Super-regional hires 20 in a move to boost HNW services on the West Coast. Wachovia has hired 20 wealth managers in California as the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank moves to extend private-client services to high-net-worth individuals in the Golden State. The move includes the establishment of legal specialty groups in Los Angeles and San Francisco to provide private-client and investment-advisory services to attorneys and law firms.

"[We're] committed to serving affluent and high net worth individuals in a distinctive way that will exceed their expectations," says Stanhope Kelly, president of Wachovia Wealth Management. "Our focus on local delivery and our commitment to excellence have made Wachovia number one in customer service six years in a row."

Sweet spot

Wachovia views California as a major field for expansion. It has three times more high-net-worth individuals than any other single U.S. state. The total population of metropolitan Los Angles is expected to increase by 7% over 2005 levels by 2010; the same area is expected to see a 28% increase in the number of households with at least $250,000 in investable assets, according to Wachovia research.

Wachovia also says that 80% of the 200 largest revenue producing law firms in the U.S. have offices in California. Its new legal practice in the state will provide banking, lending, cash-management and brokerage services in addition to financial, estate and tax planning and various kinds of insurance.

Wachovia Wealth Management services also include family-office services, consulting on family governance and stewardship, and marine and aircraft financing. Its open-architecture investment platform includes traditional and alternative investments such as private-equity funds and hedge funds.

Wachovia has little in the way of a retail-banking footprint in California. But its move to boost its presence as a high-end wealth manager in the state is matched by a sudden increase in its retail-brokerage business there as a result of its acquisition last year of St. Louis, Mo.-based A.G. Edwards. -FWR

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