Rising star in wealth management? Wells Fargo crew hitches wagon to U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest U.S. lender by deposits, said its wealth-management group is establishing a program to help ultra-high-net-worth clients build legacies and control the impact of money on their families. The initiative, called Ascent Private Capital Management, will help clients focus on wealth-transfer goals rather than only wealth accumulation, the Minneapolis-based company said today in a statement. Among services, the unit will assist with family governance and risk management, multigenerational wealth planning and education. “U.S. Bank will provide clients with the guidance and tools they need to help them positively impact the world and establish their legacy,” Michael Cole, president of the company's ultra-high-net-worth business, said today in the statement. He will run the program. The company, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis, 53, is seeking to build its wealth management and securities business, which last year contributed the smallest share of revenue among the bank's four main divisions. It hired Cole, who previously worked at Wells Fargo & Co., in July for the newly created position overseeing ultra-high-net-worth clients. U.S. Bancorp is looking to add 70 to 80 employees during the next 12 months for the initiative, Cole said today in a phone interview. In March, the firm hired Daniel Rauchle as head of investment management and Scott Winget as senior managing director of wealth planning for the ultra-high-net-worth group, which the bank defines as holding a minimum of $25 million of investable assets. Rauchle and Winget also had worked at Wells Fargo. --Bloomberg News--