Citi announces major hiring and asset targets across Asia Pacific, calling wealth creation in the region a «once-in-a-lifetime» phenomenon.
Citi will add around 2,300 staff in the region to its newly merged wealth unit – Citi Global Wealth (CGW) – according to an internal memo seen by finews.asia, including 1,100 relationship managers and private bankers. The bank will look to hire in order to add in excess of $150 billion in assets under management (AUM) to its CGW unit in Asia, including $120 billion in the high net worth segment.
In 2020, CGW posted a record year for net new money inflows in the region with over $20 billion. According to «Asian Private Banker», Citi’s merged unit in Asia was home to $265 billion in AUMs as of 2019-end.
Integrated Platform
According to CGW head Jim O’Donnell, Citi will look to leverage the capabilities of its integrated platform and also benefit from a commercial banking arm where client wealth is created.
«We are seeing once-in-a-generation wealth creation in many parts of the world, particularly Asia,» O’Donnell said in the note. «We are putting the full force of the firm behind this effort to create a single, integrated wealth platform that will serve all clients, providing tailored capabilities for affluent individuals to ultra-high net worth families.»
Citi recently announced a strategic shakeup to exit consumer banking in 13 markets worldwide while retaining wealth hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and UAE. It said it would aim to double AUMs and triple the number of clients in the former two hubs in Asia.
