Huge growth in retirement plan business helped push the 1998 earnings of Charles Schwab to 29% on 19% revenue growth. More than 90 new financial advisers signed up to use the company's SchwabPlan retirement plan service. Corporate retirement plan assets administered by Schwab rose 45% to $20 billion as of Dec. 31. Revenues generated by Schwab's institutional division, which includes services to financial advisers and retirement plans, rose 35%.
Net purchases of the SchwabFunds more than doubled to $21 billion. Customer assets within the SchwabFunds rose 47% to $82 billion by year-end 1998.
