Wells Fargo (Wells) has retained nearly 90 percent of one category of advisors who were forced to give up their practices almost nine months after the firm announced plans to close its foreign client business.  On the other hand, Wells retained only about 17% of another category of those advisors.

According to sources, in the first category, 200 advisors who derived between 5 percent and 40 percent of their income from international clients were enticed to stay when Wells offered a bonus of 100 percent of the annual production they would forfeit, paid out monthly over three years.

On the other hand, a group of around 166 advisors of a total of 200 advisors drawing more than 40 percent of their revenue from international clients, will exit the firm by the company's September 30 deadline. According to sources, those advisors received incentives such as accelerated deferred compensation and forgiveness of promissory note balances. Wells previously stated that those advisors who did not leave by the deadline would be laid off and receive severance packages. 

Finally, a third category of roughly 13,000 private client group advisors and bankers, who earned less than 5 percent of their annual revenue last year from international customers, had to drop their customers without receiving any additional compensation of benefits. 

Financial Advisor Transitions consults advisors nationwide to explore employment transition options and to preserve and protect their practice in any transition that they make.