Why are senior JPMorgan execs ‘jumping’ to Wells Fargo?
Just as it has targeted senior executives from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to lead its revamped wealth management business, Wells Fargo & Co. is turning to JPMorgan to fill out the top spots in its investment banking group, which is smaller than competitors.
Earlier this week, Wells Fargo said it had tapped Fernando Rivas to be co-CEO of corporate & investment banking, reporting to CEO Charlie Scharf. Rivas joins Wells Fargo after a nearly 30-year career at JPMorgan Chase. Most recently, he was the bank’s head of North American investment banking.
Investment banking and wealth management, of course, are widely different business. The former focuses on corporate mergers and acquisitions and finance while the latter targets the mass affluent marketplace, or the growing number of households in the United States with $1 million or more to invest.
But there can be significant overlap between the two. Both groups chase wealthy business owners as clients, and snaring such customers can turn into lucrative relationships, benefiting both financial advisors as wells as investment bankers at large firms like Wells Fargo. And investment bankers often move from firm to firm seeking better compensation.
“When big firms hire good people at those top levels and move strategic type executives into the firm, they get a wealth of information and experience,” said Simon Hoyle, an industry recruiter.
“It says something about these senior people from JPMorgan,” said one senior industry executive who asked to speak privately. “Why are they all jumping to Wells Fargo?”
Wells Fargo is replete with old JPMorgan senior executives.
In 2020, Wells Fargo hired Barry Sommers from JPMorgan to lead its Wealth and Investment Management group, known
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