Signaling determination to become a leading provider of investment services, Wells Fargo & Co. has hired a Wall Street executive to run its brokerage and private banking units.
Dennis J. Mooradian was named president of Wells Fargo Securities Inc. and head of Wells' private banking group, effective today. Mr. Mooradian, who will also be an executive vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, had been with Lehman Brothers since 1977, most recently as a managing director and chief operating officer in its global private client services division.
At Wells, Mr. Mooradian reports to Clyde W. Ostler, the vice chairman who oversees the bank's investment activities. Mr. Mooradian will be responsible for 425 brokers in Wells branches as well as a number of private bankers.
Mr. Ostler said Mr. Mooradian - who has never worked for a commercial bank - was chosen precisely for his Wall Street expertise. Buoyed by its recent merger with First Interstate Bancorp, Wells is now hoping to compete more aggressively with established national brokerage firms.
"Dennis will take our bank to the next level," Mr. Ostler said in a telephone interview Thursday."We want to be better than a bank, and better than a brokerage."
Mr. Mooradian was not available for comment. While at Lehman, he managed sales to high-net-worth individuals and middle-market institutions, an effort well-regarded by observers of the brokerage scene.
"Generally, in Lehman's high-net-worth business, salespeople are expected to produce $1 million a year," said Perrin H. Long, an independent brokerage-industry analyst in Darien, Conn. To reach that goal, Lehman aggressively targets the same affluent customers who would be extremely attractive to an organization like Wells, he added.
"High-net-worth individuals also may require from Wells trust administration services, mortgage loans for real estate, or a fancy credit card," Mr. Long said. "There are a whole host of things they may want from Wells Fargo."
Indeed, Mr. Ostler said, Wells is counting on Mr. Mooradian to move its retail brokerage "away from strictly dealing with branch referrals."
"One of the mistakes that we have made was thinking that the world breaks down into people that buy mutual funds and others that need investment management" and fiduciary advice, Mr. Ostler said. "Really, there are a host of people in between."
He said he expects Wells to emerge as one of the fastest-growing brokerages west of the Mississippi.
Wells has been restructuring its investments business for several months, partly in preparation for its acquisition of First Interstate. The deal, which closed last month, added a 12-state territory to Wells' already huge market presence in California.
Mr. Ostler said Mr. Mooradian will focus first on retaining the private banking clients garnered from First Interstate, and then spend time on increasing the sales and customer relationships.
The San Francisco-based banking company had been looking for a brokerage chief since fall, when Ronald Ferrari, who oversaw Wells' branch-based brokerage program, left the company.
The opening was expanded to include private banking when Shelley Thompson left Wells during a recent management shuffle. In the interim, Jay Welker, a senior vice president, took over from Ms. Thompson.
Mr. Welker continues to run the California private bank but will report to Mr. Mooradian.
Mr. Mooradian takes his brokerage responsibilities from Elizabeth A. Evans, the executive vice president who oversees Wells' investment and savings businesses. Ms. Evans now will focus exclusively on investment marketing and product development and design, as well as Wells' trust businesses, Mr. Ostler said.
A consultant familiar with Wells' executive search said the company considered only candidates from Wall Street firms for its top brokerage job.
"Clyde (Ostler) felt he had enough bankers (at Wells), and he wanted to bring a fresh sales culture," the source said. "He hasn't been satisfied with the level of business they're at now."
A brokerage chief at a major East Coast bank said he had been approached about the Wells job but was put out of the running.
"I had more than 10 years' Wall Street experience, and 10 years at the bank (brokerage)," the executive said. "You'd think that would make me more attractive, but that wasn't the case."
Yvette D. Kantrow contributed to this report.
