Charles Schwab has extended its deal with JP Morgan to provide Schwab’s 9.1 million clients with access to the US bank’s fixed income securities. The agreement was originally signed in 2010.

Charles Schwab has extended its deal with JP Morgan to provide Schwab’s 9.1 million clients with access to the US bank’s fixed income securities. The agreement was originally signed in 2010.

Clients with brokerage accounts have access to the bank new issue and secondary municipal bonds and corporate debt securities. Schwab clients have had access to more than 800 new corporate issues through JP Morgan since 2011.

Charles Schwab said increased demand for corporate new issuance, which has exceeded its expectations, played a part in the extended agreement with JP Morgan.

In 2013, total orders for these corporate new issues saw an increase of 70 per cent over 2012, and the total face value of those orders well more than doubled in that time, the brokerage and investment firm said in a statement.

"Retail demand for access to this traditionally institutional product has exceeded our expectations," said Peter Crawford, senior vice president at Charles Schwab.

As access to bond issues has become possible for more investors, he noted, demand and participation by both retail clients and registered investment advisors has grown "dramatically," particularly in the area of new corporate bond issuance, the firm said.

In 2013, JP Morgan underwrote approximately $438.8 billion in the global debt markets, according to Dealogic, and approximately $53 billion in the U.S. municipal markets, according to ThomsonReuters.