Louis Diamond Quoted – By Barron’s – Wells Fargo Advisors experienced fewer advisor departures early this year than during the same period of 2017. This could signal its advisors are less worried by the parent company’s banking scandal or that Wells has figured out how to better retain advisors. One recruiter said Wells Fargo appears to have addressed the problem.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Bruce Kelly, InvestmentNews – Wells Fargo Advisors has slowed the bleeding of its financial advisers that began after September 2016. That’s when Wells Fargo & Co. revealed a scandal in its retail banking that resulted in the company being fined $185 million for opening accounts for a few million customers without their knowledge or approval — a public relations nightmare that also alienated some of the firm’s advisers. One recruiter said it looked like Wells Fargo had gotten its arms around the problem of watching valuable advisers walk out the door after the banking scandal.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Thomas Coyle, Financial Advisor IQ – One reason Wells Fargo Advisors, the securities arm of Wells Fargo & Company, remains in the Protocol for Broker Recruiting is it can rely on a sister enterprise – a vast and high-profile retail banking channel – to help it capture assets that aren’t covered by the agreement, sources say. For recruiter Louis Diamond, WFA’s link to a well-known, multi-branch consumer bank is why it can “afford” to stay in the protocol even as veteran advisors with large books of business break away to join or start independent firms in numbers enough — it’s generally thought — to offset net gains.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Brooke Southall, RIABiz – Like a belled Swiss cow in a china shop, UBS exited the Broker Protocol. But the leave-taking didn’t soften the heady impact of the act or provide the answer to a big question: What will Wells Fargo do?
Howard Diamond Quoted – By Bruce Kelly, InvestmentNews – It’s been almost a year since a banking scandal rocked Wells Fargo & Co., and its brokerage business has seen a steady stream of departures since, with InvestmentNews tracking 70 teams of advisers working with $19.2 billion in client assets leaving from last October through the end of June.
Howard Diamond Quoted – By Janice Kirkel, RIABiz – In a breakaway scenario with a number of stunning twists, an advisor team overseeing $1.7 billion of assets has bolted from a wirehouse — with its help. “Profit-Formula isn’t offered anymore by Wells Fargo, it’s been gone for years, but if it were still around it would be very popular,” says Howard Diamond, managing director and chief operating officer of Diamond Consultants, a financial services search and consulting firm in Morristown, N.J.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Hugh Son and Dakin Campbell, Bloomberg – Wells Fargo & Co. has made it easy for Credit Suisse Group AG private bankers to join the San Francisco-based lender. Leaving, however, is another story. One of the few advantages of a lengthier deal would be that bonus payments are spread over a longer period, lowering advisers’ taxes in any given year, said Mindy Diamond, president of Diamond Consultants LLC, a Morristown, New Jersey-based executive-search firm.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Dakin Campbell, Bloomberg – Wells Fargo & Co. struck a deal with Credit Suisse Group AG to smooth the recruitment of the Swiss lender’s private-bank employees as their firm retreats from managing wealth for U.S. clients. The incentive package to go elsewhere can be much larger but it’s easier to stay,” Diamond said. “As long as you believe that your life won’t change materially, you are inclined to stay put. Wells, as opposed to some lesser-known firm, has a better chance of retaining the brokers.”
Howard Diamond Quoted – By Maddy Perkins, OnWallStreet – Wells Fargo has been stepping up its recruitment game. The firm announced it recruited eight advisors who previously managed more than $1 billion in client assets.
