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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Discount Brokerage, Online Investing Firm |
| Founded | Scottsdale, Arizona (1980) |
| Headquarters | St Louis, Missouri, USA |
| Key people | Rodger O. Riney, Pres. & CEO |
| Products | Stock Brokerage, Online Investing: Stocks, Mutual Funds, IRAs, CDs, Fixed Income, Etc. |
| Revenue | $796 Million (2006) |
| Number of employees | 1,640 (2006) |
| Website | www.scottrade.com |
Scottrade is a privately owned discount retail brokerage firm headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It is known for its online trading features, low commissions (it advertises that most orders – market orders or limit orders – can be traded for a flat $7.00 commission, regardless of trade frequency or account size), and commercials featuring its founder and president, Rodger O. Riney.
Scottrade has 287 local branch offices, and has previous been ranked "Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Trading Services" award by J.D. Power and Associates for an unprecedented six consecutive times (streak ending in 2006).
History
Scottrade was founded in 1980 by Riney as Scottsdale Securities in Scottsdale, Arizona, with two offices, one in Scottsdale and the other in St. Louis. One year later, Scottsdale Securities relocated its headquarters to St. Louis.
In 1996 Scottsdale Securities offered online trading to its customers, under the domain name of www.scottrade.com. It adopted the Scottrade name as its corporate name in 2000.
In 2003, Scottrade launched a new trading platform, called Scottrade Chinese , available to customers in the United States, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Also in August 2003, Scottrade opened its one-millionth customer account. In September, J.D. Power and Associates named Scottrade Highest in Investor Satisfaction With Online Trading Services for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time.
October 2005 brought another J.D. Power and Associates award for Investor Satisfaction, the 6th in a row for Scottrade.
Commercials
Scottrade is known for its commercials featuring Riney as a young boy.
The first series featured Riney providing "a little bit extra" when performing lawn services and building a treehouse for his friends.
A recent series features Riney using technology to deliver newspapers and helping golfers select the right club.
The newest commercials feature Scottrade founder and CEO Rodger Riney in a Scottrade-branded helicopter on a quest to discover first-hand what his customers most like about Scottrade. The camera then zooms in, focusing on customers on the ground who explain their favorite reasons for having a Scottrade account. These commercials run as 15 second book ends on a commercial break or as two back-to-back for one 30 second spot.
Community Involvement
Many of the charitable initiatives Scottrade is involved in have been employee-driven. Scottrade employees have led collection drives for members of the military stationed overseas, and adopted families through the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's 100 Neediest Cases.
The firm is also focused in contributing to charitable causes within the St. Louis community, such as participating in the Komen Race for the Cure and the Alzheimer's Association's annual Memory Walk. Scottrade and its employees donate annually to the United Way, the National MS Society, the Special Olympics, the St. Louis Humane Society and the St. Louis Art Museum, just to name a few. Most recently, employees have donated generously to tsunami and hurricane relief, particularly because some of their coworkers lost their homes in the hurricanes.
Current events
In an open letter to Scottrade customers, Riney discussed the recent activity of mergers and acquisitions in the discount brokerage sector. Riney stated that Scottrade is happy being an independent firm and that it has no plans to sell out to another company.
On Wednesday, January 18, 2006, Rodger Riney, along with selected Scottrade staff, rang the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell.
In April 2006, Scottrade announced that customer assets increased 45% for the first quarter 06 and client volumes rose 49%. According to a press release by Scottrade, it said that customer assets grew to over $51 billion, up from $32.5 billion from the same period last year. The firm's active accounts also grew to 1.48 million, up 28%. In addition, Scottrade opened 12 new branch offices in the United States, a solid 1 per week during the quarter. Since then they have opened several more and now have 287 branches.
In September 2006, Scottrade founder Rodger O. Riney announced a partnership with the St. Louis Blues hockey club and arena. The new name of the arena--Scottrade Center-- was revealed at a joint press conference. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but were described as long-term and significant. Both Scottrade and the Blues said the agreement was equitable to both parties. One of the busiest arenas in the world, the Scottrade Center hosts over 40 Blues games and 130 non-hockey concerts and events each year. The prior naming rights partner, the financially struggling Savvis Inc., bought out the remaining years of its contract with the Blues in the summer of 2005 for $5.5 million.
October 12, 2006 was declared “Scottrade Day” in St. Louis. The proclamation, issued by Mayor Francis G. Slay, declares Oct. 12, 2006, as a day to recognize and honor Scottrade for the significant contributions the company has made to the St. Louis community. Scottrade CEO Riney cut a large ribbon on ice to christen the newly named and renovated facility.
In November 2006 Scottrade announced a 72 percent increase in revenue for fiscal year 2006, which ended September 30. Company revenue increased to $796 million, compared to $464 million in fiscal year 2005. Customer assets increased $9.6 billion to $51.1 billion. Trade volumes and active accounts also increased significantly over the previous fiscal year. The firm ranked as one of the largest privately held firms in the state of Missouri and one of the fastest growing U.S. firms of its size. Scottrade also announced it opened 39 branches in fiscal 2006 for a total of 280 branch offices throughout the US. The firm added 257 employees for a total of 1,640. Customer growth in 2006 was also significant as the firm ranked as one of the largest U.S. advertisers, according to TNS Media.
Footnotes and references
- "History on a discount brokerage firm" — History (retrieved 12 July 2006)
- "Stock Broker comparison" — JD Powers and Associates(retrieved 12 July 2006)
- "Scottrade's Community Involvement" — Scottrade in the Community (retrieved 31 August 2006)
- "Scottrade Community Involvement" — Community Involvement(retrieved 12 July 2006)
- "Scottrade - Letter from the President" — Open letter from the President (retrieved 28 April 2006)