Wells Fargo loses $161M team to Ameriprise

Wells Fargo continues to bleed advisor talent as yet another team leaves the wirehouse for a competitor.

This week’s departure features wirehouse veterans John Burg and Tamara Colon, who’ve opted to shift their practice to Ameriprise's employee side.

The pair will operate as the Burg Group in Temecula, California. They managed about $161 in assets, according to their new employer. Joining them will be client services associate Amy Irvine.

“We wanted a firm with size and scale, and chose Ameriprise because of their commitment to wealth management and financial planning,” Burg said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo declined to comment.

Burg began his 33-year-long career in the financial services industry in 1986 at Diversified Securities, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. He worked for four other companies, including Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney, before landing at Wells Fargo in 2008.

Colon has worked in the industry 17 years, including stints at Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney.

The team reports to Joseph Defalco, an Ameriprise branch manager.

Their departure is the latest in a string for Wells Fargo. In the nearly two years since it was revealed that the banking side of Wells Fargo engaged in questionable sales practices and open accounts without client consent, the firm has lost more 860 advisors.

Meanwhile, Ameriprise’s efforts to attract more wirehouse advisors to its independent and employee broker-dealer units appear to be paying off. The Minneapolis-based firm's head count increased by 3% year-over-year and now totals about 9,900 advisors, according to Ameriprise's second quarter earnings report.