Before launching Hoover Capital Management in 1989, Hoover spent four years as a stockbroker in Germany, where he was a registered representative in the Hamburg, Germany, office of United States stock brokerage company Bache & Co., known in Germany as Bache Halsey Stuart Shields Model & Roland GmbH. This was followed by 11 years as a registered representative in Bache's Boston office. Bache & Co was acquired by Prudential Financial in 1981 and became known as Prudential Bache Securities, Inc., later renamed simply Prudential Securities, Inc. Wachovia acquired Prudential Securities, Inc., in 2003.