Wells Fargo on the prowl for wealth management buys

Wells Fargo & Co. may expand by taking over non-bank companies, including wealth-management or insurance businesses, Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf said. The U.S. limit on any single bank taking on more than 10 percent of the nation's deposits may prevent San Francisco-based Wells Fargo from acquiring more lenders, though regulators may grant exceptions for distressed banks, Stumpf, 57, said today at a conference sponsored by Citigroup Inc. Brokerage and retirement-services companies may be additional candidates for takeovers or internal expansion, Stumpf said. “Insurance would be another area that we like a lot,” he said. Wells Fargo has $848 billion in deposits, ranking it fourth behind Bank of America Corp. with $1.01 trillion, JPMorgan Chase & Co. with $930.4 billion and Citigroup Inc. with $881.1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Wells Fargo is “very close” to the 10 percent deposit limit, Stumpf said. Wells Fargo agreed to purchase Charlotte, North Carolina- based Wachovia Corp. for $12.7 billion in 2008, adding $448 billion in deposits and $812 billion in assets. Integration costs totaled $1.9 billion in 2010 and $1.1 billion in 2009, according to Wells Fargo's annual report. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shuttered 23 banks this year, 157 in 2010 and 140 in 2009, according to the regulator's website. --Bloomberg