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Wells Fargo Cuts 320 Brokerage Jobs in Virginia: Report

By Janet Levaux

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A Wells Fargo branch in New York. (Photo: Bloomberg) A Wells Fargo branch in New York. (Photo: Bloomberg)

Wells Fargo is letting go some 320 employees from its Wealth and Investment Management operations near Richmond, Virginia, according to a report in the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

The roles are expected to be shifted to an office in Minneapolis and to St. Louis, where Wells Fargo Advisors is based, according to a spokesperson. The affected employees may be able to keep their positions by relocating.

“We are simplifying the way we do business. As a result, we are moving some WIM roles out of Richmond, VA, to our larger locations. We are committed to retaining as many employees as possible and will assist with the transition,” the bank said in a statement.

The number of staff in the Wealth and Investment Management unit was 29,515 as of Dec. 31, 2020 — which is down by 1,303, or about 4% — from the prior year. And across the bank, some 6,400 jobs were eliminated in the fourth quarter, according to Bloomberg.

Wells Fargo total expenses should total about $53 billion this year, excluding restructuring charges and the bank’s moves to sell or terminate some businesses, such as asset management. These costs were $54 billion, excluding customer-remediation and restructuring charges, in 2020.

CEO Charles Scharf, who was hired in late 2019, has pledged to trim some $10 billion off the bank’s yearly expenses. His compensation fell 12% in 2020, according to a recent regulatory filing, to $20.3 million.

For for the full year 2020, Wells Fargo’s net revenues declined 15% from 2019 to $72.34 billion. Net income dropped 83% to $3.30 billion, while earnings per share fell 90% to $0.41.

As of the fourth quarter, Wells Fargo’s headcount of both financial  and wealth advisors stood at 13,513 — versus 14,414 a year ago and 13,793 in the prior quarter.

In its third-quarter financial report, Wells Fargo reported that it had 12,908 financial advisors, down 815, or 6%, from a year ago and 391, or 3%, from the prior quarter.

 See: Wells Fargo Close to Selling Asset Management Business

Janet Levaux

@Think_JanetL

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