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Bank of America Corp. said Tuesday it has hired 280 new wealth-management advisers in Texas and Florida, doubling its overall number of advisers to more than 1,000 nationwide.
November 22 -
Banks may be on shaky ground, but 43% of Americans see them as a trusted source for retirement advice, according to a survey by Hearts & Wallets. This is an increase from 41% a year ago.
November 21
John Bahnken has a tall order to fill in making Bank of the West's wealth management division stand out in a crowded field.
Many banks have been bulking up their wealth management units as more traditional sources of revenue have dried up. Bank of the West, which is owned by BNP Paribas, is no different. Bank of the West said in October that it had integrated and broadened its wealth management services and said in November that it had hired more advisers and would open new locations.
The conventional wisdom is the bigger wealth management players are, the bigger their advantage. However, Bank of the West's smaller size makes it nimbler and better able to change course to address clients' needs than its larger competitors, says Bahnken, a senior executive vice president and head of wealth management. The $62 billion-asset bank has branches in about 20 Western and Midwestern states.
This flexibility can be seen in the bank's new focus on private clients, says Bahnken, who joined the company in the spring. The bank is aiming at customers with between $500,000 and $12 million of investable assets, Bahnken says.
It plans to help these clients address risk, navigate changing real estate financing and manage liquidity, he says.
"We believe our clients' needs are changing and they are growing more complex," Bahnken says. "We think we can respond to those changes as we have less of a vested interest in traditional solutions for our clients."
