Schwab Expands Commission-Free ETF Lineup

““We know that every dollar counts for investors – and trading commissions can really add up, so they are crucial when evaluating the total cost of an ETF,” said Heather Fischer, Vice President of ETF Platform Management at Charles Schwab, in a statement. “Our clients are thrilled that Schwab ETF OneSource has made ETF investing more affordable and accessible, and today’s announcement means the program with the most commission-free ETFs just took another major step forward on their behalf.”

Data indicate investors have embraced idea of trading ETFs sans commissions in a big way. According to a recent Schwab study, “85 percent of investors believe that the ability to trade ETFs without commissions is important. When it comes to evaluating commission-free ETF offerings, choice is paramount. Sixty-nine percent of investors say that having the right selection of ETFs matters most, and 59 percent say that having ETFs that span the broadest number of asset categories is important,” said the firm.

As of the end of August, OneSource had $31 billion in assets under management with year-to-date inflows of $5.9 billion. That $5.9 billion represents 45% of total 2014 ETF inflows to assets custodied at Schwab, according to the company.

New ETFs added to the OneSource lineup include the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Growth Fund (NasdaqGM: DGRW), WisdomTree U.S SmallCap Dividend Growth Fund (NasdaqGM: DGRS), Direxion S&P 500 RC Volatility Response Shares (NYSEArca: VSPY) and the ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF (NYSEArca: NOBL).

Todd Shriber owns shares of DGRW.