After a huge fake accounts scandal, the pressure on Wells Fargo's wealth managers to accelerate sales increased significantly. The internal documents of the bank reviewed by Yahoo Finance and interviews with former employees of wealth and investment management division show that the investment management control was transferred from human advisors to robo-advisors.
In 2014 Wells Fargo’s investment “managers” started to be investment “strategists” and investment management was moved to service centres, according to a document analyzed by the website. Wells Fargo also made it clear that investment advisors in the unit keep quiet about the changes.
“As a company, they emphasized sales to such a point that I felt just like the salesmen in ‘Glengarry Glen Ross,’” one employee tells Yahoo Finance, referencing to the David Mamet play and 1992 film about a salesman who was engaged in unethical and illegal acts under high-pressure to make more sales. “The firm made it very clear that we could not discuss the fact that we were no longer managing the portfolios,” one former advisor said to the website. “That remains one of the biggest ongoing secrets kept from wealth management clients to this day.”
So if you think that your hard-earned money is managed by a nice young gentleman or lady at Wells Fargo Wealth Management – think again. And ask the questions.
N.B. We are not sure if this is better or worth. Nothing wrong with robo-advising. Everything is wrong with misrepresentations.