Deborah McWhinney, president of Schwab Institutional, has resigned effective immediately – she served as head of the business since joining Schwab in 2001.

A spokesman for the group told WealthBriefing her decision to leave was “a personal decision that reflected her desire to pursue new opportunities.” She has not announced a new role.

Former chief operating officer of Schwab Institutional, Charles Goldman, assumed the role as president.

Schwab Institutional is an arm of the US discount broking giant that provides third-party service such as custodial and trading support to some 5,000 independent US investment advisors.

In January this year, Schwab Institutional announced a programme to offer advisors loans of up to $500,000 to lure advisors away from the large firms and to start their own businesses.

A replacement for Mr Goldman has not yet been announced.

Meanwhile Ben Brigeman took over as president of Schwab Investor Services, Schwab’s retail brokerage division, filling a role vacated by Walter Bettinger when he became president of The Charles Schwab Corp earlier this year.