Wells Fargo (WFC) CEO John Stumpf said on Tuesday that he expects to see opportunities for growth auto, commercial and small business loans next year.

Stump was presenting at the 2009 Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference in New York.

When asked where he saw the best adjusted risk returns and shrinkage for earnings assets going into 2010, Stumpf indicated various possibilities. He first noted that most consumers were deleveraging by paying off debt or refinancing debt to make it cheaper.

From a consumer side you're going to see not much growth in credit, he said.

Then he turned to opportunities.

Where you might see something is on the auto side, indirect auto, because many of the providers there are gone,” he said. “I think there will be some opportunities in commercial, small business, as - but I’m not predicting a big turnaround. There will be some, but there will also be fewer players making credit available.

He noted that despite these expectations, the results we're not yet apparent in the firm’s results.

“I know we’re out there, winning a lot of relationships. But we are not seeing it today in our numbers because utilization rates are at all time record lows,” he added.

Later in the presentation, he indicated some of the factors that would eventually boost earnings assets.

“Until we see utilization rates growing, small business hiring and making capital investments through plants and equipment, you’ll see pressure on earnings assets,” he said.

Last updated: 9:09 p.m. ET

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