Schwab to Allow Investors to Buy and Sell Fractions of Stocks

Charles Schwab Corp. will let investors buy and sell fractions of shares in the coming months as part of an effort to attract younger clients to its online brokerage platform. According to a story in The Wall Street Journal, Founder and Chairman Charles R. Schwab said that fractional share trading would soon be introduced, along with several other new programs, as the online brokerage looks ahead after it eliminated trading commissions earlier this month. Mr. Schwab discussed the firm’s future after speaking about his new book, “Invested,” in New York.

“I wanted to take commissions out of the formula,” Mr. Schwab said. “We’ve been on that path for 40 years,” he said, reflecting on the company’s start as one of the first discount brokerages. Schwab’s decision to scrap trading commissions followed a similar move by Interactive Brokers Group Inc., and it prompted rivals TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. and E*Trade Financial Corp. to swiftly match. Schwab didn’t specify when the program would launch.