TD Ameritrade 2018 Annual Report

4 allows us to process a significant number of additional transactions while incurring minimal additional fixed costs. • Continue to be a low-cost provider of quality services. We achieve low operating costs per trade by creating economies of scale, utilizing our proprietary transaction-processing systems, continuing to automate processes and locating much of our operations in low-cost geographical areas. This low fixed-cost infrastructure provides us with significant financial flexibility. In addition, our bank deposit account arrangements with The Toronto-Dominion Bank ("TD") and other third-party financial institutions enable our clients to invest in an FDIC-insured deposit product without the need for the Company to establish the significant levels of capital that would be required to maintain our own bank charter. • Continue to differentiate our offerings through innovative technologies and service enhancements. We have been an innovator in our industry for over 40 years. We continually strive to provide our clients with the ability to customize their investing and trading experience. We provide our clients greater choice by offering features and functionality to meet their specific needs. • Leverage the TD Ameritrade brand. We believe that we have a superior brand identity and that our advertising has established TD Ameritrade as a leading brand in the retail brokerage market. • Continue to evaluate opportunities for growth through acquisitions. When evaluating potential acquisitions, we look for transactions that will give us operational leverage, technological leverage, increased market share or other strategic opportunities. On September 18, 2017, we completed our acquisition of the brokerage business of Scottrade Financial Services, Inc. ("Scottrade"), a Delaware corporation. The transaction combined highly complementary franchises and added significant scale to our retail business with the addition of approximately 3.5million funded client accounts, extended our leadership in trading, and expanded the size of our branch network. For additional information regarding this acquisition, see Note 2 - Business Acquisition under Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. Client Offerings We deliver products and services aimed at providing a comprehensive, personalized experience for retail investors and traders, and independent RIAs. Our client offerings are described below: Trading and Investing Platforms • tdameritrade.com Web Platform is our core offering for self-directed retail investors and traders. We offer a broad array of tools and services, including alerts, screeners, conditional orders and free fundamental third- party research. Modules such as streaming news, stock events, and account balances allow clients to stay well informed. Free planning tools are also provided, such as Portfolio Planner to efficiently create a bundle of securities to trade, invest and rebalance and Retirement Planner to assess retirement needs. Social Signals is a trading resource that pulls insights from Twitter and compiles them in one place. A variety of third- party research supports clients in evaluating potential investments. Dividend Income Estimator allows clients to calculate and visualize estimated dividend income for their current holdings, watch list positions and specific securities . • thinkorswim ® is a downloadable desktop platform designed for advanced traders, featuring easy-to-use interfaces, elite-level trading and analytical tools for complex trading strategies. Clients who use thinkorswim trade a broad range of products including stock and stock options, index options, futures and futures options, foreign exchange and exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"). • TD Ameritrade Mobile allows on-the-go investors and traders to trade and monitor accounts from web- enabled mobile devices with features such as alerts, research, streaming market commentary and the ability to deposit a check directly from a smartphone or tablet. Through our mobile apps, clients can interact with our agents through chat messaging capabilities to service their accounts. Access is available through the TD Ameritrade Mobile App, the more advanced TD Ameritrade Mobile Trader App or via a mobile browser at the TD Ameritrade Mobile Site.