The bank will sell mutual funds in the U.S. through its network of 15,000 advisors assembled through acquisitions, including a $4.5 billion payment to Prudential Financial Inc. in 2009 for the remaining stake in a joint venture. The business includes the former A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. franchise, "historically one of the largest and most successful distributors of mutual funds," Burton Greenwald, a consultant, said in an e-mail.

That may be less important than it once was as investors are likely to demand access to products created by other fund providers as well as Well Fargo, Greenwald said. The bank's funds must outperform the average to get recommendations from its brokers because of perceived conflicts, he said.

Debt Crisis

"Pushing your own products to retail investors is no longer popular," said Sophie Schmitt, a senior analyst at Aite Group LLC.

Morningstar assigns four or five stars to 52 percent of the Wells Fargo Advantage funds, compared with about one-third for the industry. More than 65 percent of the assets held in the funds aren't subject to a load, a charge tacked onto the sale of the fund, according to Morningstar.

Niedermeyer wagers that Wells Fargo can woo institutional clients from European firms grappling with that region's sovereign-debt crisis. The lender has eight salespeople in Europe and plans to add five more, he said.

For Sale

Deutsche Bank sought to sell asset-management businesses overseeing almost 400 billion euros ($513 billion) to Guggenheim Partners LLC before talks broke down. The firms may reach a deal for the bank's real estate and infrastructure unit, the lender said in a May 11 statement, while Dexia SA, the bailed-out Franco-Belgian lender, is selling a unit that manages about 80 billion euros. The uncertainty led some European clients to move money to Wells Fargo last year, Niedermeyer said.

Wells Fargo, which manages only about $2 billion in offshore funds, can challenge firms such as BlackRock and Pimco to be within the top 20 in the next five years, he said. The bank could sell other products, including those that can be pitched to small-and medium-sized college endowments.

Growth may invite scrutiny. Mike Mayo, an analyst at CLSA Ltd., questioned executives on the bank's earnings call last month about whether investment-banking expansion represents "mission creep" from their core commercial-banking business.