Wells Fargo & Co. opened a 30,000-square-foot banking complex in Manhattan Beach this month in what is being billed as a “first-to-market move.”
What’s unique about the location, according to Wells, is the large number of senior private banking managers who will be based on site rather than in satellite offices countywide.
“This is essentially a wealth management hub,” said David Zimmerman, a regional manager for Wells Fargo’s wealth management group. “Sure there are competitors with branches out here in the South Bay and sure there are stock and mortgage brokers as well as private bankers, but certainly not all under one roof. We looked around and saw the opportunity.”
Built from the ground up, the 2141 Rosecrans Ave. complex will offer a variety of financial products for businesses and high net worth individuals. Service managers will run separate operations overseeing staffs of commercial loan officers, business deposit consultants, private bankers, trust officers, private mortgage consultants, retail bankers, investment managers and financial consultants. At full capacity, Wells Fargo expects there will be 115 staff members, nearly half of them managers and professionals.
Integrated service options are common at many bank branches, especially among larger banks. But Kris Nishihira, Wells Fargo’s vice president and business deposit consultant manager for South Bay and Long Beach, said the new complex will offer a wider range of services than most banks.
“Although my team focuses on business banking, a customer can also get estate planning or mortgage products through our partners all in one place,” he said.
Big Money, Clean Air?
TCW Group Inc., the L.A.-based asset management giant, will manage a large clean energy fund targeting European companies.
TCW teamed up with reinsurance giant Swiss Re and environmental consultancy Conning & Co. to raise the European Clean Energy Fund, which drew $444 million from institutional investors in Europe, Canada and the United States.
Although raising the money was a joint effort, TCW will manage the fund by itself. It will provide mezzanine and private equity capital, and will target clean power projects with attractive cash flows and expected returns. The fund also will seek out projects that generate carbon credits and/or renewable energy certificates that can be traded.
“Rapidly increasing demand for clean energy sources makes the launch of this fund very timely,” said R. Blair Thomas, group managing director and head of TCW’s energy and infrastructure business.
Thomas cited power market deregulation, technology advances, climate change concerns, and the Kyoto Protocol as creating an attractive investment environment for the fund.
No word yet from TCW about funds for projects to combat LA smog.
Loan Rangers
Municipal, state and federal politicians are all jumping on the bandwagon to help borrowers as the fallout from the implosion of the subprime sector spreads.
In Southern California, the epicenter of the exotic home loan industry, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, are at the forefront of initiatives designed to benefit borrowers.
Last week, Garcetti took his first public step by convening a City Hall meeting with First American Corp. and non-profit Operation HOPE. Garcetti hopes to come up with solutions for Angelenos overwhelmed by the skyrocketing costs of mortgage payments for adjustable or variable rate mortgage loans.
Part of the solution will be a free counseling service to help homeowners combat mortgage default, or worse, bankruptcy. Access to capital in the form of restructured, lower-interest rate loans offered by First American is also on the table for troubled borrowers in what Garcetti called “special cases.”
Meanwhile, on the federal level, Waters, whose district includes South Los Angeles, has teamed up with Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank to introduce a bill that would put Federal Housing Administration money into a larger “affordable housing” fund.
The bill aims to make FHA loans more marketable by increasing amounts insured under the program in high cost areas such as South L.A., which has a high penetration of subprime lending. Under the proposal, it will be easier for low-income borrowers to get FHA loans without down payments with insurance premiums would be based on credit risk.
Proponents believe that this measure will level the playing field and create a better alternative for future subprime borrowers. The FHA played a big part in boosting home ownership among poorer and riskier borrowers before the rise to prominence of for-profit subprime lenders such as Fremont General Corp.
Some estimates put the number of subprime borrowers at risk for default at up to 460,000 in California and 2.4 million nationwide.
Staff reporter Jabulani Leffall can be reached at
[email protected]
, or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
