Wells Fargo Expects Improvement In Mortgage Market Despite Headwinds

Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) was one of the banks presenting at the US Large Cap Banks 2013 BAAB Conference. A recurrent theme at the conference was banks’ emphasis on expense discipline and the onset of strong competition in loans such as cards, indirect auto and in retail mortgages. Credit Suisse research analysts Moshe Orenbuch, Jill Glaser and Lesley Robertshaw, who also attended the conference, observed, “Management’s teams noted that revenue headwinds remain given the persistence of the low rate environment, increased loan competition and declining mortgage banking activity.” Banks have been taking an axe to costs, and JPMorgan Chase…