Schwab imposes stricter limits on long-short accounts

Charles Schwab is imposing even stricter limits for customers interested in tax-aware long-short accounts, at least the third time the retail brokerage has done so, according to a note distributed to clients.

Schwab clients will now have to have a minimum of $10 million of assets to take part in some long-short separately managed accounts, an increase from $1 million, according to the note, which was sent to clients and obtained by Bloomberg on Wednesday. The firm also said it won't enroll new clients or accept new funds in portfolio-margin accounts, which use greater leverage.

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It's the latest in a series of moves that highlight the risks and concerns around one of the most popular trades on Wall Street. Over the past three years, legions of affluent Americans have flocked to tax-aware long-short accounts, a complex strategy that typically involves betting both for and against companies to generate losses that help investors slash capital-gains levies.

Schwab and its rival Fidelity Investments, the two major firms offering the strategy, have both pulled back recently amid concerns over unprecedented growth in the convoluted trades. 

Although Schwab had already twice buckled down on who can open new accounts and placed borrowing and other limits on tax-aware investing, Fidelity has taken more farther-reaching measures by indefinitely pausing onboarding of new clients.

"We regularly review our platform requirements to ensure we can effectively serve advisers and their clients across the full range of capabilities they rely on," a Schwab spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "These changes apply only to new accounts — current clients will continue with no impact to existing terms. We remain committed to helping advisors meet client needs through a broad range of tax-aware investment solutions."

Schwab's policy, which the letter said will take effect on Sept. 16, even further restricts the growing strategy. 

"The current pace of growth of these strategies could limit our ability to support the full range of capabilities you and your clients rely upon from us," the firm said in the letter.

At Schwab, some were concerned that the allure of eliminating taxes was spurring wealthy investors to get into the strategy even if they didn't completely grasp how it worked, Bloomberg previously reported. Fidelity, meanwhile, said it was taking time to evaluate what was driving the growth of tax-aware strategies.

Despite the two firms' pullback, interest in tax-aware strategies hasn't gone away. Other money managers are still touting their tax-minimizing products.