Wells Fargo Investment Institute Appoints Audrey Kaplan Head of Global Equity Strategy

Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII) today announces the appointment of Audrey Kaplan as head of global equity strategy, based in New York.

Kaplan will establish investment strategy for global equities for WFII, which is comprised of more than 120 strategists and analysts focused on investment strategy, asset allocation, manager research, portfolio management, options strategy and alternative investments. The equity strategy she sets will be used by the investment professionals working on behalf of individual and institutional clients with $1.9 trillion in assets under management through Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment (WIM) business units: Abbot Downing, Institutional Retirement and Trust, Wells Fargo Advisors, Wells Fargo Asset Management, Wealth Management and WFII. She also will establish the equity strategy methodology, drive investment thought leadership and communicate equity strategy to internal leaders, investment professionals, and clients, as well as the media.

Kaplan joins Wells Fargo with more than 25 years of global investment industry experience focused on equity research, quantitative analysis and portfolio strategy in global and domestic markets. Most recently, she led the international equities portfolio management and research team at Federated Investors, Inc.

"The addition of Audrey Kaplan significantly fortifies our ability to continue to deliver the highest quality investment expertise to help our clients succeed financially," said Darrell Cronk, president of WFII and chief investment officer of WIM.

Paul Christopher, head of global market strategy for WFII, said, "Audrey's breadth of industry expertise — rooted in her investment leadership roles in European and Asian markets — make her uniquely qualified to enhance and galvanize our global equities capabilities. I'm delighted that we're bringing on a leader of the highest caliber for this integral role in helping lead our already deep bench of talented equity strategy team members who provide timely advice and proprietary research to our clients when they need it the most."

Previously, Kaplan led Rochdale Investment Management's quantitative research group. She also performed hedge fund strategy consulting with BlueCrest Capital Management in London, European quantitative strategy for Merrill Lynch in London, global emerging markets research with Robert Fleming in London, and equity, fixed income and derivatives analysis with Salomon Brothers in Tokyo and New York. She earned a bachelor of science degree in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's degree in finance from London Business School.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company WFC is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,200 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune's 2017 rankings of America's largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

About Wells Fargo Investment Institute

Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII) is a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company, providing investment research, strategy, manager research and thought leadership within the Wealth and Investment Management division (WIM), with the goal of supplying world class advice to the company's financial and wealth advisers.

Wells Fargo Investment Institute, Inc. ("WFII") is a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

Abbot Downing provides products and services through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and its various affiliates and subsidiaries.

Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust is a business unit of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management, a division within the Wells Fargo & Company enterprise, provides financial products and services through bank and brokerage affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company.

Wells Fargo Advisors is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, but is not licensed or registered with any financial services regulatory authority outside of the U.S. Non-U.S. residents who maintain U.S.-based financial services account(s) with Wells Fargo Advisors may not be afforded certain protections conferred by legislation and regulations in their country of residence in respect of any investments, investment transactions or communications made with Wells Fargo Advisors.

Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) is a trade name used by the asset management businesses of Wells Fargo & Company. Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company, provides investment advisory and administrative services for Wells Fargo Funds. Other affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company provide subadvisory and other services for the funds. The funds are distributed by Wells Fargo Funds Distributor, LLC, Member FINRA, an affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

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