Thread regarding U.S. Bank layoffs

@3dt Clients love to receive calls from leadership! It makes them feel super important when they hear from people that know nothing about them. I’m sure your client will sleep better knowing that the next time they hear from leadership will be after someone else on their team leaves the bank.

AP has to go, but if he’s not going to be fired, can we at least have him stop calling clients? A client shared that the “market president” called them and that he wanted to hear how things are going. When they expressed some dissatisfaction he offered changes to the client team and discounts! Nice leadership, how about backing your teams and using empathy with frustrated clients? Also, why is he listed as a “national regional executive” on our website?

@2k6 BL is too busy traveling to all the best client events around the country to be bothered with actual work or leadership.

@2k6 DF can’t find AP to fire him. Everyday he’s hiding at home or in his office under his desk with the door closed. Remember when he told all of us at the beginning of the year his goal was to become more visible? How’s that working out? He’s spent the past few months hiding from everyone except to tell us that everything is “normal.” Not sure why he gets to hide in that office each day, isn’t he part of our stupid “neighborhood” thing that doesn’t have dedicated work spaces? The rest of us have to find a cube and listen to loud a-s HDP tell us how to do our jobs better.

@2k6 You need to stop expecting something to change. Nothing is going to change, the only thing you can do is take ownership of your own situation and find a better firm for yourself. There are so many options out there, any of them will be better for you. Real wealth management firms offer better compensation, products/services for YOUR clients, technology, and leadership. Your family and your clients will thank you for making a move and freeing yourself and them from your current toxic environment.

Another week in the books, more departures, somehow DF, AP, and HDP still have jobs. If you can fail as miserably as those three and keep your job, no one should ever be afraid of being fired at USB. BL and SF need to wake up and make a big change ASAP! No more words, MAKE A CHANGE!

Can’t make it through a week without someone else resigning! Probably closes the chapter on PWM in Rochester as there is no office space and no advisors, solid business planning by AP. We are close to 25% of the client facing advisors who started 2025 with PWM in Minnesota no longer with USB.

@1ax You’re right. DF’s fragile ego could never admit all the errors he has made-particularly on his choice of leadership.

Nothing will change, someone in leadership above AP and HDP will have to admit they made a mistake in hiring those two. That someone will never admit a mistake.

@OP Another Private Wealth Advisor just left Minneapolis. Do we think that management will wake up? Magic eight ball says....no.

To the last poster and anyone currently working in PWM. What is keeping you at the bank? From the sounds of previous posts it isn’t compensation and it doesn’t sound like culture is very strong. It can’t be that you don’t have opportunities, it sounds like people are leaving for many different companies and recruiters are calling. If the answer is that you don’t have to show up to the office more than 10 times a month, can fly under the radar, and don’t have to work very hard, you should stay put. If the answer is that you believe the bank offers safety and security I would encourage to think bigger. That likely isn’t as true as you believe and organizations will pay for good talent, treat top talent like owners, and offer strong incentives and opportunities that are not available at the bank.

I am a 20+ year employee that currently works in PWM. I have read through these posts and while some are obviously non employees trying to stir the pot and have fun, many appear to be thoughtful comments made by current employees. I wasn’t going to post, but a few recent posts compelled me to comment. There is a post that lays out 5 issues that a former employee posted. I may know who made that post as that person was very vocal about some of those specific issues when they worked at the bank. I don’t know that posting those points on this thread was appropriate, but when I saw the following post:

“there's a lot more to your story as you know so have a slice of humble pie you lethargic uninspiring excuse of an advisor...the bank is still cleaning up your mess”

I got a feeling that the person making that post may be someone in leadership. I could be wrong, but thought I would take the chance to communicate thoughts directly to this leader. If you are a current PWM leader, please re-read many of the posts that appear to be concerned and frustrated employees. Take these comments as your first truly unfiltered TTUS comments that you claim to want. Myself and others want PWM to succeed for personal, financial, and career reasons. Unfortunately, the past few months have shown that not only the message, but that those delivering the message, need to change. Simply changing the tone or trying to move forward will not work. The vultures are swirling as many of us have received numerous calls from recruiters. I’m too late in my career to make a change and have no plans to leave, but I don’t doubt many are seriously considering. Others leaving isn’t the only damage, these recruiters are learning many things about our employees, our books of business, and are asking very specific questions about how teams could be formed and pulled out. This information will also be used as we compete for new business against these competitors.

I ask that you take a step back, not become defensive, and share these concerns with your boss and push for actual change. Without a serious change, we will not bottom out until the only employees remaining are the employees no one else wanted.

None of the big banks have wealth management divisions that talk about “production.” It’s an antiquated concept. The big banks want relationships that run deep across all product lines and they have the technology to make that relationship seamless. The customer comes first and isnt viewed an entity by which fees can be extracted from, It wasn’t always that way, but it is now. U.S. Bank doesn’t have the systems, leadership, or footprint to make any of this happen, and they know it. That’s why one advisor team leaving is such a big deal.

@gd

The savings rates was a hot topic a year or so ago in the industry. A lot of fines and lawsuits over sweep accounts and what not. Now, the wealth management firms have new savings products to provide better rates. I mean the real wealth management firms like a WFA, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, UBS. If you do real meaningful production, I'd look at moving. Might get a big check in the process too.

@gd there's a lot more to your story as you know so have a slice of humble pie you lethargic uninspiring excuse of an advisor...the bank is still cleaning up your mess

Don't worry about it! We don't even need a private wealth management team to bring in client. Those wealthy clients are going to be lining up and down the streets to give their money to USB after they watch Happy Gilmore 2 (streaming now)!

I left PWM Minnesota almost 2 years ago. I resigned, but in reality I was led to believe that I would have been fired due to complaints I made about what I perceived to be unethical business practices. USB sells that they are fiduciaries and that they act in the clients best interest, but some examples that I brought forward contradict that narrative:

1. Advisors are pressured to keep client cash in bank savings accounts earning a lower interest rate rather than transfer those dollars to money market funds that have higher yields. The rational is “safety,” but FDIC insurance only goes to $250,000, and the real reason is the “spread” the bank earns on deposits is much greater.
2. Investment professionals are pressured to follow allocation models that require high tax individuals to own high yield taxable bonds even thought these clients after tax yield would be better in municipal bonds.
3. Fee’s are all over the board with 3 different fee schemes. The services offered are supposed to be different based upon the service level, but reality doesn’t match.
4. Statements and performance reports are not accurate for private capital investments. Cost basis is not tracked correctly and the standard performance reports do not incorporate IRR for private capital.
5. Clients are paying advisory fee’s to SMA managers in UMA accounts, but the UMA accounts are not actively following the SMA managers advice.

Good news, after selling your USB stock, you now have some capital losses to carry forward on your tax returns.

I just sold a bunch of USB stock to build this golf simulator in my home office. Can you guys stop complaining so loudly in my back swing. Go back to your shanties!

Wow, lots of management trashing. They are trying hard, they have a least 10 meetings a month to discuss all the things the rest of us should be doing better. What else should they be doing? Ease off!

Who in the world would entrust this JV team bank to manage their wealth? So many better options.

Classic US Bank managerial response. Don't address the problem. Look away. Pretend it does not exist.

This is just going to continue because the management team from BL, to DF to AP is so so weak.

I question if anyone in management actually reads these things, but this morning in a meeting with my manager I was “reminded” that anyone discussing confidential information like “employees resigning” with people outside the bank is a fireable offense! Basically, let’s keep it to ourselves that we are imploding. For those counting, PWM Minnesota has lost 10 client facing professionals in 4 months. In blatant age discrimination they laid both wealth strategists over 55 last fall and now the two strategists who survived the layoffs have left. At least 3 trust officer positions are open, plus the manager of the group left, so that role is open. We started the year with 13 portfolio managers of which 4 have left. Everyone is just supposed to absorb all the work and make sure clients don’t realize everything is falling apart.

As a customer. I am glad to see the fall of this bank. They have done so many people wrong, while enjoying billions in profits.
Finally the big is falling hard.

PWM Minnesota and central region leadership is a dumpster fire, no back bone, all yes men/women for senior leadership. The talent drain the past few months is not replaceable, management only cares about the revenue and the Almighty AUM, they could care less about the people or the clients.

The ivory tower wealth management leadership in NYC can’t keep ignoring the lack of leadership in Minnesota…. How HDP still has a job after losing the two best advisors on her team in 4 months and how AP still has a job after how he’s treated everyone for last few years is crazy. If HDP and AP aren’t gone in the next week, more teams will be out the door by the end of August. Every leader seems to think everyone is replaceable and that clients don’t care, so I’m sure nothing will change. I better get back to completing my spreadsheets designed to cover leaderships a-s.

Wealth Management at USB is a joke. They are struggling BIG TIME to bring in talent let alone retain it.

You see this is how I know you all don't know how this stuff really works. We get 2% raises if we're lucky because Wall Street and the owner's demand it.

The moment the CEO allows real raises across the board to keep up with inflation and then add more for great performance, is the moment the CEO gets replaced with a more ruthless person.

I'm telling you guys corporate America at the very top, the people at mackenzie, wall street, and the super owners of this country, all worship that idea that Milton Friedman talked about. The only people that matter are the owners.

We don't matter. We will never see real r raises company wide.

You really need to go to a privately owned company with an owner who is not an a--hole

Or you need to be truly exceptional

Or you need to job hop for better pay but good luck in this job market

Loyal people who are good performers always lose money in the long run

Nothing will change no matter who leaves

Sadly I find myself cheering on this type of news. Since leadership refuses meaningful raises/bonuses/career development opportunities, I will take what I can get with the schadenfreude.