SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tom Pizzo, chairman of Wells Fargo Century, part of Wells Fargo & Company , said today he plans to retire from the company at the end of this June. Under his leadership over the last seven years, the business has grown into one of the nation's largest bank-affiliated companies engaged in factoring, or accounts receivable financing.
Stuart Brister, who was named president and chief executive officer of the factoring and trade finance business in May of last year, will assume full control upon Pizzo's retirement. In addition, Wells Fargo Century also named veteran Steve Giannetta to be the new Northeast Regional Manager, effective immediately.
"I'll be leaving Wells Fargo Century in the hands of an exceptional management team," said Pizzo. "Stuart has done a great job in his time with us, first in our Southeast region and then nationally, as president and CEO. Steve is an excellent national sales manager and a natural fit for his new role as regional manager in the Northeast and the responsibility for client administration."
"Tom is a class act, and Century would not be where it is today were it not for his years of leadership" said Peter Schwab, head of the Asset-Based Lending Group of Wells Fargo Wholesale Banking. "He will be dearly missed by his colleagues and clients alike."
Pizzo became president and CEO of Wells Fargo Century -- then Century Business Credit Corporation -- in 2000, just after its acquisition by Foothill Capital Corporation, a Wells Fargo company (today, Wells Fargo Foothill). Over the next seven years, he lead Century through its successful evolution from a privately-owned firm focused primarily on the New York apparel marketplace, to its current position as one of the largest bank-affiliated factoring companies in the United States. Under Pizzo, Wells Fargo Century established a significant presence in the West and Southeast, and today, the company has five offices in four states.
Pizzo first joined Century in 1992 as an executive vice president after seven years with Security Pacific Business Credit, whose factoring portfolio was purchased by C&S Commercial Corporation (later NationsBanc Commercial Corporation). He had worked for Citicorp, moving through the ranks over sixteen years to be head of its factoring division. He began his career at CIT Financial Corporation in 1962.
Brister has 20 years of experience in the factoring and commercial finance industries. Before joining Wells Fargo, he was president of the Commercial Services Division of GMAC Commercial Finance, and held the similar position at Bank of America. He is a member of the Atlanta Venture Forum, Association for Corporate Growth as well as the M&A Advisory Group and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Georgia.
Giannetta has held a variety of positions at Century, including business development officer and Northeast Regional Sales Manager. After three years at Bankers Trust Corporation, Giannetta began a 14-year tenure in 1987 at Security Pacific Corporation -- a business which would pass to C&S/Sovran, then NationsBank Commercial Corporation, then to Bank of America Commercial Corporation. He is a member of the National Association of Credit Managers and the Commercial Finance Association.
Wells Fargo Century provides companies with factoring services, trade finance and a broad range of other financing solutions to help manufacturers, wholesalers and importers build their businesses. Clients can achieve their goals through increased credit availability and a high proactive level of service by leveraging off the extensive resources and experience of Wells Fargo Century, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Foothill and part of Wells Fargo Wholesale Banking. Visit http://www.wfcentury.com/ for more information.
Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company with $575 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through almost 6,000 stores and the Internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only bank in the U.S., and one of only two banks worldwide, to have the highest credit rating from both Moody's Investors Service, "Aaa," and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, "AAA."
