Its well understood that wealth management recruiting is white-hot. White. Hot. It’s a seller’s market as even middling advisors and teams are in a position of strength, commanding premiums on stated deals in the wirehouse space.
So what to make of Wells Fargo’s position? It’s simple really, no matter what they’ve tried (apologies, congressional appearances, new CEO, and executive leadership) the narrative is largely negative. Advisors have nearly zero interest in Wells Fargo as a destination. That’s not an exaggeration, it’s an ‘on the ground’ fact.
Advisors’ current view of the firm is a fallback at best, and a ‘no chance I’d consider them’ at worst.
A year ago it looked like Wells Fargo may have been turning the corner, and then… the newly minted CEO made a boneheaded comment about diversity on a conference call. In today’s corporate environment, that was an epic mistake. Any momentum that may have been building died right there.
Wells has been attempting to employ the ‘money talks and bullshit walks’ approach to recruiting, effectively offering the largest deal on the street. It hasn’t mattered.
Will Wells Fargo eventually make it back to being a meaningful player in the wealth management recruiting landscape? Maybe, but it’s far from certain.
