Wealth management executives at US bank Wachovia will certainly be among the 10,750 people shown the door as the bank tries to cut expenses following its $8.9 billion second-quarter loss and dividend reduction.

A spokesman for the firm told WealthBriefing that Wachovia Wealth Management – which includes private banking, personal trust, investment advisory services, charitable services, financial planning and insurance brokerage – would be affected by wide-ranging job cuts.

“We do expect there will be job reductions in Wachovia Wealth Management associated with our efforts to reduce expenses,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

The bank confirmed it would eliminate some 10,750 jobs across the business as it goes about reducing expenses in an effort to turn around the bottom-line result described this week as “disappointing and unacceptable” by Lanty Smith, Wachovia's board chairman.

The second quarter 2008 net loss compared with earnings of $2.34 billion in the second quarter of 2007.

The results also revealed a 3 per cent decline in assets under management during the quarter to $77.3 billion within the wealth management business, “largely due to market depreciation,” according to the earnings release.

At the same time as cutting staff, Wachovia spokesman Josh Dunn said the bank would continue to hire for other roles, “particularly client-facing roles” within wealth management.

Mr Dunn said Wachovia continued to actively hire relationship managers in growth markets, which include New York, California and Arizona.

"While to some degree they reflect industry headwinds and weaker macroeconomic conditions, they also reflect performance for which we at Wachovia accept responsibility," said Mr Smith, who served as interim chief executive from 1 June, after Wachovia’s board ousted former chief executive Ken Thompson following a series of write-downs and the poorly-timed $24.2 billion acquisition in 2006 of California mortgage lender Golden West Financial Corp.

Robert Steel, who became chief executive this month, was, most recently, undersecretary for Domestic Finance for the US Department of Treasury. Previously he spent most of his career at Goldman Sachs.

The bank confirmed its commitment to wealth management: “Wachovia does have some challenges ahead, and while there may be some pain in that healing process, we remain committed to the wealth management business.”