Question

Segment Analysis for a Service Company

Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the more innovative brokerage and financial service companies in the United States. The company recently provided information about its major business segments as follows (in millions):

	Investor Services		Advisor Services
Revenues	$2,640		$1,523
Income from operations	1,012		180
Depreciation	98		49

a. The Investor Services

• Investor Services
• Advisor Services

segment serves the retail customer, you and me. These include brokerage, Internet, and mutual fund services. The

• Investor Services
• Advisor Services

segment includes the same services provided for financial institutions, such as banks, mutual fund managers, insurance companies, and pension plan administrators.

b. Indicate whether the following costs are a “Variable Cost” or a “Fixed Cost” in the “Investor Services”.

1. Commissions to brokers

• Variable Cost
• Fixed Cost

2. Fees paid to exchanges for executing trades

• Variable Cost
• Fixed Cost

3. Depreciation on brokerage offices

• Variable Cost
• Fixed Cost

4. Transaction fees incurred by Schwab mutual funds to purchase and sell shares

• Variable Cost
• Fixed Cost

5. Property taxes on brokerage offices

• Variable Cost
• Fixed Cost

6. Advertising

• Variable Cost
• Fixed Cost

7. Depreciation on brokerage office equipment, such as computers and computer networks

• Variable Cost
• Fixed Cost

c. Estimate the contribution margin for each segment, assuming that depreciation represents the majority of fixed costs.

	Investor Services (in millions)	Advisor Services (in millions)
Estimated contribution margin	$	$

d. If Schwab decided to sell its Advisor Services business to another company, estimate how much operating income would decline under the following assumptions.

Assume the fixed costs that serve the Advisor Services business would not be sold but would be used by the other sector: $ million
Assume the fixed assets were “sold”: $ million

Answer 1

b
1	Variable Cost
2	Fixed Cost
3	Fixed Cost
4	Variable Cost
5	Fixed Cost
6	Fixed Cost
7	Fixed Cost

c)

	Investor	Advisor
Revenues	$2,640	$1,523
Income from operations	1,012	180
-cost (assumed, since no information given)	0	0
Contribution margin	$3,652	$1,703