So we read a Reuters story about how the CEO of Wells Fargo said that he would be open to acquiring another b/d. Gosh, Wells Fargo is still trying to digest the Wachovia and A.G. Edwards acquistions. Our annual Broker Report Card survey found that Wells Fargo Advisors employees were among the most disgruntled in the business: 45% of Wells respondents to our survey said the integration of Wachovia and A.E. Edwards negatively impacted the firm, their own productivity and 40% said it negatively affected their clients.
Although the CEO told Wells employees in 2008 that the Wachovia acquisition should be regarded as a merger and that they would make it the best merger ever. That hasn't panned out, at least from Wells people we talk to. Our own former reporter, Halah Touryalai, wrote a good piece on her blog at Forbes, saying perhaps Wells CEO John Stumpf should think twice. Seeing that she blogged us (pointing out the low scores Wells Fargo Advisor reps gave the firm), I'll return the favor and blog her.