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Wells Fargo's Wealth, Investment Boss Gets New Role In Shakeup
Tom Burroughes
12 February 2020
Wells Fargo is hunting for a new wealth and investment management head after moving John Weiss to be chief executive of its corporate and investing banking business, part of a reorganization driven by CEO Charles Scharf. The change is the first major change Scharf has made since taking the helm last year. Separately, the company is creating a new strategy, digital platform and innovation group, reporting to Scharf and responsible for corporate strategy and its digital and innovation teams.
The WIM business includes Wells Fargo Advisors, The Private Bank, Abbot Downing, and Wells Fargo Asset Management.
The CIB segment of the bank had previously been part of wholesale banking, but it is now a separate part of the group.
“The creation of a separate business line for CIB, which focuses on supporting the capital markets, banking, and investment needs of Wells Fargo’s corporate, government, and institutional clients, recognizes the successful franchise the company has today and opportunities to serve the needs of clients more broadly,” Wells Fargo said yesterday in a statement. The bank said that its commercial real estate business will become a part of CIB. Weiss also oversees Wells Fargo’s international client businesses and their operations.
The bank said it will carry out a search for a new wealth and investment management head - Weiss continues to serve in that role on an interim basis until a new leader is named.
The new structure increases the bank’s business lines to five from three and resembles that of JP Morgan. Scharf was mentored by CEO Jamie Dimon earlier in his career .
Mary Mack, who most recently led consumer banking, becomes CEO of consumer and small business banking, responsible for branch banking and small businesses, which includes the company’s 5,400 branches delivering a full range of deposit, lending, investment, and payment products. Mack takes on additional responsibilities for deposits and a newly-established digital team focused on acquiring and servicing new customers through digital channels.
Perry Pelos, who most recently led wholesale banking, transitions to a new role as CEO of commercial banking, with both relationship and product responsibilities in serving businesses with annual sales generally in excess of $5 million. In this new role, Pelos is responsible for commercial capital, treasury management, business banking, middle market banking, and government and institutional banking.
Battling back
The banking group is recovering from a scandal in which some of its staff engaged in fraudulent sales practices, including opening sham deposit and credit card accounts. The affair has spawned a round of litigation costs.
In mid-January, the bank reported that the wealth and investment management arm of Wells Fargo, which includes the Abbot Downing business that serves ultra-high net worth clients, sustained a drop in this segment’s net income in the fourth quarter of 2019 from the previous quarter and a year ago, with higher costs taking a toll.
Across the wealth and investment management arm as a whole, total client assets stood at $1.9 trillion, up by 10 per cent from a year ago.