In a world where asset managers strut around like they’re the guardians of your hard-earned cash, promising ethical growth and sustainable futures, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC slinks in the shadows, peddling the same old bullshit wrapped in a fresh logo. They call it Allspring; we call it a fresh coat of shit. Born from the ashes of Wells Fargo’s asset management arm in 2021, this outfit claims independence, but it’s drenched in the stench of its parent’s historic fuck-ups. We’re talking a firm that oversees billions, yet can’t shake the ghosts of cross-selling scams, mutual fund abuses, and now, dipping their toes into the toxic pool of environmental cheats like Cummins Inc. It’s enough to make you spit out your coffee in disgust. This isn’t just another faceless corporation; it’s a machine grinding down workers, investors, and the planet, all while pocketing fat fees. And yeah, they’re confirmed investors in Cummins, holding a stake that, while small, props up a system reeking of deceit. Let’s peel back the layers on this sham and expose the grime.

The Tainted Birth: Spun Off from Wells Fargo’s Mess

Allspring didn’t emerge from some visionary’s garage; it was hacked out of Wells Fargo Asset Management in a $2.1 billion deal to GTCR and Reverence Capital Partners. This wasn’t a noble evolution – it was damage control. Wells Fargo, that banking behemoth, was reeling from the 2016 cross-selling fiasco where employees faked millions of accounts to hit quotas, leading to billions in fines and a reputational nosedive. By 2020, they’d shelled out $3 billion to the Department of Justice and SEC, and in 2022, another $3.7 billion to the CFPB for screwing over customers on auto loans, mortgages, and deposits. Sure, the asset management side wasn’t directly fingering the fake accounts, but the stink clung like cheap aftershave. The spin-off was Wells Fargo’s way of shedding dead weight, refocusing on core banking while offloading the investment arm to private equity vultures. Allspring insists it’s a new dawn, but come on – you can’t scrub away that legacy with a name change. It’s like rebranding a polluted river and expecting the fish to thrive.

Echoes of Ancient Abuses: The Strong Funds Hangover

Dig deeper, and Allspring’s roots tangle with even older scandals. Back in 2004, Wells Fargo snapped up Strong Funds right after its founder, Richard Strong, got lifetime-banned from the industry for market-timing and late-trading bullshit that screwed retail investors. The firm coughed up $140 million in SEC penalties for letting hedge funds game the system at everyone else’s expense. This was part of the massive 2003 mutual fund trading blow-up that rocked the industry, forcing reforms and exposing how these suits prioritise quick bucks over fair play. Wells Fargo pitched the buyout as a “management upgrade,” but it chained their asset arm – now Allspring – to that toxic history. No direct blame on Allspring today, but it’s a reminder: these firms don’t learn; they just repackage and move on, leaving investors to foot the bill for their greed.

Worker Woes: Discrimination Claims and Dodgy Dismissals

Switch gears to the human cost, because behind the glossy portfolios are people getting shafted. Take the 2023 UK employment tribunal where former employee Mr S Agar hauled Allspring’s British arm into court over unfair dismissal, adoption leave gripes, and a laundry list of discrimination allegations – age, sexual orientation, sex, the works. The judges tossed most claims, but nailed them on unfair dismissal, slapping a £93,878 payout (about $120,000 back then). It’s not a smoking gun on bigotry, but it screams sloppy HR and a culture that allegedly chews up staff without due process. Fast-forward to 2025, and we’ve got Crawley v Allspring in Florida federal court, alleging age discrimination under the ADEA. The suit demands a jury trial and damages, still grinding through the system with no verdict yet. These aren’t isolated moans; they’re symptoms of a firm that treats employees like disposable assets. Pissed off? You should be – your investments fund this crap.

Impersonation Games: Scammers Hijacking the Name

As if internal rot – wait, scratch that, internal filth – wasn’t enough, Allspring’s rep is being dragged through the mud by fraudsters cloning their UK outfit. The Financial Conduct Authority has flagged warnings: con artists mimic the firm’s details, registration numbers, and contacts to peddle fake investments with sky-high returns promises. Victims wire cash, thinking it’s legit, only to get burned. Allspring isn’t pulling the scams, but their brand becomes bait for crooks, eroding trust and potentially hammering innocent punters. It’s a stark expose of how even “reputable” players in finance attract parasites, and the firm? They issue disclaimers, but the damage lingers, staining perceptions and underscoring the sector’s vulnerability to deceit.

Shuttering Shops: Job Cuts and Strategy Flops

By February 2025, Allspring was axing teams left and right, closing its alternative equity strategies outfit – think US Large Company Value, US Low Volatility, and Global Long/Short Equity – and ditching the quant crew from Analytic Investors, snapped up back in 2016. This hit a sliver of their $605 billion assets under management, blamed on razor-thin margins and fee squeezes. Not a full-blown crisis, but it reeks of instability post-spin-off, with assets flatlining despite bull markets. Workers get the boot, strategies evaporate, and clients? Left wondering if their money’s in steady hands. It’s the classic finance shuffle: promise innovation, then slash when profits dip. Outrageous, really – these bastards tout expertise while quietly dismantling it.

Betting on Befoulers: The Cummins Connection

Here’s where the outrage boils over. Allspring isn’t just managing money; they’re funnelling it into environmental nightmares. Take their stake in Cummins Inc., the diesel engine giant slapped with a record $1.675 billion fine in 2023 for fitting defeat devices on over 600,000 Ram pickup trucks, spewing illegal NOx emissions that choke communities. The EPA called it a “brazen scheme,” forcing recalls and clean-ups. And Allspring? They’re confirmed investors, per recent SEC filings. Their holdings have fluctuated: ballooning to 37,272 shares in late 2024 (valued around $9-10 million then), halving to 18,980 shares worth $5.986 million by Q1 2025, and shrinking further to 8,004 shares at $2.64 million in the latest report. That’s a piddling 0.0058% of Cummins’ shares outstanding, but it’s real money propping up a polluter. This is just another investor willingly buying into the filthy ecosystem that TCAP is out to unmask, without apology or hesitation. No direct ties to the scandal – but investing in a firm fresh off billion-dollar penalties? That’s complicity in my book, enabling the same cycle of harm for profit.

The Bigger Picture: A System Built on Sand

Pull it all together, and Allspring emerges as a poster child for finance’s underbelly: birthed from scandal, haunted by past abuses, plagued by worker disputes, exploited by scammers, prone to abrupt cuts, and now entangled with eco-offenders. They manage over $500 billion, preaching tailored solutions and positive outcomes, but the trail of grievances tells a different tale. No major regulatory hammers have fallen directly on them yet – SEC, FCA, FINRA searches turn up zilch in fines – but the pattern’s clear: a firm skating on thin ice, prioritising returns over rectitude. Investors, wake the hell up. Your pensions, your savings – they’re fuelling this machine. Demand better, or get used to the grime.

If this is the clean break, the industry’s still eating with filthy hands.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Shareholder Spotlight : Allspring Global Investments and The So-Called Clean Break