Wells Fargo Advisors Cuts Divisions to 4 From 7

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.

Meanwhile, Alberto Gonzalez Saint Geours, who has been with Wells Fargo 11 years, is remaining southwest divisional leader and that division overall is remaining as is. The division stretches from Florida to North Carolina.

Mike Carroll, who has been with the firm 35 years, is remaining northeast divisional leader but that division has expanded to include what was previously the eastern division led by Rich Getzoff.

And Heather Hunt-Ruddy, who has been with Wells Fargo 26 years, will lead the new central division. She previously served as head of national sales, a role the firm said will be “backfilled.”

The new central region includes the previous northern division that was led by Susan Mayo, the midwestern division led by Kent Caldwell-Meeks, and the southern division led by Joel Glasco.

Wells Fargo said Caldwell-Meeks, Getzoff, Glasco and Mayo remain with the company but didn’t specify what roles they will have.

WFA managed $1.6 trillion in client assets as of Sept. 30, it said.

In another initiative intended to narrow the structure of its wealth management businesses, Wells Fargo said in March 2021 that it was reducing the number of its private client group regions from 12 to eight.

(Image: Bloomberg)