Former Wells Fargo exec Brendan Krebs emerges at PNC

Brendan Krebs, the former head of advisor recruiting and leadership development at Wells Fargo, has quickly landed on his feet to join the leadership of another financial firm.

On Tuesday, PNC Investments officially welcomed Krebs as managing director to lead its wealth advisor team.

Based in Boston, Krebs will oversee advisors focused on helping mass-affluent clients achieve their financial goals. He will report to Richard Guerrini, president and CEO of PNC Investments.

“It is with great excitement and enthusiasm that I welcome Brendan to the PNCI team,” Guerrini said in a statement. “Brendan’s unique combination of advisory, recruiting and leadership experience will ensure the Wealth Advisor team within PNCI is exceptionally well-positioned to serve our current and new mass-affluent clients.”

Krebs’ appointment underscores PNC Investments’ focus on expanding its services to mass-affluent clients, which the firm identified as a major growth opportunity for its investment and banking businesses.

In his new role at PNC, Krebs will play a key role in the firm's organic and inorganic growth, leading efforts to enhance the wealth advisor team’s ability to deliver personalized advice and strengthen relationships with both existing and prospective clients.

With roughly a quarter-century of industry experience, Krebs began his career as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch before advancing to senior leadership roles at Fisher Investments, independent RIAs, and Wells Fargo.

Krebs' tenure at Wells Fargo, which began in 2015, was capped off with him being promoted to head of advisor recruiting. In that capacity, he was responsible for training and develop its fleet of advisors, which numbered in the thousands and spanned the country.

After holding that role for less than a year and overseeing various recruitment moves, including Wells Fargo's late September hiring of a $2 billion powerhouse team from JP Morgan in New York, he abruptly vacated the role and departed the firm earlier this month.

“PNCI has a tremendous reputation within the financial services industry for helping clients identify their financial objectives and execute on their financial plans,” Krebs said Tuesday. “Advisors are the backbone of PNCI’s business model, and I look forward to strategically building out our Wealth Advisor team so they can best serve both our current and future clients.”