Forge Global, which is based in San Francisco, enables retail investors to buy stakes in private companies, including late-stage startups.
,The secondary trading platform has a minimum investment level of $5,000 and has facilitated more than $17bn in pirvate transactions to date.
,Charles Schwab currently has more than 46 million accounts and $11.6trn in assets under management. The firm has been a pioneer in the retail investment market. Back in the 1990s, it was one of the first online dealing platforms to provide retail investors with access to stock trading.
,This market boomed during the lockdown caused by the global pandemic, as seen by the rise of other online dealing platforms such as Robinhood.
,Private markets investment has long been a niche part of the investment world due to numerous factors such as high barriers to entry, the use of manual processing and an absence of standardised data.
,However, as investors have started to look further afield for greater returns, private markets have become much more attractive.
,Consequently, efforts have been made to democrsatise access to this asset class, to modernise the technology involved and to improve the availability of data.
,The acquisition of Forge Global follows the respective launches of Charles Schwab Alternative Investments Select and Schwab Private Issuer Equity Services earlier this year.
,Meanwhile, in September, Robinhood launched a fund to provide retail investors with access to private markets. And in October, Morgan Stanley acquired private shares platfrom EquityZen, while S&P Global spent $1.8bn to acquire private markets data provider With Intelligence.
,“With the pool of private companies growing and remaining private for longer, a leading platform for individual investors to participate in private markets offers durable, strategic value,” said Charles Schwab president and CEO Rick Wurster.
,“We expect meaningful growth in this space and believe our platform will become a go-to venue where retail investors discover new investment opportunities.”
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