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October 14, 2020 at 04:34 PM
Photo: Dennizn/Shutterstock
Several hundred advisors have been included in recent layoffs at Wells Fargo, which started in August, the bank said Wednesday.
In its third-quarter financial report, Wells Fargo said it ended the period with 12,908 financial advisors, down 815, or 6%, from a year ago and 391, or 3%, from the prior quarter.
“While this change [from the prior quarter] represents retirements and some natural advisor attrition, it also includes the displacement of a sizable group of salary/bonus advisors as a result of the company’s work to become as efficient as we can,” according to a spokesperson.
“Wells Fargo has been transparent that we expect to reduce the size of our workforce through a combination of attrition, the elimination of open roles, and job displacements,” it explained.
Wells Fargo Advisors’ current headcount is down by 2,178 advisors, or 14%, from Sept. 30, 2016, when news of its fake-accounts scandal broke widely.
‘Displaced’ Advisors
As for whether or not some of the “displaced” advisors were employed by the bank as financial relationship advisors, as reported by InvestmentNews, Wells Fargo would not confirm that information and noted that it had not requested that it be corrected.
These advisors generally are new to the business and work with clients with lower asset levels. There were roughly 625 FRAs at Wells Fargo last year.
