Wells Fargo to Replace Wealth Chief in Restructuring

Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf. (Photo: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg)

Four months into his new role, Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf is shaking up the bank structure, including a move to split its three business units into five. As a result, the Wealth & Investment Management unit — which includes Wells Fargo Advisors — will be getting a new chief.

Jon Weiss will continue to lead the unit in the interim, as he becomes CEO of Corporate & Investment Banking, previously part of the bank's Wholesale Banking unit. (The other part of the unit will become a commercial bank focused on back-end services.)

"The company will conduct a search for a new CEO of Wealth & Investment Management," the bank said in a statement. In addition to WFA, the unit encompasses The Private Bank, Abbot Downing and Wells Fargo Asset Management.

The bank's consumer operations are being broken up into one group that includes branches and small-business operations and another concerned with consumer lending (as had been the case prior to 2017). The heads of the five units are set to report directly to Scharf.

"I am confident that this organizational model and our strengthened risk and control foundation will bring greater focus and accountability to the company," according to the bank's CEO.

More Executive Shifts

Mike Weinbach, who most recently was CEO of Chase Home Lending at JPMorgan Chase, will become CEO of Consumer Lending, the bank said Tuesday. Late last year, another JPMorgan executive, Scott Powell, moved to Wells Fargo to become chief operating officer.

Mary Mack, who led the unit that included lending and community banking, will remain focused on the latter, while former wholesale banking chief Perry Pelos is set to be in charge of the commercial-banking business.

Wells Fargo's advisor headcount stands at some 13,500 vs. nearly 14,000 a year ago.

— Check out Wells Fargo's Frozen Bonuses Hurt Unintended Target on ThinkAdvisor.