Strategy
Wells Fargo Aims At Big Wealth Advisor Recruitment Target - Executive

Wells Fargo & Co, the US bank swelled by its acquisition over a year ago of Wachovia, has a long-term goal of adding 10,000 advisors in its wealth management unit over time and plans to aggressively expand the number of brokers working out of the bank's retail branches, Reuters reported.
David Carroll, a Wells Fargo senior executive vice president overseeing wealth management, told the news service that the company's bank branches are a key part of expanding the firm's $1.1 trillion in client assets.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the head of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management’s Jacksonville office in Florida has quit the firm, and is in advanced talks with Wells Fargo Advisors on becoming its New York market area manager.
Among the nearly 15,000 advisors employed by Well Fargo 3,000 are working inside Wells Fargo branches nationwide. Mr Carroll was quoted saying that he is trying to grow the branch-based force as quickly as possible.
"If I could double the number of people (in the branches), the market would support probably twice as many people as we have" in the branches now, Mr Carroll said.
The brokers-at-banks model has historically been viewed by the industry as akin to mixing oil with water, but Mr Carroll insists the model does work - though it takes years to fully implement. "It takes a while to build a culture where they come together," Mr Carroll said.
In February, Wells Fargo said it planned to hire 1,400 advisors this year through a mix of recruiting and training.