Schwab's New Premier Equity Fund Launches With Record Subscription

Schwab's New Premier Equity Fund Launches With Record
Subscription
Launch a Testament to Demand for a One-Stop Solution to Capture the Performance
Promise of the Schwab Equity Rating System 


SAN FRANCISCO, April 28  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Premier Equity Fund,
inspired by Schwab's award-winning equity model portfolio, garnered $334.2
million in assets during its initial subscription period ending March 18, a
record for Charles Schwab Investment Management (CSIM), the mutual fund company
owned by The Charles Schwab Corporation. The Premier Equity Fund has continued
to prove popular with investors, with assets currently over $430 million.

Launched on March 21, 2005 to provide investors with access to highly- rated
stocks as identified by Schwab Equity Ratings(R), the Premier Equity Fund is
based on the stock evaluation methodology behind Schwab's equity model
portfolio, which in January took first place for the second consecutive three-
year period in Barron's annual stock selection competition.

"The popularity of Schwab's new Premier Equity Fund is gratifying, but not a
surprise," said Evelyn Dilsaver, president and CEO of Charles Schwab Investment
Management. "Clients have been urging us to create a mutual fund designed
around Schwab's award-winning equity model portfolio since it took first place
in three-year performance in the 2003 Barron's competition. The record inflows
into the new fund substantiate the appeal of Schwab Equity Ratings and the fund
management team."

Building on success of larger fund family

The Schwab Premier Equity Fund is the latest addition to CSIM's growing family
of actively managed equity funds based on Schwab Equity Ratings and led by
co-managers Jeffrey Mortimer, Vivienne Hsu and Larry Mano. Other funds include
the Schwab Core Equity Fund, Schwab Dividend Equity Fund, Schwab Hedged Equity
Fund, Schwab Small-Cap Equity Fund, Schwab Financial Services Fund, Schwab
Health Care Fund and Schwab Technology Fund. According to Morningstar rankings
as of March 31, 2005, five of the seven existing funds are in the top quartile
and four of the funds are in the top 10 percent for their fund category,
including the Core Equity Fund, Small-Cap Equity Fund, Heath Care Focus Fund
and Hedged Equity Fund(1). Lipper also gives the funds high rankings with five
funds in the top quartile and three in the top 10 percent for their fund
category(2).

About Schwab Equity Ratings

Schwab Equity Ratings offer an objective and disciplined assessment of
approximately 3,000 U.S. equities, more than any other major brokerage firm.
Stocks are assigned grades of A, B, C, D, or F, reflecting performance
potential over the next 12 months. Schwab's outlook is that "A"-rated stocks,
on average, will strongly outperform, and "F"-rated stocks, on average, will
strongly underperform the equities market over the next 12 months. The ratings
assess four broad categories: fundamentals, valuation, momentum, and risk. They
are updated each week to reflect new financial data and other information. For
more information on Schwab Equity Ratings, including performance details, how
performance was calculated, comparison of performance to benchmarks and
limitations of model performance, visit http://www.schwab.com/serperformance.
See end of press release for regulation analyst certification and how to obtain
important required disclosures.

About Charles Schwab Investment Management

Founded in 1991, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (CSIM), an
affiliate of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., is one of the nation's largest mutual
fund companies with $140 billion under management as of March 31, 2005. It is
the country's fourth-largest money market fund manager and third-largest
provider of retail index funds. CSIM currently manages 62 mutual funds
including 21 actively managed equity funds, taxable and tax-free bond funds,
and taxable and municipal money market funds.

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE / Nasdaq: SCH), through its operating
subsidiaries, provides securities brokerage and financial services to
individual investors and the independent investment advisors who work with
them. With over 7 million individual investor accounts and more than $1
trillion in client assets, The Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the
nation's largest financial services firms. Its subsidiary Charles Schwab & Co.,
Inc. (member SIPC) provides a complete range of investment services and
products, including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning
and investment advice; retirement plans; referrals to independent fee-based
investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for
independent fee-based investment advisors. Its subsidiary Charles Schwab Bank,
N.A. (member FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and products. The
Corporation's other operating subsidiaries include U.S. Trust Corporation
(member FDIC) and CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC). These companies' Web
sites can be reached at http://www.schwab.com/, http://www.schwabbank.com/,
http://www.ustrust.com/, and http://www.cybertrader.com/.

Investors should consider carefully information contained in the prospectus,
including investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. You can request a
prospectus by calling Schwab at 1-800-435-4000. Please read the prospectus
carefully before investing. Investment value will fluctuate and shares, when
redeemed, may be worth more or less than original cost.

Schwab's Model Equity Portfolio performance results are simulated model
portfolio performance results, which do not represent actual investment
performance or trading. The performance is past performance and no indication
of future results.

Since the trades have not actually been executed, the results do not reflect
the impact of certain market factors such as limited trading liquidity. No
representation is being made that any investor will or is likely to achieve
profits or losses similar to those shown in relying on Schwab Equity Ratings or
any stock model or list.

The Schwab Equity Model Portfolio utilized the Schwab Equity Ratings and final
investment selection was made by a portfolio manager. There are fundamental
differences in the stock selection process for the model equity portfolio
compared to the stock selection process used by the various funds that use
Schwab Equity Ratings.

The performance of Schwab Equity Ratings is not an indication of future
performance of the Schwab Premier Equity Fund. The fund could have a high
portfolio turnover rate, which may result in increased transaction costs and
capital gain distributions.

  (1) Additional Morningstar Rankings for these funds as of March 31, 2005:
      One Year: 5/7 in top quartile
      Three Year: 3/4 in top quartile (2 in top decile)
      Five Year: 0/1 in top quartile

  (2) Additional Lipper Rankings for these funds as of March 31, 2005:
      One Year: 5/7 in top quartile
      Three Year: 3/4 in top quartile (2 in top decile)
      Five Year: 0/1 in top quartile



Performance of the portfolios submitted was calculated using an equal- weighted
return methodology that is administered by Zacks. Each brokerage firm had its
own methodologies in picking its stock lists, which differed in many respects,
including the number of issues held, frequency of trading and changes of
selection criteria over time. Barron's is a registered trademark of Dow Jones &
Company, Inc. All rights reserved. [0005-7785] 

DATASOURCE: Charles Schwab



CONTACT:  Sondra Harris of Charles Schwab, [phone], or

; or Kathy Vermazen of Edelman, [phone], or

, for Charles Schwab



Web site:  http://www.schwab.com/ 

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