The insurance brokerage firm Acordia has been renamed. OwnerWells Fargo said it will now be called Wells Fargo InsuranceServices.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Company announced the namechange for the Chicago-based insurance brokerage firm today.

“The new name of our business–Wells Fargo InsuranceServices–signals to current and potential customers that insuranceis our business and that we're an integral part of one of theworld's largest, most diversified and most respected financialservices companies,” said Dave Zuercher, Wells Fargo InsuranceServices' chairman, president and chief executive officer, in astatement.

Mr. Zuercher added, “With the strength of Wells Fargo financialservices, we've got more horsepower than ever to help our customerssucceed financially.”

Wells Fargo also announced that during this year Wells FargoInsurance Services (serving commercial clients) and Wells FargoInsurance (serving personal lines customers) will bring its productand service offerings closer together.

“Our goal is to provide an exceptional customer experience, andmaking it easy for customers–commercial or consumer–to do businesswith us is one way we can do that well,” said Mr. Zuercher.

Wells Fargo acquired Acordia in May 2001. Robert J. Lieblein,president and chief executive officer of WFG Capital Advisors, saidWells Fargo and Acordia tried a similar move shortly after themerger. “It didn't go well,” he said. But both have built theiroperations up enough to where having a single brand will be moresuccessful, he noted, and the conversation on the brand can nowconcentrate on one entity.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services has more than 150 offices in 38states. The company said its 4,500 insurance professionals placemore than $8.5 billion of risk premiums.