Will Wells Fargo Step Up and Lead?

Andrew Parish at AdvisorHUB relays the following:

Multiple sources inside of Wells Fargo were in touch with AdvisorHUB over the weekend describing internal discussions to adopt the fiduciary standard throughout their wealth management operations. These sources say that the pressure being applied by advisors within the firm and in the media are making a serious dent in the way that leadership is viewing the issue. Principally, to be the first and possibly only wirehouse to voluntarily adopt the measure could play a key role in the growth of the firm and recruiting. Our sources on this are deep within the firm and very close to leadership.

This would be a dramatic change in business model for Wells, which also encompasses legacy Wachovia broker/advisors. It would be a brilliant stroke of PR and a great concept to build a marketing campaign around.

The end of transactional, conflicted business between The Street and Main Street is just a matter of when, not if. Wells could lead this transition from a position of strength.

It would make so much sense for it to be them. For starters, the company’s origins are far from New York’s traditional brokerage base in the Financial District. It’s a West Coast-based neighbor of the iconic Charles Schwab brokerage and advisory firm, after all, not a Wall Street investment bank, traditionally.

In addition, its largest public shareholder is none other than Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, who professes his love of the franchise every chance he gets. What a coup if he could somehow be involved with an announcement like this on press day. No one talks with more authority about the problems with investor costs save for Jack Bogle.

To hear more about these alleged talks happening internally at Wells, check out Andrew’s post here:

EXCLUSIVE: Wells Fargo Advisors ‘Considering Fiduciary Standard Adoption’ (AdvisorHUB)