Jon Weiss, the head of Wells Fargo’s wealth and investment management division, will be leaving the post to become the CEO of the corporate and investment banking division, the bank announced today, in one of a series of executive shifts. Weiss will serve as the interim head of the wealth and investment management unit, which includes Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, until a permanent replacement can be found.
“These changes create the right structure to build our businesses over the long term and increase our ability to successfully execute on our top priority, which is the risk, regulatory and control work,” said CEO Charles Scharf, in a statement. “I am confident that this organizational model and our strengthened risk and control foundation will bring greater focus and accountability to the company.”
As head of Wells Fargo’s wealth and investment management division, Weiss oversaw a number of shifts in personnel and structure. In November 2018, Jay Welker, the head of Wells Fargo’s wealth management division and private bank, announced his plan to retire in March 2019. Under Weiss and Welker’s tenure, the wealth and investment management division had attracted scrutiny from media and lawmakers, with the bank announcing earlier in 2018 that federal regulators were investigating Welker’s division for pushing inappropriate investment recommendations and overly aggressive sales tactics.
Just days after Welker’s announcement, Wells Fargo announced it was combining its ultra-high-net-worth business and private bank, which would be supervised by Weiss. In July of last year, the bank named Julia Wellborn as the new head of private wealth management. She had previously served as the head of wealth management for Comerica Bank. Several months later, there was a change at the very top, with Scharf named as the bank’s permanent CEO, replacing interim head Allen Parker. Scharf had previously been the CEO of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., and he was announced after Wells Fargo conducted a search for an external hire to lead the corporation. Tim Sloan, the bank’s previous chief, resigned in March of last year.
The bank’s wealth and investment management division includes the full-service retail brokerage Wells Fargo Advisors; its independent b/d Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network; the private bank, Abbot Downing; and Wells Fargo Asset Management.
Jim Hays, a 14-year Wells Fargo veteran, continues to serve as president and head of Wells Fargo Advisors. He replaced David Kowach in that role in July.