Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to sell its $10 billion private student loan book to a group including Apollo Global Management Inc. and Blackstone Group Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
Wells Fargo said in a statement late Friday that it had agreed to the sale, without identifying the investors or disclosing terms. Apollo and Blackstone were the purchasers, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.
Representatives for Apollo and Blackstone declined to comment. A representative for Wells Fargo declined to comment beyond the statement.
The portfolio will be serviced by Nelnet Inc., according to the statement. The loans have an average FICO score of 768 and rank as high quality, a person with knowledge of the portfolio said earlier this month.
Wells Fargo has been in talks to pare back certain businesses as Chief Executive Charlie Scharf, who took over late last year, prepares to lay out his vision for the beleaguered lender. In his time atop the firm, Scharf has been conducting business reviews and promised a simpler structure focusing on key units. He told analysts in October that Wells Fargo will “continue to exit some things which aren’t core to the U.S. banking franchise.”
Wells Fargo has also been exploring selling its $607 billion asset manager, as well as its corporate trust and private-label credit cards businesses, Bloomberg has reported. The lender was expected to receive second-round bids for its asset management arm on Friday, Dow Jones reported.
Wells Fargo notified customers in September that it would exit the private student loan business. It will accept new applications from existing private student loan borrowers until late January, according to the statement. The principal balance of the student loan portfolio was $10 billion at the end of September, it said.
InvestmentNews reported in 2017 that the IRS was scrutinizing the tax shelter land deals, called syndication conservation easements.
Advisors gain a second workflow for 401(k) guidance as the fintech expands beyond bulk rebalancing, backed by new policy research on advice access.
New data shows most people do not have enough saved to cover costs and are not fully utilizing their accounts.
Firms announce new recruits this week, with teams overseeing hundreds of millions in client assets switching affiliations.
It’s the 12th deal for Stratos since SEI's investment and follows 11 acquisitions worth $4.8B in 2025.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
