From the mouth of David Carroll, Wells Fargo wants to grow their bank-branch division: Full article here: [url=http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2010/03/report_wells_fargo_could_hire_10000_more_advisers.html?surround=lfn]http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2010/03/report_wells_fargo_could_hire_10000_more_advisers.html?surround=lfn[/url] Wells Fargo wants to drastically expand the number of wealth managers working in its branches. David Carroll, Wells' chief of wealth management, told Reuters in an exclusive interview that the bank would like to add 10,000 more advisers to its roster over time.Most of those people would be based in bank branches. [img]http://assets.bizjournals.com/cms_media/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2010/03/carroll.jpg?site=bizjournals.com[/img] David Carroll, Senior Executive Vice President for Wealth, Brokerage & Retirement Services at Wells Fargo From Reuters: Among the nearly 15,000 advisers employed by Well Fargo are 3,000 working inside Wells Fargo branches nationwide. Carroll said he's trying to grow the branch-based force as quickly as he can, constrained by the ability to find the right people.

"If I could double the number of people (in the branches), the market would support probably twice as many people as we have" in the branches now, Carroll said in an exclusive interview at his Charlotte, N.C., office. [url=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62429S20100305]Read the full report here.[/url] Carroll is the lone senior Wachovia executive still employed by the bank. At Wachovia, Carroll was president of Wachovia Securities. That unit has been rebranded Wells Fargo Advisors. Many observers thought Wells Fargo would slash the wealth-management and investment-banking operations at Wachovia when it acquired the Charlotte-based bank. However, Wells has signaled it intends to grow the operation with moves like Carroll's comments this week.