NEW YORK - Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank, on Thursday said it plans to more than double its private banking group over the next three years in a bid to attract more wealthy clients.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said it will add 300 private bankers to the 240 it has now. It plans to expand in higher-growth markets, with emphasis on California, Texas, New York and Florida, the four most populous U.S. states.
Morrison Creech, who joined Wachovia's wealth-management unit in 2003 as managing executive of credit and deposit services, was named managing executive of private banking. He will report to Stanhope Kelly, president of wealth management, and be based in Charlotte. Creech has worked in financial services for nearly three decades.
Wachovia Corp. said it ranks fifth in U.S. private wealth management. It is targeting rivals including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. for the pocketbooks of affluent Americans, including baby boomers as they grow wealthier and approach retirement age.
The bank expects the number of American households that have between $250,000 and $5 million available to invest, will grow to 18 million in 2010 from 14 million 2005.
Wachovia said its private-banking clients are typically executives, doctors, lawyers and business owners. On Jan. 1, it plans to lift the ceiling for new clients to $5 million of investable assets from $2 million. The bank will continue to serve clients with more to invest.
Last week, Wachovia agreed to buy A.G. Edwards Inc. for $6.8 billion to become the second-largest publicly traded U.S. retail brokerage, after Merrill.
In the first quarter, Wachovia's wealth-management unit generated a $65 million profit on revenue of $342 million, representing a respective 3 percent and 4 percent of overall totals for the bank.
((Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Maureen Bavdek; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net, 646 223 6317)) Keywords: WACHOVIA APPOINTMENTS/
(Additional reporting by Manish Gupta in Bangalore)
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