Wachovia Corp., a financial powerhouse east of the Mississippi River, is launching a major campaign to capture market share in California, lured like so many other banks by the state's huge population and growing economy.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank isn't exactly a stranger here. In recent years, it has purchased institutional brokerage Metropolitan West Securities in Brentwood, Irvine-based auto lender Westcorp and San Diego's AmNet Mortgage Inc.
But with its latest acquisition -- Oakland's Golden West Financial Corp., the parent of World Savings -- Wachovia plans to reveal its full face to Californians.
Beginning next year, Wachovia will convert World Savings offices into Wachovia Bank branches. The aim will be to create what Chief Executive G. Kennedy "Ken" Thompson likes to call a "universal bank," with products for every personal and business financial need.
The strategy will put it head-to-head in the state with Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., among a host of others.
In addition to the 120 existing World Savings branches in California, Wachovia is scouring the state for sites to open 30 to 50 branches a year and is looking to buy smaller California banks, Thompson says. And its trainers are preparing World Savings employees to pitch an array of checking-account options, auto loans, mutual funds and financial management services. It's a much more ambitious menu than World Savings' bread-and-butter business of mortgages and certificates of deposit.
"I'm giddy about the opportunity to expand in California," Thompson said at the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles last week during a speech to introduce Wachovia and his vision to business leaders in the region.
In the speech and an interview with The Times, Thompson said he wanted Wachovia to become America's No. 1 retail and small-business bank. That can be accomplished only by capturing a major share in California, he said, because the Golden State accounts for 12% of the nation's population, 13% of its gross domestic product, 19% of its foreign trade, and more millionaires and drivers than anywhere else.
Wachovia's stock has gained modestly this year, rising 2.7% since Jan. 1, compared with the 9.3% advance posted by the Standard & Poor's 500 index of blue-chip stocks. It fell 9 cents Friday, to $54.30.
