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Wells Fargo Wealth Divisions Report Dip in Client Assets, But Managed Accounts Up

Wells Fargo Wealth Divisions Report Dip in Client Assets, But Managed Accounts Up

Wells Fargo’s wealth, brokerage and retirement businesses reported higher net income on lower revenues for the second quarter of this year. Net income for the quartered totaled $343 million, up 2 percent from $337 million in the year ago quarter. Revenue for the quarter totaled $2.97 billion, down 4 percent versus the prior year’s $3.1 billion.

The bank’s retail brokerage division posted strong deposit growth, with average balances up $12 billion, or 14 percent, from the prior year. Client assets in the brokerage business were down 2 percent versus the prior year to $1.2 trillion, but managed account assets rose $18 billion, or 7 percent, versus the prior year’s quarters, driven by strong net client asset flows.

In the wealth management business, client assets of $197 billion were down $8 billion, or 4 percent, from the prior year’s quarter.

Retirement plan assets of $250 billion were up $3 billion or 1 percent from the second quarter in 2011, and IRA assets of $282 billion were down 1 percent versus the prior year.

Wells Fargo attributed the decline in revenues for the quarter to the impact of equity market drops on deferred compensation plan investment results. All other revenue was up 1 percent, according to the firm, on higher-asset-based fees, which were partly offset by lower brokerage transaction revenues.

The firm offered few additional details about its wealth businesses in its quarterly report, but I’m waiting to see if they will provide Wealthmanagement.com with information about FA headcounts, average revenues per advisor, and a breakdown of the independent versus full-service platforms: Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network (FiNet) and Wells Fargo Advisors.

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