Wells Fargo Government & Institutional Banking (GIB) named four public finance veterans to key management roles in Wells Fargo Securities (WFS), and one industry expert to the leadership team of its commercial banking practice.
Donald G. Wenzel, Jr., a 25-year JP Morgan Chase commercial banking veteran, is joining GIB as executive vice president and leader of Business Operations Risk. Splitting time between Charlotte and Louisville, Kentucky, Wenzel will be part of GIB’s first line of defense, helping to ensure operational soundness in executing business processes for GIB segments. Over his career, he has earned roles of increasing responsibility at JP Morgan Chase, including Risk and Control for the Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education; Commercial Banking Oversight & Controls; and, most recently, as Business Operations Risk director. He graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law and worked as an attorney. He holds a bachelor’s from Denison University. Wenzel begins at Wells Fargo on June 26.
New to the WFS Housing team:
Rebecca Reape, director. Based in New York, she will cover state and local housing-finance agencies, and real estate development clients. A 19-year affordable housing veteran, she previously served as a Public Finance vice president at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, helping to grow the firm’s housing practice significantly. There, she provided investment banking services to finance affordable housing for single and multifamily borrowers through municipal bond offerings. Reape holds a bachelor’s in business management from Bucknell University.
Matthew Engler, director. Based in Boston, this 15-year affordable housing veteran will cover state and local housing-finance agencies and real estate development clients. In 2015 and 2016, he served as a Barclays director, helping increase the firm’s housing bond underwriting market share. Before that, he was a senior vice president for City Securities Corporation and a UBS Municipal Securities Group associate director. Engler holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, an M.A. from Tufts University, and a bachelor’s from Bowdoin College.
“Wells Fargo is proud of our longstanding commitment and presence in the mortgage markets, and we continue to expand our housing practice,” said Nancy Feldman, interim head of Public Finance. “As the nation’s largest investor in Low Income Housing Tax Credits and the top lender in multifamily construction, we can now serve the needs of single and multifamily clients even better.”
Wells Fargo is the largest investor in affordable multifamily housing in the U.S., according to the research by the accounting firm Cohn Reznick. With increasing demand for affordable rental options nationwide, Wells Fargo is helping to bridge the affordability gap as the No. 1 LIHTC investor for affordable multifamily housing in the U.S., with $9 billion in investments over the last five years.
New to the WFS Education and Nonprofit Banking (ENB) team:
Harper Watters, managing director. Based in New York, this 23-year higher education and public finance veteran is now responsible for expanding ENB’s business with public and private institutions. Most recently, he was associate vice president and treasurer for Cornell University. He serves on the Treasury Symposium Program Committee at the Treasury Institute for Higher Education. Previously, Watters worked for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS Securities in higher education public finance groups. He holds a master’s from Carnegie Mellon University. Watters begins at Wells Fargo Securities on July 24.
Lawrence Stephens, director. Based in New York, this 19-year public finance veteran most recently served as a Public Finance director for PNC Capital Markets’ New York Banking and Higher Education groups. Before that, he served as a Public Finance executive director for JP Morgan Securities. He holds a bachelor’s in economics and finance from Lafayette College. Stephens began at Wells Fargo Securities on June 19.
“With these hires, we’ve added 40-plus years of experience in delivering public financing ideas and solutions for our clients,” said Sally Bednar, co-head of Higher Education with Patrick Russell. “We looked for senior bankers with higher education and nonprofit expertise to expand our practice and found these qualities in Harper and Lawrence.”