Net income at Charles Schwab was $206 million for the first quarter of 2013, down 2 per cent from $211 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, and up 6 per cent year-on-year from $195 million.

Total net revenue at the San Francisco-headquartered brokerage and investment firm rose from $1.189 billion at the end of March 2012 to end Q1 2013 at $1.290 billion - an increase of 8 per cent.

There were 244,000 new client brokerage accounts in the first quarter of 2013, up 3 per cent since Q1 2012 and up 1 per cent since December 31, 2012.

The firm ended the first quarter with what chief executive and president Walt Bettinger said was a record $2.08 trillion in total client assets, up 14 per cent, while its client base grew to 8.9 million active brokerage accounts.

Bettinger added that the firm's 15 proprietary exchange-traded funds, which are part of Schwab ETF OneSource, reached $10.9 billion at quarter-end, up 65 per cent year-over-year.

Client assets enrolled in advisory offerings totaled $135.9 billion at end-March, including $15.6 billion managed in the firm’s Windhaven portfolios, up 15 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively, from a year ago.