Wachovia Retirement Services

A.G. Edwards, Inc. was an American financial services holding company; its principal wholly owned subsidiary was A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., which operated as a full-service securities broker-dealer in the United States and Europe. The firm provided securities and commodities brokerage, investment banking, trust services, asset management, financial and retirement planning, private client services, investment management, and other related financial services to individual, governmental, and institutional clients.

A.G. Edwards was a member of the New York Stock Exchange and other major stock and commodities exchanges. The firm's global headquarters were located in the Downtown West area of St. Louis, Missouri. The company traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AGE.

History

The company was founded in 1887 when Albert Gallatin Edwards and his son opened for business in St. Louis. It was the first St. Louis brokerage to handle transactions on the New York Stock Exchange, buying a seat on the NYSE in 1898.

Due to increased capital needs for its branch system, A.G. Edwards was among the first brokerage firms to go public. On November 1971, 445,000 shares of stock were offered to the public at $12 a share.

As of March 29, 2007, the company had over 740 locations in 50 states, the District of Columbia, London, and Geneva. The company served its clients through its branch-office networks staffed with 6,618 financial consultants, managing $374 billion in total client assets, and $44 billion in fee based accounts. During its fiscal year 2007, ending February 28th, A.G. Edwards had net revenues of $3,110,500,000 and net earnings of $331,400,000.

On May 31, 2007, the company announced that it would be acquired by Wachovia Corporation in a $6.8 billion deal. On September 28, 2007, the company's shareholders voted in favor of the merger with Wachovia. The acquisition closed on October 1, 2007, and A.G. Edwards became a wholly owned subsidiary of Wachovia Corporation.

Following the merger, Wachovia moved the world headquarters of combined retail brokerage, Wachovia Securities, from Richmond, Virginia to A.G. Edwards' previous headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Subsequently, Wachovia eliminated the A. G. Edwards brand in favor of Wachovia Securities.

On December 31, 2008, Wachovia Corporation was purchased by Wells Fargo & Co after the bank was nearly taken over by the FDIC. Wachovia had purchased Golden West Financial and its subsidiary World Savings in mid 2007. The failure of the sub-prime market, which made up most of World Saving's nearly $200 billion mortgage portfolio put significant strain on Wachovia and eventually caused its collapse. On July 1, 2009, Wachovia Securities was renamed Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Investments, which included the former A.G. Edwards business lines.

Controversy

In December 2001, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin launched a civil complaint against A.G. Edwards in response to a string of fraud allegations against a former broker of the company, William McHugh, by retirees of the former Boston Edison.

The complaint cites A.G. Edwards for its failure to properly supervise McHugh as he steered over $1 million of the retirees' severance money into failed investments between 1996 and 2001.

Benjamin Edwards III

Former CEO, Benjamin Edwards III, who presided over A.G. Edwards as it grew from a St. Louis regional brokerage firm into one of the largest in the nation, died April 20, 2009 from prostate cancer at the age of 77.

References

1. ^ "Contact Us." A. G. Edwards. Retrieved on August 19, 2009.
2. ^ http://blog.wellsfargo.com/wachovia/2009/06/ag_edwards_a_history.html A.G. Edwards: A History
3. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060104082647/www.agedwards.com/public/content/sc/aboutage/history.html A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.
4. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070404015725/www.agedwards.com/public/content/sc/aboutage/ir/finhigh.html A.G. Edwards Financial Highlights
5. ^ News of acquisition by Wachovia
6. ^ Report about finalization of acquisition

Wachovia Corporate & Institutional - Retirement Services ...

Wachovia Retirement Services provides custom retirement plans and investment solutions to help organizations attract, retain, and motivate employees.

...

Wachovia Retirement Services - Manage & Supplement Your 401(k)

Webinar information available Did you miss one of our special Webinars? We have provided several ways for you to understand more about these important topics:

...

Wachovia Retirement Services - Manage & Supplement Your 401(k)

Webinar information available Did you miss our special Webinar "Navigating Your Retirement Plan through Difficult Markets"? We have provided several ways for you to understand more ...

...

Wachovia Welcome to Wachovia Retirement Services

Please choose the correct Web site from the two options below:

...

Wachovia Retirement Services - Automated Telephone Access

Automated Telephone Access. To reach our automated Participant Account Services (PAS) line, dial (866) 665-1282. With your PIN, you can use your touch-tone phone to select from the ...

...

401khelpcenter.com - Wachovia Retirement Services Receives Top ...

Annual study reflects Wachovia's strong service commitment to retirement plan sponsors.

...

Wachovia Retirement Services to Acquire PFPC Retirement Services ...

Wachovia Media Contacts: Elizabeth Hodges 704-383-5188 Laura Fay 617-210-3867 Wachovia Retirement Services to Acquire PFPC Retirement Services Business

...

Wachovia Welcome to Wachovia Retirement Services

Welcome to Wachovia Retirement Services. Please choose the correct Web site from the two options below:

...

401khelpcenter.com - Wachovia Retirement to Acquire PFPC Retirement ...

Wachovia Corporation (announced that it reached an agreement to acquire the retirement-services record keeping and third-party servicing business of PFPC Inc.

...

Wachovia Retirement Services: Private Company Information ...

Get Wachovia Retirement Services company research & investing information. Find executive management and the latest company developments.

...