CASE STUDY:
INTEGRATING TWO COMPETITIVE WEALTH MANAGEMENT TEAMS AFTER A “MERGER OF EQUALS”
The Situation...
In 2008, Wells Fargo purchased Wachovia in what was pitched as a “merger of equals”. David Carroll, the head of Wachovia’s “Wealth/Brokerage/Retirement” division was selected as the leader of the combined organization. David selected Steve as the head of strategy, and on point to lead the integration and subsequent consolidated strategic plan.
Challenge
After interviewing 50+ key leaders across both teams, it was clear that both organizations had best practices to contribute to the combined organization. However, there were significant challenges with the culture, leadership team alignment, and dynamics within the individual functional areas as personalities and politics were preventing the group from acting as one cohesive organization.
Action
Steve led the Target Operating Model (“TOM”) process to identify the optimal go-forward solution for the combined organization; this involved leveraging a well-structured process of building joint assessment teams for each functional/operational area – everything from systems integration to marketing team alignment. In 2010, once the core integration was complete, Steve then assembled the 50+ leaders into a strategic planning process that began with five task forces (Customer, Channel, Products, Operations, Financials) who worked together to assess to firm’s strategic position and future opportunities. He then worked with the team to create a comprehensive Strategic Plan – including Mission, Vision, Core Value Propositions, and set of 7 “Strategic Initiatives” – that would help the firm achieve its financial objectives. Importantly, Steve then constructed and implementation plan that included joint leadership for each of the Strategic Initiatives – ensuring accountability and requiring partnership across both legacy organizations.
Result
While not all of the Strategic Initiatives were ultimately successful, most of them helped create and/or enhance the business model allowing for 30% NIAT CAGR growth rate over the next 7 years. Specifically, the SI teams created an entirely new digital platform, a new “Wells Fargo Investment Institute” thought leadership team/program, and Advisor Best Practices.