A financial advisor seeking a new broker-dealer after her prior firm dropped its international business joined a company whose specialty is serving practices that have foreign clients.
Paula Oddone left Wells Fargo Advisors after 18 years to join the Snowden Lane Partners branch in Coral Gables, Florida, her new firm said on Sept. 7. As a sole practitioner, Oddone manages more than $135 million in client assets across a base spanning South America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean.
Just like some other teams leaving Wells Fargo this year, Oddone cited the giant wealth manager’s decision in January to cease working with international clients as the main reason for her move. Corporate policy changes that are out of advisors’ control often lead them to change firms in search of greater flexibility.
Policy change is old news, but whoever made the boneheaded decision to stop working with international clients should be publicly shamed and fired. WFA has lost some of it’s highest producing teams over this decision. How is it that one of the top 4 banks in the country can’t handle working with any client outside of the US? Are we going to stop all profitable business which requires a competent Compliance Department since we apparently can’t even handle the basics???