A number of the old guard of senior managers in the wealth management business at Wells Fargo & Co. have been leaving over the past couple years. At least one, Jack Ginter, has rapidly built a substantial new enterprise over that time.
Ginter was the president of Abbot Downing, Wells Fargo's elite private bank for its richest clients, until he left in September 2021. Six months later, the giant bank said it was dropping the Abbot Downing name for managing ultra-rich clients’ money as Wealth & Investment Management head Barry Sommers overhauled the wealth management business.
Under CEO Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargo has streamlined units, including Wealth & Investment Management, and exited nonessential operations as part of an effort to move the bank past years of scandals.
The bank's streamlining has resulted in management shakeups, including Ginter. His new registered investment advisor firm, Callan Family Office, based in suburban Philadelphia, opened in February 2022 and already has $3.5 billion in client assets.
Ginter was traveling on Monday and could not be reached to comment, according to a spokesperson for Callan Family Office. A spokesperson for Wells Fargo declined to comment when asked about Ginter's new firm.
Seven of the individual partners at the firm listed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission formerly worked at Abbot Downing, according to those executives' LinkedIn profiles.
A number of former Wells Fargo wealth management senior executives are working on second or third acts in the financial advice industry. InvestmentNews reported last week that a group of senior executives from Wells Fargo Advisors, led by former head David Kowach, have a $40 million war chest and plan to embrace a registered investment advisor aggregator and roll-up strategy.
Industry observers noted that private banks and family offices like Callan and the defunct Abbot Downing only work with the richest and most profitable clients, who carry accounts with tens of millions of dollars of assets with them through the door. Mainstream wealth managers, like the financial advisors at Wells Fargo Advisors, target far less elite clients, or those with a minimum of $500,000 to $1 million in assets.
"There’s seemingly been a lot of movement from the old Abbot Downing side of Wells Fargo," said one industry executive, who asked not to be identified. "But across the board, we’re seeing more private bankers leave a variety of firms, which in the past was difficult. There's always been the issue of the portability of client assets, and the long waits of garden leave have meant private bank advisors have to sit on the sidelines."
The move to charge data aggregators fees totaling hundreds of millions of dollars threatens to upend business models across the industry.
The latest snapshot report reveals large firms overwhelmingly account for branches and registrants as trend of net exits from FINRA continues.
Siding with the primary contact in a marriage might make sense at first, but having both parties' interests at heart could open a better way forward.
With more than $13 billion in assets, American Portfolios Advisors closed last October.
Robert D. Kendall brings decades of experience, including roles at DWS Americas and a former investment unit within Morgan Stanley, as he steps into a global leadership position.
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.
