Asset Management

Asset Management
Register

Subnav

Our approach to asset allocation

At Schwab Asset Management®, asset allocation isn’t just a concept—it’s a research-driven process designed to align investments with each client’s financial goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. It serves as the foundation of our model portfolios, helping to create diversified, well-balanced investment solutions tailored to clients’ unique needs.

Our guiding principles for advisor-focused model portfolios

Pyramid of guiding principals

Transparent: Simplify allocations to ensure they’re clear, easy to explain and free from unnecessary complexity.

Cost-efficient: Keep fees and expenses low to maximize the potential of clients’ investments.

Globally diversified: Create balance with portfolios that span geographies, asset classes and investment styles.

Designed for the long term: Prioritize sustained growth potential while managing short-term volatility with appropriate risk levels.

Disciplined and goal-oriented: Set realistic, measurable goals and use a systematic approach for evaluation and rebalancing to keep clients on track.

What sets us apart

Our asset allocation approach integrates three key elements to help your clients achieve their long-term goals: proprietary capital market expectations, a deep understanding of investor preferences and biases, and a team with expertise in multi-asset-class investment management.

binoculars

Capital market expectations

We use our proprietary capital market expectations to inform our multi-asset portfolios, thoroughly evaluating the potential performance of various asset classes over time.

Learn more
heart

Behavioral finance

Our solutions are specifically designed to account for investors’ behavioral tendencies. We seek to help your clients stay focused and on track to achieve their financial goals.

Learn more
icon of people

Specialized expertise

Our team consists of CFA® charter holders, CFP® practitioners, and Ph.D.s who focus on multi-asset portfolio management, advanced research, and portfolio consulting.

Learn more

Taking the long view

Capital market expectations offer key insights into potential market outcomes and are the foundation of any sound investment strategy. We craft our expectations using a balanced mix of data-driven analysis and expert insights from a wide range of sources. Although these forecasts typically have a 10-year horizon, they can evolve as market prices, interest rates or broader economic conditions shift.

Explore Schwab’s 2025 capital market expectations
Capital Market expectations

It is important because we’re all human. For decades data-driven concepts like modern portfolio theory and efficient market hypotheses guided advisors’ work with clients.

These ideas remain essential, but it’s clear that we all have become more data-dependent, and we all react differently to changes in financial or economic conditions. This is where behavioral finance comes in. 

Behavioral finance helps to explain the ways that emotional cognitive biases can directly influence investment decisions. 
For example, during a long bull market, recency bias may cause investors to expect the upward trajectory to continue. On the other hand, during periods of market volatility, loss aversion can potentially lead to panic selling, locking losses that otherwise could have been avoided. 

At Schwab Asset Management, we work with advisors and their clients to help investors achieve their goals by trying to bridge the gap between what the client wants and what the client needs. We do this by providing insights, practical tools, and investment solutions that incorporate behavioral finance, that also reflect our distinctive company values that are founded by our investment philosophy, research, expertise, and experience.

Information provided herein is for general information purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. The investment strategies mentioned may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own particular situation before making any investment decisions.

This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax, legal, or investment planning advice.

Diversification strategies do not ensure a profit and do not protect against losses in declining markets.

Schwab Asset Management® is the dba name for Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. Schwab Asset Management is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab corporation.
Video Transcript

Omar Aguilar, Ph.D.

It is important because we’re all human. For decades data-driven concepts like modern portfolio theory and efficient market hypotheses guided advisors’ work with clients.

These ideas remain essential, but it’s clear that we all have become more data-dependent, and we all react differently to changes in financial or economic conditions. This is where behavioral finance comes in. 

Behavioral finance helps to explain the ways that emotional cognitive biases can directly influence investment decisions. 
For example, during a long bull market, recency bias may cause investors to expect the upward trajectory to continue. On the other hand, during periods of market volatility, loss aversion can potentially lead to panic selling, locking losses that otherwise could have been avoided. 

At Schwab Asset Management, we work with advisors and their clients to help investors achieve their goals by trying to bridge the gap between what the client wants and what the client needs. We do this by providing insights, practical tools, and investment solutions that incorporate behavioral finance, that also reflect our distinctive company values that are founded by our investment philosophy, research, expertise, and experience.

Information provided herein is for general information purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. The investment strategies mentioned may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own particular situation before making any investment decisions.

This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax, legal, or investment planning advice.

Diversification strategies do not ensure a profit and do not protect against losses in declining markets.

Schwab Asset Management® is the dba name for Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. Schwab Asset Management is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab corporation.

Portfolios that keep investor behavior in mind

Understanding the behavioral side of investing and how each person reacts through different market cycles is essential to setting clients up for long-term success. At Schwab Asset Management, we’ve long championed a behavior-based investing approach to help keep investors on track toward their goals.

Learn about the foundations of our portfolio construction process

ABC asset allocation framework

Leverage our ABC asset allocation framework to deliver simple, scalable and cost-efficient portfolio solutions to your clients.

Learn more

Model portfolios

Using the ABC asset allocation framework, our model portfolios cater to a variety of investor needs, offering flexibility in risk/reward exposures, design sophistication and cost.

Learn more

Dedicated support

From model portfolio evaluations to asset allocation insights and resources, our team provides advisors with tailored support based on individual needs.

Learn more

Please refer to the Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. Disclosure Brochure for additional information.

Information provided here represents Schwab Asset Management®'s emerging thoughts on portfolio construction, and changes may occur in the future as Schwab Asset Management conducts additional research. As a result, future allocations may or may not be materially different.

This information should not be relied upon as investment advice, research, or a recommendation by Schwab Asset Management regarding the use or suitability of the model portfolio allocations. This information is intended for use only by third party financial advisors, with other information, as a resource to help build a portfolio or as an input in the development of investment advice for their own clients. Such financial advisors are responsible for making their own independent judgment as to how to use this information, and only clients and their advisors know enough about their financial circumstances to make investment decisions. Schwab Asset Management does not have investment discretion over or place trade orders for any portfolios or accounts derived from this information. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy illustrated will be successful or achieve any particular level of results.

Diversification and asset allocation strategies do not ensure a profit and cannot protect against losses in a declining market.

0325-411M

Investment and Insurance Products Are: Not FDIC Insured • Not Insured by Any Federal Government Agency • Not a Deposit or Other Obligation of, or Guaranteed by, the Bank or Any of Its Affiliates • Subject to Investment Risks, Including Possible Loss of Principal Amount Invested

© 2025 Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized access is prohibited. Usage will be monitored.