Wells Fargo Securities Expands Research Team with Five New Hires

<p class="bwalignc"><i>New team members deepen and broaden Wells Fargo’s already strong sector expertise</i></p><p><location value="LU/us.ny.nyc" idsrc="xmltag.org">NEW YORK</location>--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Wells Fargo Securities, part of <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo & Company</org> (NYSE:WFC), today announced the addition of five analysts to its growing research team. <org>New Equity Research</org> hires include <person>Peter Stabler</person> in digital media and advertising; <person>Chris Manuel</person> in packaging; <person>Cameron McKnight</person> in gaming; and <person>Frank Mitsch</person> in chemicals. Additionally, <person>George Huang</person> was hired in <org>Municipal Research</org> to cover the healthcare sector. </p><p> “Given the strength of the <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> platform and the firm’s commitment to the capital markets business, we have been able to attract top talent to the Research & Economics department,” said <person>Diane Schumaker-Krieg</person>, global head of Research & Economics at <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org>. “Since 2009, we have hired a total of 26 analysts and currently have 86 senior researchers providing macro insight and coverage of nearly 2,000 securities across fixed income and equities. Our analysts make it a point to collaborate with each other across sectors and asset classes to offer clients a holistic view of the companies within our coverage universe -- an approach that sets us apart from our competitors.” </p><p> Joining the <org>Wells Fargo Equity Research</org> team and reporting to <person>Sam Pearlstein</person> and <person>Todd Wickwire</person>, Co-Heads of <org>Equity Research</org> are: </p><p class="bwmarginl1"><b><person>Peter Stabler</person>, </b>who joined the company in April as a director and senior analyst. Based in <location value="LU/us.ca.sanfrn" idsrc="xmltag.org">San Francisco</location>, Stabler covers the Internet, digital media and advertising sectors, with a particular focus on small- and mid-cap Internet stocks. He joined <org value="ACORN:1648682691" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo Securities</org> after more than four years as a distinguished senior media analyst with Credit Suisse, where he covered advertising, media and the Internet. Before becoming a sell-side analyst, Stabler spent 18 years in the advertising industry. </p><p class="bwmarginl1"><b><person>Chris Manuel</person>, </b>who joined in August as a managing director and senior analyst. Based in <location value="LU/us.oh.clevld" idsrc="xmltag.org">Cleveland</location>, Chris covers the packaging sector. Manuel joined <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> after spending more than a decade at <org value="ACORN:3171889139" idsrc="xmltag.org">KeyBanc Capital Markets</org>, where he led KeyBanc’s highly regarded packaging research franchise for seven years. In <chron>May 2011</chron>, he was named #1 for earnings estimate accuracy in the containers & packaging sector by the <i>Financial Times/Starmine</i>. Prior to joining KeyBanc in 1999, Manuel spent several years in sales with Prudential Insurance & Financial Services. </p><p class="bwmarginl1"><b><person>Cameron McKnight</person>, </b>who joined in July as a director and senior analyst. Based in <location value="LU/us.ny.nyc" idsrc="xmltag.org">New York</location>, McKnight covers the gaming sector. He joined <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> after spending several years leading gaming research at <org>The Buckingham Research Group</org>. Prior to that, he spent the better part of the past decade with JP Morgan. McKnight was a senior gaming analyst in the <org>Equity Research</org> department at JP Morgan in <location value="LU/us.ny.nyc" idsrc="xmltag.org">New York</location> and, prior to relocating to <location value="LC/us" idsrc="xmltag.org">the United States</location> in 2007, he was JP Morgan’s senior gaming analyst in <location value="LC/au" idsrc="xmltag.org">Australia</location>. </p><p class="bwmarginl1"><b><person>Frank Mitsch</person>, </b>who joined <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> in May as a managing director and senior analyst. Based in <location value="LU/us.ny.nyc" idsrc="xmltag.org">New York</location>, Mitsch’s coverage includes the commodity, specialty, and agricultural chemicals sectors. He joined <org value="ACORN:1648682691" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo Securities</org> from <org>BB&T Capital Markets</org> and has covered the chemicals space for more than 15 years. Mitsch began his career as a chemicals consultant with <org>Kline & Company</org>, an international management consulting firm, where he advised both US and European clients. </p><p class="bwmarginl1"> Joining the <org>Wells Fargo Municipal Bond Research</org> team and reporting to <person>Natalie Cohen</person>, head of Municipal Bond research is: </p><p class="bwmarginl1"><b><person>George Huang</person>,</b> who joined <org value="ACORN:1648682691" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo Securities</org> in August as a director and senior analyst. Based in <location value="LU/us.ny.nyc" idsrc="xmltag.org">New York</location>, Huang focuses on healthcare sector research. He joined <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> from Assured Guaranty. Prior to that, Huang covered public power and transportation in the municipal market at <org value="ACORN:2154784820" idsrc="xmltag.org">Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.</org>, and at Moody’s <org>Investors Service, Inc.</org></p>&lt;p> Wells Fargo’s Research team has received many accolades over the past year, a testament to their expertise. Most recently, the firm earned a #5 weighted ranking in <i>Institutional Investor’s</i> annual <org>All-America Fixed-Income Research</org> survey. <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> also ranked #5 among 196 firms in the Wall Street Journal’s 2011 stock picking survey, and ranked #2 in large cap stock picking in 2010 (StarMine). Since <chron>January 2010</chron>, Wells Fargo’s Research team has hosted 14 investor conferences, featuring 1,000 presenting companies and 10,000 one-on-one meetings. </p><p><b>About Wells Fargo</b></p><p><org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo & Company</org> (NYSE:WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with <money>$1.3 trillion</money> in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in <location value="LU/us.ca.sanfrn" idsrc="xmltag.org">San Francisco</location>, <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwellsfargo.com&esheet=50004784&lan=en-US&anchor=wellsfargo.com&index=1&md5=06c8d428be8d27e70ecc106e5eda5f21">wellsfargo.com</a> and <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwachovia.com&esheet=50004784&lan=en-US&anchor=wachovia.com&index=2&md5=69c1762bb629b939540b68676143fc08">wachovia.com</a>), and other distribution channels across <location value="LB/nam" idsrc="xmltag.org">North America</location> and internationally. With approximately 275,000 team members, <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo</org> serves one in three households in America. <org value="NYSE:WFC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Wells Fargo & Company</org> was ranked No. 23 on<i> Fortune’s</i> 2011 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. </p><p> Wells Fargo Securities is the trade name for certain capital markets and investment banking services of Wells Fargo & Company and its subsidiaries, including Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, member FINRA and <org>SIPC</org>, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association. </p><p class="bwalignc"></p><p><img alt="" src="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=bwnews&sty=20110914006399r1&sid=acqr4&distro=nx" /><span class="bwct31415" /></p><p> Wells Fargo & Company<br /><person>Shelley Beason</person>, 704-715-2471 (Media)<br /><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p><p></p><p>Source: Wells Fargo Securities</p>