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Stand down, Zuccotti protesters, the banks have heard your calls for reform and are yielding to your demands. The majority of the country has been enveloped in financial turmoil, and one of the big banks is finally taking steps to institute change: Wells Fargo is creating a boutique bank for the super rich.
Wells Fargo’s folksy wooden stagecoach is about to go after the carriage trade, as the bank launches a newly reorganized wealth management business aimed at families with $50 million or more to invest.
The new unit, with an office in Chicago, made its debut last week under the name Abbot Downing, after the early 19th century builder of upscale custom stagecoaches. It features a full range of services to cater to the super rich, complete with psychologists and staff to build family genealogies.
Abbot Downing will have $28 billion in assets under management and offices in major cities. The company targets the estimated 10,000 U.S. households with $50 million or more to investwith a particular focus on baby boomers with family businesses to sell.
Banks have been chasing rich people for centuries, of course. But as they struggle to increase profits in the current wobbly economy, bankers are finding the ultra-rich more alluring than ever.