WFC Broadens Wealth Focus: Can Its Multi-Year Revamp Drive Growth?

Wells Fargo & Company WFC is stepping up efforts to expand its wealth management business by recruiting hundreds of independent financial advisers, according to a Bloomberg report published by Yahoo Finance. The hiring push builds on the bank’s multi-year effort to strengthen its Wealth & Investment Management (WIM) division and deepen relationships with affluent and high-net-worth clients.

WFC has been revamping its WIM business since 2020, when it reorganized its operations into five major business lines. WIM offers wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, trust and fiduciary services to affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. This broad offering enables the bank to address multiple financial needs, deepen client relationships and generate more revenue from wealthy customers beyond traditional banking activities.

Expanding its independent adviser network is a key part of this strategy. Independent advisers are becoming an increasingly important growth channel as financial professionals seek greater control over their practices while retaining access to institutional technology, investment products and infrastructure. WFC’s model gives advisers greater flexibility while allowing them to leverage the bank’s resources.

The bank is also strengthening its adviser capabilities through expanded investment offerings and technology. In May 2026, WFC launched Advisor Gateway, giving advisers one-click access to more than 200 tools and applications, including BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth technology and generative AI capabilities. Last year, WIM added alternative investments to its Personalized Unified Managed Account program in collaboration with InvestCloud, enabling qualifying clients to hold traditional and alternative assets in a single account. These enhancements are expected to help WFC attract more advisers and assets, improve productivity and capitalize on growing demand for alternative investments.

The wealth management push also aligns with WFC’s broader strategy under CEO Charlie Scharf. Since 2019, the bank has been exiting non-core and lower-return operations to focus resources on its core, higher-return businesses. Meanwhile, the company has been expanding across multiple business lines since the Federal Reserve lifted the asset cap that had constrained its growth since 2018. Reallocating resources toward higher-return businesses, including wealth management, will likely support growth in fee-based recurring revenues, client assets, deposits and lending. However, successful execution will be key to driving sustainable growth and higher returns.

How Are WFC Peers Scaling Wealth Management Business?

Similar to WFC, UBS Group UBS and Morgan Stanley MS are strengthening wealth management operations through acquisitions, partnerships and technology investments to expand capabilities, deepen client relationships and diversify revenues.

UBS Group has strengthened its wealth franchise through the acquisition and integration of Credit Suisse, while expanding its private-market capabilities through a partnership with MSCI. UBS Group also received a U.S. national bank charter for UBS Bank USA in March 2026, supporting its banking and wealth management offerings.

Similarly, Morgan Stanley has expanded wealth and investment management businesses through acquisitions, including E*TRADE Financial and Eaton Vance. The businesses accounted for nearly 54% of total net revenues in 2025, up from 26% in 2010, highlighting the growing contribution of wealth and investment management to Morgan Stanley’s overall business mix.

WFC’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Wells Fargo have gained 3.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 22%.

Price Performance

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, WFC trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.03X, below the industry’s average of 14X.

Price-to-Earnings F12M

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WFC’s 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year increases of 15.5% and 9.5%, respectively. Estimates for both years have been revised marginally upward over the past month.

Estimate Revision Trend

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

WFC currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here

The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research