Ex-BoA private banker to lead N.C. holding co.'s private-client business. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based bank holding company BB&T has hired former Bank of America private-banking head David Fisher as director of its wealth-management division. That puts him charge of 585 employees and more than $10 billion in assets under management.

Fisher succeeds Mark Wenick, who was appointed in February 2005.

"David's highly impressive investment-management and entrepreneurial background combined with his client-service experience make him an outstanding choice to head up this important division," says Lee Youngblood, financial services manager at BB&T. "We'll look to David to lead BB&T Wealth Management through the next steps in its evolution as the source for high-touch service for our valued affluent clients."

Special delivery

Fisher joins BB&T from a software-development firm where he was COO, but he spent a good part of his 26-year career at Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, including 10 years as senior managing director of its private-banking division.

BB&T's COO Kelly King says Fisher has an unusual grasp of his new employer's team-based approach to wealth management as well as "a great working knowledge of the issues we face in becoming the provider of choice in one of the most competitive areas of the financial-service industry."

One way BB&T hopes to compete is by streamlining service delivery to high-net-worth clients in an 11-state footprint that extends from Florida northwest through Indiana and up the Eastern Seaboard as far north as Maryland, according to Fisher.

"Affluent clients are often busy people who don't have time to work with three different people to deliver trust services, financial planning and traditional banking," says Fisher. "The idea is to simplify the delivery to the client through a single wealth-management advisor, a trusted source who will coordinate all of their financial needs while providing the absolute highest level of service."

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T is the eleventh biggest financial holding company in the U.S. Its wealth-management unit typically deals with individuals and families with at least $1 million in assets to invest or $5 million in net worth. -FWR

Purchase reproduction rights to this article.