Dozens of advisors have been exiting Wells Fargo this year, and now one of the bank’s managers has decided to join them.
Carla Wigen, former regional manager of investment and fiduciary services at Wells Fargo’s private bank, is moving to Laird Norton Wealth Management, a Seattle-based firm advising about $5 billion in assets. Wigen joins the senior leadership team as managing director of fiduciary strategy.
“Moving up the ladder at a national bank takes you further and further away from making a direct impact on families and the community,” Wigen said in an email. “In this role I’ll have that opportunity both through direct client work and through helping to shape the future of this company.”
As the new member of the senior leadership team, Wigen will develop strategy to expand the firm’s fiduciary operations, specifically in acquisitions and retention. She will analyze new market segments and opportunities as well as expand opportunities to serve clients.
“I’ll be collaborating across the firm to evolve the services we bring to our clients,” Wigen says. “And I’ll be actively engaged with our area’s philanthropic, legal and financial community to strengthen relationships that benefit our clients and our firm alike.”
In her new role, she will work closely with Jeanne Goussev, managing director of fiduciary services. Wigen will report to Bob Moser, CEO of Laird Norton Wealth Management.
Wigen has 20 years of experience in wealth management and private banking, focusing on trusts and estate planning, according to Laird Norton. She was at Wells Fargo for a little more than eight years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Laird Norton Wealth Management serves clients in the Pacific Northwest, providing advice to more than 600 clients, according to the company.
“It’s one of the rare, fully integrated wealth management firms to be owned by a family, so they truly understand how multi-generational families of wealth operate and what they need,” Wigen says.
A spokesman at Wells Fargo did not respond to a request for comment on Wigen’s departure.
Her exit comes as a stream of advisors leave the wirehouse for other firms. Wells Fargo has lost at least 183 advisors to competing firms this year, according to recruiting data analyzed by Financial Planning. In July, the firm’s head count was
One of the most recent advisors to leave Wells for competitors was Jonathan LaTurner, who managed approximately $50 million in assets there, according to his new employer, Towerpoint Wealth in Sacramento. He left the firm in the first week of September, according to FINRA BrokerCheck.
