Wells Fargo Advisors sees another senior manager leave

John Alexander, head of the divisional network at Wells Fargo Advisors and second to James Hays, head of Wells Fargo Advisors, is retiring, the firm said in an internal memo Tuesday.

Alexander is the second senior manager with two decades at the firm to leave Wells Fargo Advisors in recent months; Keith Vanderveen, one of eight regional divisional leaders, retired at the end of last year.

Alexander is not being replaced, Wells Fargo said in the memo. Instead, the firm is streamlining its management and the eight regional leaders who reported to Alexander will now report directly to Hays. Vanderveen was in charge of the Southeast division, which is now led by Alberto Gonzales Saint Geours. Wells Fargo Advisors is currently searching for one more head, for the Southern region.

Alexander is retiring as a result of broad organizational changes at Wells Fargo Advisors, Hays noted in the memo. Wells Fargo & Co. and its assorted business lines, including wealth management, have been under intense pressure since revelations in 2016 that Wells Fargo bank employees had secretly created millions of unauthorized accounts in the names of customers without their consent.

"We’ve been fortunate to have John supporting the success of Wells Fargo Advisors for the past 24 years," Hays wrote in the memo. "He has been a respected leader who designed and implemented strategies to help boost financial adviser productivity and improve operating results — all through various periods of significant change at the company."

After the recent consolidation of its private bank and other operations, Wells Fargo Advisors reported last month that its network of 12,367 financial advisers could face further reorganization in 2022.