Wachovia Securities

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Wachovia Securities, located in Richmond, Virginia, is the third largest brokerage firm in the United States as of 2004 with $652 billion retail client assets under management. It is a subsidiary of Wachovia Corporation.

Wachovia Securities began, as a result of the banking arms of First Union Corporation and Wachovia Corporation merging, as well as the June 2003 acquisition of Prudential Securities. On First Union side it began as the investment firm of J.C. Wheat & Co. in 1934. Wheat fostered growth through mergers, including the 1971 merger with First Securities that created Wheat First Securities, Inc. and the 1988 merger with Butcher & Singer, a successful Philadelphia-based securities firm established in 1910; the firm then became known as Wheat First Butcher Singer. In August 1997, the privately held Wheat First Butcher Singer agreed to be acquired for just under $500 million by the Charlotte, North Carolina-based First Union bank. The brokerage firm changed its name to Wheat First Union, reflecting its newly acquired status. In April 1999, First Union acquired Chicago-based investment bank and brokerage Everen Capital Corp. for $1.1 billion. On the Wachovia side, Wachovia Corporation acquired the brokerage firm Interstate Johnson Lane in April 1999, and changed the name to IJL Wachovia.