[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang] "Most clients will continue to want services that combine people and technology."

Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster (릭 워스터) struck a cautious tone on the AI agent investing boom in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

He cited a case of an elderly client who calls ChatGPT a "best friend" and talks to it all day. He said the client still calls a Schwab adviser when deciding big-money issues.

After Meta released its AI agent "Muse", Schwab shares fell more than 6 percent on concerns an agent could move client cash into higher-yielding accounts.

Wurster flatly called the possibility of such large-scale fund flows "very low". Schwab is blocking external AI agents from logging into client accounts. He pointed out that it is wrong to think clients have lots of cash they forgot and left idle, adding that people keep cash for a reason.

Wurster is also skeptical about agentic trading, where agents trade on a client's behalf. "There is no magic formula to beat the market," he said. "If it were that easy, many hedge funds would be doing it." He also noted that many companies pushing agentic trading make their living from trading fees.

"Some companies wrap gambling up as an investment product," he added. "You need to look at who makes money behind it."

Charles Schwab is also strengthening agent functions. It plans to let customers use its AI assistant "Charley" to handle everything they previously did directly on the web and in the app. Customers can use voice or text on the website and mobile app to have Charley check prices, review balances and transaction histories, and manage watchlists and alerts. Even so, Wurster made clear that agents should not be fully autonomous and should run only under conditions set by customers, saying he would "approach it very cautiously."