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Revision as of 23:16, 31 August 2006 by 209.144.55.6 (talk) (→Community Involvement)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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), and commercials featuring its founder and president, Rodger O. Riney.
Scottrade has 279 local branch offices, and has been given the top "investor satisfaction" award by J.D. Power and Associates six consecutive times.
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 [http://chinese.scottrade.com/}, 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 man.
The first series featured Riney providing "a little bit extra" when performing lawn services and building a treehouse for his friends.
The current series features Riney using technology to deliver newspapers and helping golfers select the right club.
Community Involvement
Scottrade claims to attract and hire people who care about their customers, coworkers, and community.
Scottrade and its associates are active participants in the community through both charitable efforts and higher education. We are proud of our philanthropy because it is a testament to our employees' generosity and devotion to the community. We understand the importance of investing not just in our own associates' but in society as well.
Scottrade is a corporate sponsor of the Alzheimer's Association's annual Memory Walk in St. Louis, Mo., matching associate contributions and encouraging participation in this event. Additional corporate sponsorships include the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the Humane Society's Bark in the Park and the Scottrade Gateway of Hope Ride & Festival, which raises funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Scottrade also donates to the United Way and holds an annual pledge drive to encourage employee participation.
Following Hurricane Katrina, Scottrade and its associates donated to the American Red Cross and raised funds for those Scottrade associates who were affected by the disaster. Contributions were also made to Save the Children and International Relief Teams in the aftermath of the tsunami that devastated Asia in December of 2004.
Additional organizations that Scottrade and its associates support include the American Cancer Society, American Stroke Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, National Kidney Foundation, National MS Society and Special Olympics.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., Scottrade supports several local organizations as well. The firm is a Patron Sponsor for the YWCA Special Leaders in the Workplace Program' in addition to participating in the "Circle of Women" event benefiting the YWCA St. Louis Regional Sexual Assault Center.
Scottrade is a corporate sponsor of the St. Louis Art Museum and the Muny, America's oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre. The firm is also a Columnist Level Sponsor for the Suburban Journals Old Newsboys Day for Children's Charities, which provides much-needed funding to more than 250 children's charities in the great St. Louis community.
Each year, Scottrade's corporate headquarters participates in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's 100 Neediest Cases, where the company "adopts" families in need during the holiday season and provides them with gifts, food and money. In 2005, Scottrade adopted five families. In addition to monetary donations that were used to pay the families, utility bills, Scottrade associates conducted a pantry drive, and bought and wrapped Christmas gifts for each family member.
Another way Scottrade supports communities is through its relationships with 500 colleges and universities across the country. Scottrade's Internship Program provides college students with the opportunity to learn about the financial industry, and in some cases, transition into a full-time career. In 2005, 200 college students were involved in this program, and more than 20 percent of our branch managers joined Scottrade through the Internship Program.
In addition, Scottrade has established the Scottrade IT Scholarship Fund for students at Webster University, an accredited institution with an international network of over 100 campuses. Scottrade provides financial assistance to Webster University Computer Science majors who have completed internships with the firm.
Scottrade's commitment to charitable organizations and higher education can be attributed to the firm's outstanding associates, who care about customers, coworkers and the community.
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 Riney, along with selected Scottrade staff, rang the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell.
In March 2006, Scottrade announced the hiring of Chris X. Moloney as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the firm. Moloney, formerly Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Charter Communications in St. Louis, is a widely published author, strategist and keynote speaker on the subjects of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
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 the press release, Scottrade has opened 9 additional locations, bringing their branch total to 271.
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 Community Involvement" — Community Involvement(retrieved 12 July 2006)
- "Scottrade - Letter from the President" — Open letter from the President (retrieved 28 April 2006)
- "Scottrade Q1 customer assets up 45%" — Q1 News (retrieved 12 July 2006)