US banking giant Citigroup wants to boost its wealth management business, which management thinks is underperforming. This ups the pressure on client advisors.
Citigroup’s private bankers will now need to record how often they call clients and keep call reports to record the content of the conversation. In addition, there is apparently a requirement for them to contact clients at least once every three months. The new rules are part of efforts to boost the wealth management business.
And they’ve been met with little enthusiasm from employees, according to British newspaper the «Financial Times» (article behind paywall), which cites anonymous sources. The Wall Street bank, which has been more lenient on allowing employees to work from home than other US banks, wants to use these new rules to boost employee productivity.
Waste of Time
The performance metrics are said to be an attempt to get more out of employees. The advisors, however, see the extra work as a waste of their time.
«Enhancing client experience is our number-one focus,» a bank spokesperson told the «Financial Times.» «Documenting and sharing client feedback is one way to ensure we’re delivering for them, and is a standard practice within Citi and across the industry.»
Sales Push
Andy Sieg, who joined Citi from Bank of America last year, has been head of Citi’s wealth management division for around a year now. Sieg’s strategy is to sell clients more investment products and bump up management fees.
Revenues at the private bank, which is one of three wealth management divisions, fell 17 percent year on year in 2023 to $2.3 billion and totaled $7.1 billion across the entire wealth management division, down 5 percent.
Dissatisfied CEO
Citi CEO Jane Fraser said last month that the wealth management business «isn’t where it needs to be.»
