I'm not really a fan of WF to begin with but these are accounts the MIL has that started 30 years ago as AG Edwards. I had a broker there I trusted and she opened the accounts then. It's since merged several times and she's now faced with the change noted above.
Anyone done any research on this transition?
Don't really think the change will really impact her and moving it elsewhere would be stressful to her.
Just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something obvious.

Did you check them out?
Google search shows they were incorporated Oct 2021 which means they have no track record.

https://opencorporates.com/com...s_in/202110221536336

If I was going to let someone manage my investments it would be Mary Ellen McGonagle.

quote:

Mary Ellen McGonagle

After visiting her website, I'll pass. Looks way to much like a get rich quick (For her company) type of operation.

She seems to be in the business of selling classes on investments.

If it is WF I would run quickly to the exit.

They still have a culture of anything including fraud to make a buck

Yeah, as I said WF would NOT be my first choice if I were setting it up new. She's elderly and at the point where any change stresses her out. Investments are already in American Funds within the WF accounts. They claim no new fees or costs.
So I think we just ride it out unless they start up with fee BS

From what I've heard from friends about these Bank (Wells Fargo and others) "investment" accounts, they put your money in a given set of stocks and leave it there indefinitely.

No trading, no buying, no selling, it just stays in one spot.

That being the case, leaving the money where it is wouldn't make any difference whatsoever.

I'd rather put my money under a rock than ever deal with Wells Fargo again.
Aside from the unpleasantness of dealing with them in any way, I think they are the poorest value of any financial institution.
Did I mention I don't like WF?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 220-9er,

I had my house loan with 1st Union and they were bought out by WF. Even after I paid off my loan, I would use 1st Union for having things notarized, etc.

WF...good luck. They were unfriendly and most of the people working there were foreigners.

My experience with WF was a number of years ago when they bought our mortgage from another bank.

As a result of that I would not choose to allow them to control my investments.

quote:

eah, as I said WF would NOT be my first choice if I were setting it up new. She's elderly and at the point where any change stresses her out. Investments are already in American Funds within the WF accounts. They claim no new fees or costs.
So I think we just ride it out unless they start up with fee BS

^^^^^^^^^^^
Agreed. Moving money to another brokerage is very difficult because they make it that way. I have done it for good reason but it took a lot of time. Leave it where it is. It all comes down to people you work with.

I looked up Vibrus wealth management. They are doing business through Wells fargo Advisors Finainal Network, which is Wells Fargo's independent advisor network.


What this most likely means that the advisor she had at wells Fargo Advisors (not financial network) was an employee of Wells Fargo and decided to go out on their own or in this case with a couple of other advisors.

The assets are still heald at wells Fargo although under a different broker dealer (no real change from a client perspective). Wells Fargo Advisors sti has some level of supervion over the independent advisors as well. The change is her advisor group now is no longer employees of wells, they own their practice. Thus they pay for rent, staff, equipment, etc. And the advisor also now pays Wells Fargo a portion of their revenue to use Wells Fargo's broker dealer, trading platform, supervision, technology etc. Before going independent they received a paycheck based on revenue generated and didn't worry about rent or general business expense. Now they keep more of the revenue and pay their operating expenses directly and pay Wells Fargo for using their system.

From a practical standpoint it is the advisor that is important more so than the company behind them. In the big firms there are great adivors and not so great advisors at all of them. If you feel the advisor has done good by her then this change should have no impact gong forward, same advisor, same firm with ultimate custody of assets and same products available to her. Only difference from clients standpoint is advisor will be in a new office that the adisor(s) own or rent themselves. If you or she does not like the advisor or how things have been ran then now is as good a time as any to go shopping for an advisor that works well with her goals.

bsc7289’s post, immediately above, is very good info. I have a couple of additional comments. There are two main tiers of Wells Fargo Advisors. Those in branch banks are the lower tier – headquarters in San Francisco.

The upper tier Wells Fargo Advisors are generally in separate facilities – headquarters in St. Louis. Most of the senior advisors of that tier were advisors with Wachovia before Wells Fargo bought it. In fact, Wells Fargo bought Wachovia mainly to bring those advisers in house.

The most senior upper tier Wells Fargo Advisors operate under the Wells Fargo umbrella, but rent the Wells Fargo facilities they use, and hire and manage their own staff.

Their fees are a percentage of funds under management. The client doesn’t directly bear the cost of trades. The advisor manages the account per general guidelines from the client. E.g., moderate growth and income. But the account financial status comes from Wells Fargo, not from the advisor.

There's no way I would have WF manage investments.

There are good options for managing your investment portfolio and the right answer for you will depend on how much help you would like in making investing decisions and how large your portfolio is.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
There's no way I would have WF manage investments.

There are good options for managing your investment portfolio and the right answer for you will depend on how much help you would like in making investing decisions and how large your portfolio is.

And think about this. If they work for Wells Fargo as employees, they obviously don't know enough about picking stocks to become financially independent themselves, so how are they going to make you financially independent?

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

quote:

Mary Ellen McGonagle

After visiting her website, I'll pass. Looks way to much like a get rich quick (For her company) type of operation.

She seems to be in the business of selling classes on investments.

You have to spend money to make money.

My first exposure to technical analysis was Gene Morgan in 7/15/1976 who had a TV program "Charting the Market" each day after the market closed. I think the cost was $50 for a one day lecture.

I always research any subject or project I undertake. At one time, I had over 800 books not counting the magazines and periodicals.

quote:

Originally posted by Powers77:
Yeah, as I said WF would NOT be my first choice if I were setting it up new. She's elderly and at the point where any change stresses her out. Investments are already in American Funds within the WF accounts. They claim no new fees or costs.
So I think we just ride it out unless they start up with fee BS

American Funds are just fine. BTW the advisor earns a quarter percent trailer from AF, so he is getting paid just to leave the funds there. A trusted advisor is more important than the firm where he works. I'd say ride it out.

WF bought a mortgage from a good friend of mine who owns several properties. When COVID hit he told me by far WF was the best to work with when applying for COVID forbearance and loan modifications. The others he said were borderline thugs the way they handled the whole situation.

quote:

Originally posted by sig2392:
If it is WF I would run quickly to the exit.

They still have a culture of anything including fraud to make a buck

^^^^ That sums it up.
Many of us could tell our personal horror stories concerning this institution, but I'd just cash out to somewhere much better and likely much lower fees for better service myself.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
From what I've heard from friends about these Bank (Wells Fargo and others) "investment" accounts, they put your money in a given set of stocks and leave it there indefinitely.

No trading, no buying, no selling, it just stays in one spot.

That being the case, leaving the money where it is wouldn't make any difference whatsoever.

This is false. If it’s an ‘Investment Account’, as in an individual is able to buy and sell with their balance, that would be accurate. Think ETrade and the like. However, any Managed Investment/Brokerage account with a legitimate bank/firm is perpetually moving money. I have the 2021 1099’s and associated tax bill, due to capital gains, to know this to be true with our Chase accounts. Didn’t take a single penny out, just movements through the year. All of which are now down YTD…

If you’re talking about an investment in annuities you’d be correct as well, I suppose, but that’s a whole different story.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Correct. There are a lot of off the wall opinions in this thread. Thank you for giving some good advice. It makes me wonder whether some of these folks ever had an investment account. The Wells Fargo brokerage downtown has a HUGE sign that says this is NOT a bank.