Citi’s wealth management business in Asia Pacific registered a record-high in net new assets during the first half.

Citi’s newly merged wealth management unit – Citi Global Wealth (CGW) – attracted nearly $15 billion in net new money across Asia Pacific, according to a statement, mostly from its wealth hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and UAE.

This included $8 billion from the second quarter with assets under management growing 21 percent year-on-year.

Citi posted $6.19 billion of net income in the second quarter – a nearly six-fold increase compared to the same period last year.

Mass Recruitment

Asset growth was supported by ongoing expansion at CGW which includes plans to add an extra 2,300 staff – including 1,100 relationship managers and private bankers – in order to add $150 billion in total client assets by 2025. 

Year-to-date, the American bank has already added «several hundred wealth professionals» in APAC, the statement added.

«We are capturing market share as Asian clients increasingly require portfolio advice, design and allocation geared toward diversification of asset types and geographic exposures,» said Citi's APAC chief executive Peter Babej. «As the world’s most global bank, with broad-based expertise across investment products, we are strongly positioned and fully committed to serving these needs.»