Wachovia Wealth Management has announced 20 new hires across Northern and Southern California. The Charlotte-based bank is establishing Wealth Management teams in San Diego, Orange County, metro Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area and is also introducing Legal Specialty Group teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles to serve the financial needs of law firms and attorneys. "As the nation's fourth largest bank, we're excited to introduce the Wachovia brand in California and are committed to serving affluent and high net worth individuals in a distinctive way that will exceed their expectations," said Stan Kelly, president of Wachovia Wealth Management. Wachovia Wealth Management offers a full spectrum of high net worth services, including private banking and credit; debt solutions; investment management; financial and tax planning; trust and estate planning and administration; charitable services and insurance. Wachovia's Legal Specialty Group offers a full range of specialised services through a single point of contact, including customised lending; cash management; banking; brokerage and asset management services; financial, estate and tax planning; trust services; and life, disability, long-term care, property and casualty insurance. Eighty of the 200 largest revenue-producing US law firms have offices in California, Wachovia said. Wachovia is the eighth largest US wealth manager according to Barron's 2007 ranking, with assets of $754.2 billion at 30 September 2007. It expanded its presence in California through its $24 billion acquisition of Oakland's Golden West Financial Corporation in 2006. The deal gave Wachovia 285 branches in states that include California, Florida, Colorado, Texas and Arizona. Some 120 of those branches were in California. Wachovia has been hiring throughout the state since then to fill jobs in its commercial, private bank and small-business banking lines. Last year, Wachovia hired 1,300 in Northern California.