Millennials lead Schwab SDBA growth, but boomers still hold largest balances

Millennials are the fastest-growing segment in Schwab's workplace self-directed brokerage accounts. The overall average balance reached $396,767 at the end of the second quarter, up 8.7% from the first quarter and 9.5% from a year earlier, according to the firm's SDBA Indicators report, which credits a sharp market rebound amid easing geopolitical tensions and resilient economic growth. The report covers 346,836 Personal Choice Retirement Account (PCRA) participants with balances between $5,000 and $10 million, and trading picked up to 19.6 trades per account from 15.4 a year earlier, with equities and ETFs drawing the most activity.

Millennials, 29.6% of PCRA participants, saw their average balance rise 19.5% year over year to $168,616; Gen X, 47.1% of participants, holds $439,829 on average, up 16.1%; and Baby Boomers, 19.5% of participants, command the largest balances at $671,224, up 12.0%. Mobile trading rose across all three groups from a year earlier, capturing 38% of Millennial trades, 31% of Gen X trades and 28% of Baby Boomer trades, though Boomers still do half their trading on the web.

Equities remained the biggest holding at 34.5% of assets, with NVIDIA keeping the top individual stock position for the fifth consecutive quarter, and the average account held 12.2 positions, a level the report describes as consistent with the past year. The report also puts the average balance for all advised accounts at Schwab at $607,527, versus $348,888 for non-advised accounts.

Millennials post the strongest percentage gains while holding roughly a quarter of the Boomer average balance. At close to $397,000, the typical SDBA is not a starter vehicle, and this report is not evidence that it is becoming one. Those Millennial balances will either close the gap with Boomers or simply mark a younger cohort aging into the same older, larger profile.