Backing away from a move it announced at the end of last month, Wells Fargo Advisors has said it will suspend plans to impose a maximum $300 account fee on more clients.
Currently, Wells Fargo Advisors households can avoid the fee if they have $250,000 or more in retail brokerage assets. Wells Fargo Advisors intended to raise the minimum and charge the account fee to households with $500,000 and less in retail brokerage assets.
Expanding the households that could be charged the extra fee was unpopular with some of the firm’s reps and advisers.
“We have suspended the household waiver threshold, effective immediately,” company spokesperson Kim Yurkovich wrote in an email. "It’s the result of the current environment and the desire to best serve our clients."
The firm allows its 13,512 reps and financial advisers limited discretion on whether or not to charge the fee.
There is a maximum account fee of $300 per household, and most households have multiple accounts, company sources said. On certain account types, fees are waived, including advisory and college savings plans.
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