RBC Wealth Management added a five-person advisor team from Wells Fargo with $1 billion in client assets.
In a statement, Joseph Seidler, a managing director of the Seidler Cattich Group, says RBC meets their needs for clients who live or own property overseas.
“As part of RBC, one of the largest financial services companies in the world serving 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 34 other countries, we strive to offer international clients a level of expertise and service that is unparalleled,” Seidler says.
Wells Fargo did not offer a comment on the team’s departure. A Wells Fargo spokesperson
Andrew Tasnady, managing partner at Tasnady and Associates, says Wells Fargo is likely trying to reduce its risk profile and fixed costs by exiting the international business.
“They've been trying to get in the good graces of the government and get off the bad boy list,” Tasnady says. “There's some difficulties with international business in terms of assets you can send… There's additional compliance issues, in terms of taking money out of some of these foreign countries and putting them into the United States. So there might be some higher risk with international business, as well as additional fixed costs” because Wells Fargo does not have a strong international brand like UBS, “a global household name,” he says.
Seidler had worked for Wells Fargo since 2020. Before then, he was at UBS for five years, according to Broker Check. He was registered with UBS Financial Services from 2014-2020 and has 20 years of industry experience.
Seidler is joined in San Francisco by managing director and advisor Gary Cattich; advisors Max Lewi and Kayvan Izadpanah; and investment associate Roy Mendoza.
Cattich has 24 years of experience and was registered with Wells Fargo from 2020 to 2021. Before then, he was registered with UBS Financial Services for five years.
The team reports to Director Michael Schipper at RBC’s Northern California complex.
“RBC Wealth Management offers high-tech, high-touch, immediate support that ultra-high-net-worth clients deserve. It’s something we’ve heard about from peers who have moved here, and we’ve already experienced it ourselves in the recruiting process,” says Seidler.
