Company History and Timeline

Rodger Riney drives his 1970 Chevy Corvette 1,500 miles from St. Louis to Scottsdale, Ariz., where he and a partner form Scottsdale Securities. After receiving clearance from the government, they open for business on May 1 – five years after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deregulated fixed brokerage trading fees.

Rodger moves back to St. Louis and opens the second Scottsdale Securities branch.

Rodger buys out his partner and maintains the company name, Scottsdale Securities. He moves the company’s headquarters to St. Louis County, and reduces commissions to prices unheard of at the time.

Scottsdale Securities now employs 16 associates in six branch offices in St. Louis; Phoenix; Pittsburgh; Dayton, Ohio; Springfield, Mo.; and Southfield, Mich.

Scottsdale Securities’ revenue steadily climbs. There are now 15 branch offices across the country.

Inc. magazine lists Scottsdale Securities as one of the 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.

Scottrade.com launches, making Scottsdale Securities one of the first investing companies to offer online trading. The name Scottrade is chosen, because Scottsdale.com was already taken, and Scottrade seemed like the perfect combination.

 

The Internet enables investors to be less reliant on full-service brokers by providing a way for them to execute trades online. The volume allows Scottsdale Securities to set a new $7 price for online trades* – making it one of the lowest trade commissions in the industry.

^{*Online market and limit stock trades are just $7 for stocks priced $1 and above.}

 

The company changes it's name from Scottsdale Securities to Scottrade Inc. to reflect the name of its website. Also this year, Scottrade begins its internship program.

J.D. Power and Associates names Scottrade “Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Trading Services” for the first time. This award helps boost the growth of the company. In addition, Scottrade establishes an Asia Pacific Department and begins offering Chinese-speaking services.

Scottrade earns the ranking of “Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Trading Services” by J.D. Power and Associates for the second consecutive time.

Scottrade launches a Chinese-language online trading site. In addition, J.D. Power and Associates recognizes the company again and the associate count exceeds 1,000.

Corporate headquarters relocates to a new building in St. Louis and Scottrade’s 200^th branch office opens. The investing company also launches a new trading platform called, ScottradeELITE^®, for active traders, and it receives its fifth consecutive honor from J.D. Power and Associates. 

For the company’s 25th anniversary, Scottrade associates restore Rodger Riney’s treasured Corvette, which he drove to Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1980. The company also receives its sixth honor from J.D. Power and Associates and begins offering low-cost institutional trading and a custodial services platform for registered investment advisors (RIAs) through Scottrade^® Advisor Services.

Scottrade becomes the primary sponsor of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) St. Louis Blues and their home arena, “Scottrade Center.” Rodger Riney rings the NASDAQ closing bell in recognition of a partnership to offer NASDAQ TotalView^® quotes to Scottrade clients.

With 306 branch offices, Scottrade becomes the online investing company with the largest branch network, and forms Scottrade Financial Services Inc. In addition, the company receives its seventh recognition by J.D. Power and Associates, and it adds a new Quotes and Research section within the Scottrade^® Trading Website to help individual investors and traders make smarter and faster decisions.

Scottrade opens 75 branch offices and hires nearly 1,000 associates, bringing its total to more than 2,700 associates. The growth is one of the reasons FORTUNE magazine names Scottrade on its “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. In addition, the company ranks Highest in Investor Satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates for an eighth time, and it launches a new comprehensive online education center, the Scottrade^® Online Community, and branch seminar program to help clients learn about trading and investing. The company also establishes Scottrade Bank^® and implements a Bank Deposit Program.

Scottrade launches Scottrade^® Mobile (m.scottrade.com) and expands its offerings to more than 14,500 funds, which places Scottrade among the top mutual fund providers in the industry. The company opens its 400^th branch office and FORTUNE magazine recognizes Scottrade again on its list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

Celebrating its 30^th anniversary, Scottrade reaches another milestone: 500 branch offices. It also launches a company blog on its media site and for the third consecutive year, FORTUNE magazine names the company a “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

Scottrade releases a comprehensive Scottrade^® Mobile app, allowing clients to research, trade and manage their accounts from virtually anywhere on their smartphone. In addition, the company introduces retail online banking services to brokerage clients through Scottrade Bank^®.

FORTUNE magazine names Scottrade as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” for the fifth consecutive year. In addition, Scottrade^® Advisor Services surpasses 1,100 advisory firms in its client base.