The Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) brand has been a stable of American west coast financial services for well over a century. While it’s dominance on the west coast has long been held, the firm clearly has bigger aspirations, to achieve greater market penetration in the east coast and abroad. The acquisition of the former Wachovia brand has helped grow the deposit base and customer relationships on the east coast corridor they were once nearly absent from, and actions the firm is taking overseas are similarly seeking to step up opportunities.
To that end, Wells Fargo & Company’s asset management arm has hired Peregrine Communications to help the bank to increase its profile and media relations across Asia and Europe by targeting wealth management, retail and institutional investors. Earlier this year, Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) announced an important push into Asia and Europe as a part of the company’s plan to expand its business outside America. CEO at Peregrine Communications, Anthony Payne, said that the company is very happy that one of the largest banks has trusted it to disseminate its unique abilities and strengths across Europe.
Wells Fargo, which was founded way back in 1852, is one of the four largest banks in America along Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM). However, the firm is behind their counterparts in this area, and expansion offers a unique opportunity to grow the brand, and most importantly, the revenue. As the revenue measures, WFC has generated revenue of $49.17 billion during the last twelve months with net income of $16.15 billion. The Company has shown a positive +20.88% in the net profit margin and +31.19% in its operating margin while recording 8.92% as company’s annual sales growth for the past five years. While impressive considering the global financial environment, the opportunity to reshape the franchise for future opportunities should further boost future revenue potential.
The regulatory changes under way in the United States market is forcing banks to consider other avenues for success – economic growth in the Asian economies are attractive, but an even more difficult regulatory environment exists in many cases, making it difficult for American banks to even get banking licenses. Europe on the other hand is more amenable to banking growth, but economic weakness in some areas of the region make it a less attractive destination. As Wells Fargo grows abroad, positioning it against more tenured competitors will be critical to building the same solid reputation it has domestically.
