Wachovia Securities

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Wachovia Securities arrived under that name in 2002, when First Union Securities was combined with IJL Wachovia after First Union adopted the Wachovia name. Its Richmond, Virginia roots ran deeper than the new signage: the brokerage lineage included J.C. Wheat & Co., founded there in 1934, plus the growth-minded First Union brokerage operation.

On July 1, 2003, Wachovia and Prudential Financial combined their retail brokerage businesses as Wachovia Securities, LLC. The Richmond-headquartered firm brought together Wachovia’s brokerage network and Prudential Securities, creating one enormous field of financial advisors, branch offices, account statements, and suits quietly contemplating the market’s next mood swing.

Wachovia acquired A.G. Edwards in 2007 and folded its retail brokerage business into Wachovia Securities on January 1, 2008. The combined operation’s headquarters moved to St. Louis, Missouri—A.G. Edwards territory—giving the brand a new home without making its Richmond chapter disappear from the corporate scrapbook.

After Wells Fargo completed its acquisition of Wachovia on December 31, 2008, Wachovia Securities, LLC became Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC effective May 1, 2009. The old Wachovia Securities name left behind a distinctly 2000s vision of nationwide brokerage: polished advisors, green-and-blue branding, and a whole lot of confidence in the quarterly statement.

Our Wachovia Securities collection celebrates the brokerage-era badge that connected Richmond roots, St. Louis scale, and the financial-industry urge to merge first and sort out the letterhead later.