Former Wells Fargo Advisors head Jim Hays joins BridgeFT

After stepping down from his position at the helm of Wells Fargo Advisors last summer and announcing his retirement to cap a 35-year industry career, Jim Hays is going back to work in wealthtech.

BridgeFT is a cloud-native, API-first wealth infrastructure software company operating out of Chicago that crafts tools for financial institutions, fintech firms and RIAs. On Wednesday, the firm announced that Hays is joining their team as a strategic advisor.

Hays was most recently president and CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors and head of Wells Fargo's wealth and investment management client relationship group. Previously, he served as head of the private banking and investment group at Merrill Lynch.

Hays will work closely with BridgeFT CEO Joe Stensland and the leadership team to help the company position its technology to improve the digital experience of asset managers, wealth managers and fintech companies. 

The firm says this is crucial now as the independent broker-dealers and registered investment advisors capitalize on the demand for independent advice and differentiated digital experiences for themselves and their clients.

"BridgeFT is transforming the way advisors, broker-dealers, and fintech innovators think about their tech offerings," Hays said in a statement. "I look forward to helping the world-class team at BridgeFT in helping use their innovative wealthtech-as-a-service model to drive the entrepreneurial spirit of financial services."

"Jim Hays brings a unique perspective and vision to the financial services industry," Stensland added. "We look forward to the advice and wisdom he brings to our strategy, and we are honored that a leader of his caliber is committed to supporting our mission and company."

Hays, who spent three years at Wells Fargo after joining the firm in July 2019, was succeeded by Sol Gindi, the firm's former chief financial officer for the wealth and investment management unit.

Wells Fargo announced as part of its first-quarter earnings that it would no longer disclose how many financial advisors it employs. It had roughly 12,000 on staff after the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase from the previous period but still roughly 1,940 fewer than four years earlier.