Citi’s global head of private banking Ida Liu speaks about the potential behind a single, integrated wealth platform for high-net-worth clients while underlining the importance of avoiding silo thinking in an interview with finews.asia.
In January this year, Citi announced a reorganization that saw the wealth management teams of its consumer and institutional divisions merge into a single unit called Citi Global Wealth (CGW) which encompasses the full continuum of client segments from affluent to ultra-high net worth.
One of the major beneficiaries of the reorganization will be accountholders at Citi Private Clients (CPC) – a wealth management business that accepts clients with a minimum account of around $1 million – who will now have access to private banking capabilities that were previously limited to those with a minimum account size and net worth of $10 million and $25 million, respectively.
«Previously, CPC may not have benefitted from our entire platform. But we found that they had sophisticated needs such as securities-backed lending or even sports financing,» said Citi’s global head of private banking Ida Liu in an interview with finews.asia.
«Under our new structure, we can maximize and leverage our capabilities across different areas including technology, apps, products, services and more. More clients will be able to leverage a powerful platform that can more holistically service their needs across the wealth spectrum.»
Accelerated Referrals
One of the most common barriers to referral business in the industry lies between affluent and private banking segments. This is not only due to ring-fencing tendencies but also overlaps in business – a wealthy client can easily trade a listed stock in various areas of a universal banking platform.
While it can be expected that such barriers will diminish under the CGW unit, Liu stressed that Citi already has a strong existing culture of collaboration regardless of organizational structure.
«One of the things that private bankers do very well at Citi is that they don’t just wear a private banking hat. They wear the Citi hat,» she explained.
«I don’t want to be boastful but we collaborate exceptionally well because we understand that client wallet is client wallet and we try to capture as much of it as possible. 32 percent of our asset growth last year was driven by referrals within Citi’s four walls. We don’t want to win in just one area.»
Silo Risk
And the hats that Citi bankers wear are not limited to those related to revenue generation.
Cognizant of the risk of referrals within the private banking industry, especially with regards to cross-divisional business – so-called «one bank» deals between private banking, investment banking and asset management – Liu notes the importance of retaining the power to turn down business when necessary.
«We review any business holistically and we don’t look in silos,» she said. «We have to understand the whole picture whether it’s from a personal or corporate perspective. In the end, we are risk managers and we all wear the risk hat. We will never compromise on that and we have the ability to choose which clients we want to do business with.»
Asia Opportunity
Under the new structure, CGW plans to hire 2,300 new staff – including 1,100 relationship managers and private bankers – in order to add $150 billion in client assets by 2025 with the Asia market playing a key contributing role to growth.
«In the last ten years, trillions of dollars of wealth have been created in the region which is why I first launched the Asian Clients Group in 2011,» said Liu, who has a history of rolling out new private banking segments including one for fashion, retail and entertainment in 2007 right after joining Citi from renowned fashion brand Vivienne Tam.
«We continue to view the region as a key growth market. We are bolstering our coverage of clients in Asia by hiring new talent with a target of high double-digit growth.»
Tech Focus
On technology in private banking, Liu underlined client experience as the top priority with continued advancements in a myriad of areas such as client onboarding which Citi can now fully execute «within three minutes».
She also added that the bank is well aware of emerging digital players that seek to obtain market share in the high net worth segment.
«We are keeping an eye on fintech competition,» Liu said. «Suffice to say, we are not living in a box. We know what’s out there and we are looking out.»
