Wells Fargo Tries To Hitch Its Wagon To 1 Percenters

If you happen to be one of the 10,000 households in the country with $50 million or more to play around with, Wells Fargo would like to talk to you. Well, not Wells Fargo per se, but its new brand, Abbot Downing. Named after a 19th century stagecoach builder, Abbot Downing is launching next year with a staff of 300 managing $27.5 billion of assets from customers.

ECredit Daily reports Abbot Downing will have a presence in 15 cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Scottsdale (regular Phoenix is apparently too dirty for Abbot Downing), Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago and Philadelphia. An Abbot Downing exec says the brand’s services will “go beyond traditional wealth planning analysis.” Example: Say you’re the steward of a decades-old business that you’d like to liquify in order to grow flush with cash. Abbot Downing will find buyers and make it happen for you.

Wells Fargo isn’t alone in the new business model. U.S. Bancorp is launching Minneapolis-based Ascent Private Capital Management, courting those with at least $25 million in assets.

Wells Fargo Targets Super Rich Households with $50 Million in Assets [ECredit Daily]

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