July 9 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo ( WFC ) said on Tuesday

it has named Alexandra Barth as the co-head of its leveraged

finance business, beefing up the lender's ranks as it looks to

expand its investment banking operations.

Wells Fargo ( WFC ) has made a string of hires to its corporate and

investment banking unit, which provides trading, lending and

other markets-focused services. The bank has added over 50

senior bankers and traders since 2020.

While historically focused on its retail and business

customers, Wells Fargo ( WFC ) has been looking to gain a stronger

foothold in investment banking in the last few years.

Barth was most recently co-leading leveraged finance at

Deutsche Bank, where she spent nearly 25 years.

She will lead Wells Fargo's ( WFC ) leveraged finance team alongside

Trip Morris and report to Tim O'Hara, the head of banking.

Leveraged loans are targeted at companies looking to do an

acquisition, or those that have a high debt load.