a year earlier.

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Schwab shares gained for a third straight day, rising 1.3 per cent to US$52.73 at 12.41 pm in New York. They are down 37 per cent this year, more than the 5.7 per cent drop in the S&P 500 Financials Index. BLOOMBERG