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February 15, 2023 at 02:30 PM
What You Need to Know
- The reorganization of Wells Fargo Advisors down to four geographic divisions became effective immediately.
- Reorganizations like this tend to work because fewer salaries translate to corporate savings, according to Danny Sarch, president of Leitner Sarch Consultants.
- But Sarch said this could also increase the response time to fix problems for advisors, leading to departures and lost revenue.
Wells Fargo Advisors is “streamlining” its field leadership into four primary U.S. geographic divisions in a move that Sol Gindi, WFA head, said Tuesday would provide more consistent results for the company, help it grow, and provide better service for clients.
WFA had seven divisions prior to this reorganization, which became effective immediately, Wells Fargo said Wednesday.
The changes didn’t surprise Danny Sarch, president of Leitner Sarch Consultants, who told ThinkAdvisor Wednesday: “Wirehouses reorg almost every year. The trend for many years has been where more advisors report up to fewer managers in order to save money.”
He added: “That works [because] fewer salaries mean corporate savings, but inevitably you also increase the response time to fix problems for your advisors, ultimately leading to departures and lost revenue.”
As Gindi “traveled to each division and more than 100 branches last year,” he said, he was “impressed with the breadth of talent, experience, and expertise across the company.” He also saw a “tremendous growth opportunity ahead of us,” he said in a statement.
“What I see clearly is that executing with more consistency across the country will power our growth and deliver the best experience for our clients,” he said. The four divisional leaders selected “have my utmost confidence,” he noted.
WFA clients “value our strong local presence in their communities,” he went on to say. “We have a talented group of leaders in our markets and branches and empower them to deliver all of Wells Fargo to our clients. We will continue to ensure that markets with the largest opportunities have strong leaders.”
As part of the reorganization, Dave Altshuler, who has been with the company 28 years, is remaining western divisional leader and that division overall remains as is, according to Wells Fargo.
