Erick Strati, South Florida Commercial Banking Market Executive, Wells Fargo
Key points
- “South Florida is young, it’s vibrant, it’s growing, it’s multicultural, and there’s an energy that persists across the region that just makes it a great place to live, work, and play.
- Again, we bring in that level of expertise through our global banking advisers partnering with our local bankers to really help identify and solve whatever our customers, importers and exporters, are thinking about and strategizing around.
- We’re investing in our user interface to make sure that we are providing a seamless interface between our customers and not only their banking partners, but also their banking platform and their ERP system.
In an interview with Invest:, Erick Strati, South Florida commercial banking market executive for Wells Fargo, said that the region’s unique characteristics are shaping the bank’s strategy. “South Florida is young, it’s vibrant, it’s growing, it’s multicultural, and there’s an energy that persists across the region that just makes it a great place to live, work, and play.”
Could you share the key characteristics that make the South Florida commercial market unique, and how do they shape Wells Fargo’s approach in the region?
South Florida is young, it’s vibrant, it’s growing and it’s multicultural. There’s an energy that persists across the region that just makes it a great place to live, work, and play. It offers key qualities people seek when deciding where to build a career or raise a family. South Florida provides opportunities for both.
Wells Fargo is committed to South Florida. We’ve been here for a long, long time. And we are investing in this community. We’re growing our teams and we’re continuing to build and allocate resources to this growing and vibrant region.
How do you prioritize growth segments in the South Florida market?
I oversee the commercial banking side of the business, so I’ll speak to that side of it. We focus on growing industries such as technology, healthcare, and investor real estate. These are our key specialized sectors, along with other privately held businesses across our community.
Given Wells Fargo’s footprint in the region, how do you balance the firm’s national-scale capabilities with the need for local market focus in South Florida?
We deliver national capabilities through a local team of bankers who live and work in the community. This allows us to understand our customers’ needs and challenges, and to provide both local expertise and access to global resources. Our goal is to help customers execute their strategies with the support of Wells Fargo’s broad infrastructure.
What are the biggest or emerging industry verticals in South Florida that you see offering strong commercial banking opportunities?
South Florida’s tech economy is growing rapidly, creating an ecosystem from capital to innovation. We bring resources to support this growth. In healthcare, we offer specialized expertise tailored to the region’s diverse demographics.
Given that this is an international market, we have a commodity finance specialty to support commodity traders who do business internationally. We also focus on food and agriculture. Considering not just what’s grown here but what passes through our airports and ports, we bring capabilities to support this gateway to the entire country. We offer expertise in logistics and inventory management to support the diversified companies in our community, including retailers, wholesalers, and distributors.
How do Wells Fargo’s strong links to Latin America and the Caribbean influence your commercial banking strategy and operations?
We have global banking advisers who are part of the team that helps us solve problems for customers who are doing business in South and Central America. Again, we bring in that level of expertise through our global banking advisers partnering with our local bankers to really help identify and solve whatever our customers, importers and exporters, are thinking about and strategizing around.
How is Wells Fargo addressing digitalization, fintech competition, and shifting client expectations on the commercial banking side?
When we think about technology, it’s all about innovation, and fintechs are definitely competitors to the banks. That competition is actually healthy competition because it’s challenging us to invest and innovate to support our customers. We are investing in technology and thinking about and investing in capabilities around APIs. We’re investing in our user interface to make sure that we are providing a seamless interface between our customers and not only their banking partners, but also their banking platform and their ERP system. Through those pieces, what we’re trying to help customers do is process payments and process information as quickly, as efficiently as possible to help them run their business to achieve their financial goals. Whether a bank or a fintech, we’re all there to try to support customers and execute on those strategies.
From a credit perspective, what risk factors are you monitoring most closely in South Florida?
On the commercial banking side, we’re closely watching top-line revenues and focusing on what’s happening to margins. In 2025, tariffs have certainly impacted margins. We are monitoring how agile customers have been in adapting to these impacts. Specifically, we’ve seen many customers pull forward inventory purchases to get ahead of the tariff effects. Customers are also re-evaluating their supply chains. Some have sought new supply chains, and we’ve observed more onshoring from a supply chain standpoint in 2025.
The other factor we’re monitoring is consumer health, as that drives the demand and top-line revenues for our customers. We’re tracking how the consumer is doing in 2025 heading into 2026. From our perspective, the economy has remained stable, and our companies, customers, and consumers appear to be holding up well.
What role do treasury services, cash management, and advisory services play in Wells Fargo’s commercial banking strategy in South Florida?
Efficient cash management is critical to business operations. We work with customers to optimize payments, collections, and receivables, providing access to information that supports better decision-making for the short, medium, and long term.
How does Wells Fargo support or partner with small and middle-market companies in South Florida compared to larger corporations?
I’m proud to lead our Commercial Banking team in South Florida, which includes a group of bankers dedicated to companies with $25 million to $100 million in revenue across the region. We support them through access to technology and capital, robust cash management, and expanding private credit capabilities beyond traditional lending. We’re also supporting business ownership transitions. Over 50% of privately held firms are owned by baby boomers who will be over 65 by 2030. We collaborate with wealth management to address legacy, succession, and personal/corporate financial health.
