Wells Fargo & Co. on Wednesday said it had tapped a former JPMorgan Chase executive to lead its wealth and investment management group, dubbed internally as WIM, which includes its more than 13,000 advisers and registered reps.
The executive, Barry Sommers, will officially start on Monday, June 22. He will report to the bank's CEO, Charlie Scharf, according to a statement from the company.
The bank had been searching for a new head of its wealth and investment management group since February, when it promoted the group's former chief, Jon Weiss, to CEO of corporate and investment banking.
Until April 2019, Sommers was CEO of Wealth Management at JPMorgan Chase, where he was responsible for its private bank and brokerage businesses. Sommers also served as CEO of the Consumer Bank, where he managed the bank branch network.
Many advisers at Wells Fargo have been under a cloud since 2016; that’s when Wells Fargo & Co., the parent of Wells Fargo Advisors, reported that bank employees had secretly created millions of unauthorized accounts in the names of customers without their consent. The bank was fined $185 million and then-CEO John Stumpf resigned. Myriad bank-related scandals followed.
Wells Fargo Advisors’ head count continued to drop at the end of last year, with the firm reporting 13,512 financial advisers at the end of December, a drop of 456 — or 3.3% — over the twelve months of 2019.
Most firms place a limit on advisors’ sales of alternative investments to clients in the neighborhood of 10% a customer’s net worth.
Those jumping ship include women advisors and breakaways.
Firms in New York and Arizona are the latest additions to the mega-RIA.
The agent, Todd Bernstein, 67, has been charged with four counts of insurance fraud linked to allegedly switching clients from one set of annuities to another.
“While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the State,” Justice Peter Moulton wrote, while Trump will face limits in his ability to do business in New York.
Orion's Tom Wilson on delivering coordinated, high-touch service in a world where returns alone no longer set you apart.
Barely a decade old, registered index-linked annuities have quickly surged in popularity, thanks to their unique blend of protection and growth potential—an appealing option for investors looking to chart a steadier course through today's choppy market waters, says Myles Lambert, Brighthouse Financial.
