Wells Fargo 2013 Annual Report Download - page 11

Inaddition, we are supporting environmental
eorts in our communities. Since 2012, we have provided
more than $12billion toward green building and
development initiatives, wind and solar projects, and other
environmental opportunities as part of our commitment
to provide $30billion of environmental financing by 2020.
We also continue to reduce the environmental impact of
our operations, increase our energy eciency, and decrease
waste. Since 2009, customers have completed more than
1.1billion paperless ATM transactions, saving an average of
475 printed ATM receipts per minute. That is enough paper
to circle the earth’s circumference nearly three times—
approximately 73,000 miles!
Managing risk
For more than 160 years, WellsFargo has been in the risk
management business. Our risk management practices
enabled us to emerge from the 2008 financial crisis in far
better shape than many of our competitors.
We are increasing investments in our already strong
risk management practices and in other vital areas such
as cybersecurity. Our track record and risk management
focus allow customers to have confidence in our ethical
standards and our ability to make good decisions. Eachday,
we work hard to ensure that appropriate controls are
in place to reduce risks to our customers, maintain and
increase our competitive market position, and protect
WellsFargo’s long-term safety, soundness, and reputation.
Although we have seen a lot of change over the
years, the fundamentals of our risk management culture
remain the same. We are guided by seven core risk
managementprinciples:
• Relationshipfocus. Take only as much risk as is
appropriate to eciently, eectively, and prudently
serve our customers.
• Understanding risk. Take only risks that we
clearlyunderstand.
• Reputation. Do not engage in activities or business
practices that could cause permanent or irreparable
damage to our reputation.
• Price for risk. Price our business to cover risk to
capital and retain risk only if priced for a sucient
risk-adjusted return.
• Conservatism. Strive to grow our company, but do so
only in a way that supports our long-term goals and
does not compromise our ability to manage our risk.
• Operational excellence. Maintain the infrastructure,
systems, processes, and compliance programs that
support the financial success of our customers.
• Clear accountability.Ensure our lines of business have
primary accountability for risk, while our Corporate
Risk group provides oversight at the enterprise
level. Our Corporate Audit group provides an
independent, objective view to evaluate and improve
the eectiveness of our riskmanagementprocesses.
In appreciation
InApril 2013, Nicholas G. Moore retired from our board
of directors after seven years of service to our company.
Nick provided outstanding leadership as a member of the
board and chair of the Audit and ExaminationCommittee.
Also in April 2013, Philip J. Quigley retired after
19years on the board. Phil served on and chaired many
committees, and as lead director from 2009 to 2011, he
provided distinguished leadership and insight, which
were key to WellsFargo’s success during a critical time.
We thank both Nick and Phil for their long-standing
service and contributions to WellsFargo, and we wish
them all the best.
We also welcomed James H. Quigley to our board
inOctober 2013. Jim is CEO emeritus and a retired partner
of Deloitte, and we are fortunate to benefit from his
more than three decades of broad leadership experience
and extensive audit, financial reporting, and risk
managementexpertise.
Iwant to thank all of our stakeholders— board
members, team members, customers, communities, and
shareholders— forhelping make 2013 an outstanding
year. Ialso want to recognize the five-year anniversary of
WellsFargo’s merger with Wachovia, which we celebrated
at the end of 2013. Icould not be more proud of where our
company is today and all of our wonderful team members
who live by our vision and values and work together to
help our customers achieve financial success.
As we look forward, we are confident in our abilities
to serve changing customer needs and contribute to
the economic recovery. We believe we have the right
people on our team, are in the right markets, and operate
the right business model— onethat is diversified and
positioned to perform well across various economic
cycles. And we are optimistic about the future for our
customers, communities, and country.
John G. Stumpf
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Ocer
WellsFargo & Company
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