A giant bank's asset management chief is about to retire.

Michael J. Niedermeyer Wells Fargo Asset Management Chief Executive Officer

A company spokesman confirms that Mike Niedermeyer, CEO of Wells Fargo Asset Management [profile] and executive vice president of Wells Fargo & Company, will retire in March after more than 28 years with the company, "allowing him more time to focus on various personal pursuits." Niedermeyer, 61, reports to David Carroll, senior EVP and head of Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management.

There's no word yet on who will take Niedermeyer's place.

"Over the course of the next several months, Mike will work closely with his leadership team to transition his responsibilities," the spokesman tells MFWire in an e-mailed statement. "Our Wells Fargo recruiting team is partnering with an external firm to conduct a thorough internal and external search for the next leader of Wells Fargo Asset Management."

An alumnus of both Carroll College and the University of Oregon, Niedermeyer was a PM at the U.S. National Bank of Oregon before joining Wells Fargo in 1987. He started out as a fixed income PM in the asset management division of Wells Fargo's private bank, rising to chief fixed-income officer and group-head of Wells Capital Management in 1994 and then to group head of Wells Fargo's institutional asset management businesses in 1998.

Under Niedermeyer, WFAM integrated several acquired asset managers, including: Evergreen Investments (part of Wells Fargo's purchase of all Wachovia during the 2008-2009 financial crisis); Montgomery Asset Management, Norwest Investment Management, and Strong Capital Management.

"During his long tenure with the firm, Mike's commitment to doing what's right for our clients and team members has helped us significantly build out our investment capabilities, and grow assets under management to $480 billion today -- making Wells Fargo Asset Management one of the top 20 investment firms in the world," the spokesman states. "We feel confident that he has developed a team who can seamlessly carry on his legacy and wish him the very best in his future endeavors."

WFAM includes: institutional asset management shop Wells Capital Management; fixed income and stable value shop Galliard Capital Management; fundamental, quantitative equity shop Golden Capital Management; the Wells Fargo (Lux) Worldwide Fund; Wells Fargo Asset Management Luxembourg SA; and a mutual fund business, Wells Fargo Funds. All told, WFAM has 1,450 employees, and $480 billion in AUM (including $243 billion in about 100 mutual funds as of November 30).

Niedermeyer's leadership team includes: Wayne Badorf, head of intermediary sales for WFAM and EVP of Wells Fargo & Company; Kirk Hartman, president and chief investment officer of Wells Capital Management; Amru Khan, head of institutional sales for WFAM and EVP of Wells Fargo & Company; Andrew Owen, head of affiliated managers for WFAM and EVP of Wells Fargo & Company; and Karla Rabusch, president of Wells Fargo Funds, head of Wells Fargo Funds Management, and EVP of Wells Fargo & Company. 

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