Wells Fargo Advisors may be having a broker retention problem, but in the last few months it quietly recruited some brokers with sizable practices from UBS Financial Services.
Wells did not publicize the moves, which include the head of UBS’s Palo Alto, Calif., branch. The low profile may reflect the firm’s interest in keeping out of headlines that call attention to its recruiting and revenue-producing strategies. It also may be reluctant to stir up UBS, which pulled out of the Protocol for Broker Recruiting in December and subsequently attempted to restrict some departing brokers from contacting their former clients.
The former Palo Alto manager who joined a Wells Advisors’ private client group branch in Los Angeles on April 6 is Susanna Kim Bracke, according to her BrokerCheck history and her new Wells web page. In addition to her management role, Bracke had been overseeing $217 million in client assets, according to a Forbes 2018 ranking of the “Best in State” brokers, which listed her at 117 of list of 118 advisors in California. (read more)