A Wachovia branch is shown in New York City. The company acknowledged that up to 100 mortgage-related jobs in the Bay State could be lost in the wake of its July 25 decision to exit the wholesale mortgage lending market.
Just last year, Wachovia Corp. executives were in Boston talking with financial services attorneys about expanding the company’s presence here.
Today, the company is acknowledging that up to 100 mortgage-related jobs in the Bay State could be lost in the wake of its July 25 decision to exit the wholesale mortgage lending market, following its announcement of nearly $8.9 billion in subprime mortgage-related losses last month.
Wachovia spokesman Don Vecchiarello said the company wants “to focus on serving the needs of customers who have relationships with the bank and who are located in geographies where Wachovia franchises are located.”
The Charlotte, N.C.-based financial services giant’s move could affect up to 100 Massachusetts jobs and will remove the state’s 23rd-largest mortgage lender from the picture, since Wachovia will now do only retail loans and has no retail presence in Massachusetts.
Through June 2008, Wachovia closed about $217 million in mortgage loans here, ranking it no. 23 of nearly 1,200 lenders here, according to data from The Warren Group, Banker & Tradesman’s publisher.
Wachovia employs about 1,200 in Massachusetts, roughly one percent of its entire workforce. “Less than 100” work in mortgage-related businesses, company spokeswoman Jennifer Darwin said, all employed at four former offices of World Savings Bank in Braintree and Wilmington.
Wachovia bought California-based World Savings in 2006.
“World Savings was all the pay option [adjustable rate] loans. I’ve read and heard that they are closing that whole part that got in trouble,” said Brian Koss, managing partner at Mortgage Network in Danvers, which competed with Wachovia in the wholesale arena.
Darwin declined comment on World Savings, but Wachovia announced July 22 that it had already cut 2,200 retail mortgage-related staff company-wide and would be laying off 4,400 more within the next year.
The company will also eliminate 4,400 open and contract positions.
Wachovia’s other Massachusetts presence includes Calibre & Wachovia Wealth Management Waltham, which employs about 50. Its asset management division, Evergreen Investments, is headquartered in both Boston and Charlotte and employs 450 people here. The company also runs 37 Wachovia Securities offices in Massachusetts, including 14 in Boston.
Darwin said employees at these offices won’t be affected by future cuts. Only mortgage-related employees could, potentially, be affected, she said.
