Wells Fargo stops using Abbot Downing name for high-net-worth unit

Wells Fargo & Co. is dropping the Abbot Downing name for managing ultra-rich clients’ money as wealth and investment management head Barry Sommers remakes the unit.

The firm will move the business under the Wells Fargo Private Bank brand, according to a statement Thursday. The company previously combined Abbot Downing and the private bank, which serves clients with assets of more than $2.5 million, under one leader.

“The name may change but our commitment to the business, our clients and our advisers serving these clients is steadfast,” Sommers said in the statement. The business has “significant potential for growth, and we will continue to serve the specialized needs of our ultra-high-net-worth clients in the manner they have come to expect.”

[More: Abbot Downing launch to vault Wells Fargo into family office top four]

Under Chief Executive Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargo has been streamlining businesses and exiting nonessential operations as part of an effort to move the bank past years of scandals.

Last month, the bank agreed to sell its asset manager, a move that Sommers said at the time “will allow us to focus even more on growing our wealth and brokerage businesses.”

The decision to drop the Abbot Downing brand was reported earlier by the Charlotte Observer.

[More: More changes at Wells Fargo Advisors, this time to management]