Financial institutions

The advisors went independent in part because Wells Fargo halted its wealth management business outside the U.S. earlier this year.

The firm is following through on its $30-billion pledge and trying to forge a different onramp into the profession.

Julie Caperton, a longtime executive at the $1.9 trillion-asset bank, succeeds Julia Wellborn, who left the company in April.

The four largest U.S. banks face investor pressure to deliver the returns of smaller rivals, but they complain that the federal deposit cap and capital rules make that difficult. So they're pouring money into wealth management, payments and digital banking to seize more market share in existing businesses and fend off nonbank challengers.

The program has historically been high-stakes and cold-calling friendly. Novice advisors can expect something different now.

Participants will instead be directed to use internal referrals or LinkedIn messages, according to a person familiar with matter.

Cypress Trust in Palm Beach is poised to pull off a rarity: the conversion of a wealth management firm into a community bank. It’s simply another way to take advantage of the ongoing melding of the two financial services sectors, CEO Dana Kilborne says.

Two advisors left their prior firm of 10 years after the bank’s wealth and asset management unit generated record net income in the first quarter.

The quartet of financial advisors leaving UBS after a decade also has an advisor with an equestrian specialty.

The current arrangement is anti-fiduciary and could put a drag on the wealth management boom, writes Kevin Armstrong.