‘It Made Business Sense’
Dailycsr.com – 04 January 2019 – Wells Fargo has commitment to support the “fast-growing Hispanic community” be it a homeowner, a consumer or small business holder, the company will be there at all the level to support the “emerging U.S. economy”, told the chief executive of Wells Fargo, Tim Sloan.
L’Attitude conference, an annual event, was held for the first time to highlight the growing impact created by the “Hispanics in the U.S.” Sloan addressed the gathering by pointing out Wells Fargo’s contribution in “this growing market in recent years” which the company continues to carry on.
According to the chief executive, Wells Fargo has a ten years commitment of spending “$125 billion” in financing “Hispanic homeownership”, while setting aside “$100 million” to invest in “minority- and women-owned small businesses”. During “The New Mainstream Economy” panel discussion, which was moderated by Sol Trujillo, “global media-communications executive”, Sloan said:
“We’re seeing major changes in demographics in terms of how the Hispanic population is going to make a huge difference in the American economy — even beyond what it has made so far”.
The panel further included:
“Geoff Colvin, Fortune Magazine’s senior editor at large, and Ralph de la Vega, chairman of De La Vega Group and former vice chairman of AT&T Inc”.
Talking about the aim of Wells Fargo’s “$125 billion commitment” towards the Hispanic community, Sloan informed that the plan is “to create more Hispanic homeowners than has ever been created in this economy. Because we know homeownership is fundamental in terms of good economic growth.”
Sloan sees this step as a major positive one, as he added:
“If you’re the largest mortgage lender — or any mortgage lender — in the country, and you don’t have a focus on this segment, you’re making a huge mistake.”
When it comes to lending money for business into the Hispanic community, Wells Fargo has always attempted to “better serve”, noted Sloan, as he claimed that data showed a high rate of “small business formation in the Hispanic population”, that will exceeds even the “national average”, and it is mostly seen among the “women and millennials” of Hispanic community. In Sloan’s words:
“You have to look at the data, where small businesses are really being created. And you have to put your folks across the table from these entrepreneurs to help them succeed. That’s where the opportunities are.”
“We have so many successful entrepreneurs, or soon-to-be-successful entrepreneurs out there, but they don’t have the (necessary) skills. They have a great idea, they have lots of energy, and they have the willingness to put in the hard work to succeed, but they don’t necessarily have the background. So part of what we are doing is investing tens of millions of dollars in financial education focused on entrepreneurs to make sure they have the skills to take their idea and make it a success. You have to be focused from a segment standpoint, and you have to make the investment to help these entrepreneurs succeed.”
Wells Fargo’s decision to expand into the market spaces near the country borders makes “business sense”, said Sloan, as he explained:
“One of the reasons is because that’s where our customers are. That’s where the growth is. It is a matter of using the data and looking at the fastest-growing geographies and segments in the country. And frequently, they’re on the borders. So we want to make sure we have the right consumer strategy there, and also the small business and middle market business strategy. We want to make sure we have the right people there that speak the language or have relationships in the market. It makes all the sense in the world.”
References:
3blmedia.com
L’Attitude conference, an annual event, was held for the first time to highlight the growing impact created by the “Hispanics in the U.S.” Sloan addressed the gathering by pointing out Wells Fargo’s contribution in “this growing market in recent years” which the company continues to carry on.
According to the chief executive, Wells Fargo has a ten years commitment of spending “$125 billion” in financing “Hispanic homeownership”, while setting aside “$100 million” to invest in “minority- and women-owned small businesses”. During “The New Mainstream Economy” panel discussion, which was moderated by Sol Trujillo, “global media-communications executive”, Sloan said:
“We’re seeing major changes in demographics in terms of how the Hispanic population is going to make a huge difference in the American economy — even beyond what it has made so far”.
The panel further included:
“Geoff Colvin, Fortune Magazine’s senior editor at large, and Ralph de la Vega, chairman of De La Vega Group and former vice chairman of AT&T Inc”.
Talking about the aim of Wells Fargo’s “$125 billion commitment” towards the Hispanic community, Sloan informed that the plan is “to create more Hispanic homeowners than has ever been created in this economy. Because we know homeownership is fundamental in terms of good economic growth.”
Sloan sees this step as a major positive one, as he added:
“If you’re the largest mortgage lender — or any mortgage lender — in the country, and you don’t have a focus on this segment, you’re making a huge mistake.”
When it comes to lending money for business into the Hispanic community, Wells Fargo has always attempted to “better serve”, noted Sloan, as he claimed that data showed a high rate of “small business formation in the Hispanic population”, that will exceeds even the “national average”, and it is mostly seen among the “women and millennials” of Hispanic community. In Sloan’s words:
“You have to look at the data, where small businesses are really being created. And you have to put your folks across the table from these entrepreneurs to help them succeed. That’s where the opportunities are.”
“We have so many successful entrepreneurs, or soon-to-be-successful entrepreneurs out there, but they don’t have the (necessary) skills. They have a great idea, they have lots of energy, and they have the willingness to put in the hard work to succeed, but they don’t necessarily have the background. So part of what we are doing is investing tens of millions of dollars in financial education focused on entrepreneurs to make sure they have the skills to take their idea and make it a success. You have to be focused from a segment standpoint, and you have to make the investment to help these entrepreneurs succeed.”
Wells Fargo’s decision to expand into the market spaces near the country borders makes “business sense”, said Sloan, as he explained:
“One of the reasons is because that’s where our customers are. That’s where the growth is. It is a matter of using the data and looking at the fastest-growing geographies and segments in the country. And frequently, they’re on the borders. So we want to make sure we have the right consumer strategy there, and also the small business and middle market business strategy. We want to make sure we have the right people there that speak the language or have relationships in the market. It makes all the sense in the world.”
References:
3blmedia.com
Companies