Two veteran Wells Fargo teams take $580M to Ameriprise and Janney

Two veteran Wells Fargo advisory teams, together managing $580 million in client assets, left the wirehouse this week — one for Ameriprise Financial, one for Janney Montgomery Scott, per InvestmentNews. The departures follow PWD's report two days ago that a $200 million Wells Fargo team had landed at Raymond James. Add these to a year in which billion-dollar practices from the same wirehouse have already gone to Carson Group, LPL Financial and &Partners.

Lee Winters III and Chris McClure, who worked from Wells Fargo Clearing Services in Columbia, South Carolina, brought about $160 million in assets to Ameriprise's branch channel. They said the decision came down to technology and advisory culture. Winters pointed to Ameriprise's integrated tools, from its client relationship management system to its client-facing capabilities, and to the firm's collaborative spirit. Client service associate Darragh James moved with them; they join under branch manager Tor Bennstrom and regional vice president Michael Rearden.

The second group gives Janney an instant office in Chicago's northern suburbs. Madura Private Wealth Group, which joined Wells Fargo from Credit Suisse in 2016, moved to Janney and will anchor a new office in Lake Forest, Illinois, expanding Janney's presence in the Greater Chicago market. Daniel Madura, the managing director and financial advisor who runs the group, has more than 30 years in the business; his practice spans investment strategy, retirement planning, estate and legacy planning, philanthropic giving, risk management and business succession planning. Ethan Madura, Denise Utes and Claudia Austin also made the move. Utes began her career at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1982; Austin's background is in municipal government and financial operations.

These are the latest in a line of Wells Fargo exits stretching back through the summer, according to InvestmentNews. Earlier this month, &Partners added a $1.8 billion team in Meridian, Mississippi. An $864 million team arrived in July. A $1.76 billion team in Hanover, New Hampshire, moved to Carson Group in July. Two other practices went to LPL Financial in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Sacramento, California. PWD reported Monday that Raymond James took a $200 million Wells Fargo team. The disclosed total already tops $5 billion before counting the two LPL practices, whose asset figures the coverage does not specify.

The geography is as telling as the dollar volume. Janney gets Lake Forest without building an office from scratch. Ameriprise gets a Columbia team that can pitch its platform to prospects Wells Fargo used to call its own. Carson, LPL and &Partners each picked up practices where they wanted density. The receiving firms are buying local references along with the assets. An advisor who moves once is the person a hesitant colleague calls six months later. The office Janney opened this week and the reporting lines Ameriprise assigned on Tuesday are the parts of the deal that keep producing.