Wells Fargo unveils post-merger management

The company laid out top management appointments for its expanded brokerage businesses following its merger earlier this month with Wachovia Corp.

In an internal memo Tuesday, Wells Fargo & Co. laid out top management appointments for its expanded brokerage businesses following its merger earlier this month with Wachovia Corp.
Executives of Wachovia, the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank company whose loan problems forced its merger with San Francisco-based Wells, remain in control of two of the three main brokerage channels. Several brokers, however, said they remain concerned since Wells has not yet offered retention packages or even settled on a name for the combined businesses.
Jim Hays, president of Wachovia Securities’ branch system, or private-client group, retains the title, with his colleagues John Parker and Mary Atkin remaining, respectively, heads of operations and technology (business services), and chief administrative officer.
In a shift, Kent Christian — who was president of Wachovia’s sprawling independent-brokerage group, which also includes its Latin American branches, its First Clearing correspondent services businesses and its investor resource team serving clients with less than $250,000 of assets — now runs product sales and development, known as the financial services group.
Mr. Christian’s former universe has been handed to Wachovia’s Brand Meyer, and it’s gotten larger since Wells Fargo’s H.D. Vest Financial Services unit of about 5,400 certified public accountants, who also are registered representatives, will “align organizationally” with Wachovia’s Financial Network (FiNet) of independent brokers. For the time being, John Peluso remains president of FiNet, and Roger Ochs president of H.D. Vest, although bank officials said more announcements in several areas of the brokerage universe under Christian will be made soon.
Danny Ludeman, president and chief executive of St. Louis-based Wachovia Securities LLC, will keep the title, with executives of two of the three brokerage channels reporting to him.
The greatest area of brokerage overlap in the merger is in services offered within bank branches, and Wells is putting its stamp on the area.
Chuck Daggs will lead the in-bank units that are currently known as Wells Fargo Investments LLC at Wells and as Investment Services Group at Wachovia. (Mr. Daggs also continues to run Well’s high-net-worth banking businesses in the Western U.S., and Wachovia’s Stan Gregor runs that area in the Eastern U.S. However, another memo issued Tuesday said that Mary Mack, head of Wachovia’s Eastern in-bank brokerage operations, will report to Mr. Daggs as will Lincoln Yersin, a Wells executive who will head Western in-bank brokerage operations.)
Other personnel changes include the following:
Dean Junkans, currently chief investment officer for the Wells Fargo Wealth Management Group, will continue in that role at the combined organization.
Dave Coffaro, chief fiduciary officer for Wells Fargo Wealth Management Group, will continue that role and lead the combined Wealth Advisory, Estate Planning and Trust businesses.
Morrison Creech, head of Wachovia Wealth Management Private Banking, will lead private banking sales for the combined organization.
Carmie Saldana, head of national sales for Wells Fargo Private Bank, will lead sales development for the high net worth segment in the combined group.
Clyde Ostler was named president of Family Office Services. Reporting to him are Susan Mucciarone, who was managing executive of Wachovia’s Calibre family wealth business, and Michael Cole, national director of Wells Fargo’s Family Wealth Group.
A veteran Wachovia Securities broker said Wells is likely to devote much of its brokerage budget to the in-bank operations at the expense of the free-standing brokerage branches.
The in-bank units have richer profit margins, in part because private-client-group brokers generally earn much more than their brethren working within bank branches.
The spokeswoman said the new structure allows the legacy Wachovia businesses to “leverage synergies among Wells Fargo’s businesses while respecting distinctions among those businesses.”
The bank brokerage, which will align more closely with the Wells Fargo wealth, brokerage and retirement services model, will “operate as an integral part of our unique multichannel business model and will continue to use the support infrastructure for our brokerage firm,” she wrote in an e-mail.
Many Wachovia brokers, including those absorbed when the bank bought St. Louis-based A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in 2007 for $6.8 billion, said they fear that Wells will be stingy with retention bonuses because it does not want to draw attention to lavish pay packages after accepting $25 billion from the U.S. government late last year as part of the Department of the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. Some people said that Wells has already dramatically reduced fourth-quarter and annual bonuses for top executives and staff of the former Wachovia brokerage businesses, most of whom are based in St. Louis.
Wells purchased Wachovia in late December for $12.7 billion, outbidding Citigroup Inc. of New York and wil become the nation’s third-largest bank company by assets. On a pro forma basis, the combined brokerage units rank as the second-largest securities firm in the United States, with more than 20,000 financial advisers and licensed financial specialists.
A Wells spokeswoman declined comment about retention packages, saying that nothing has been announced. She also declined to comment on rumors that the broker-dealer will be known as Wells Securities.