Jane Fraser’s first big strategic call in April after taking over as Citi’s chief executive was to exit retail banking in 13 Asian and EMEA markets, including China and India.
Her second, announced on May 13, was to double down on wealth management in Asia, the regional focus of attention for global lenders and institutional and wealthy private investors, now and for decades to come.
Citi said it would add 2,300 staff to its Asia wealth franchise by 2025, including more than 1,110 relationship managers (RMs) and private bankers.
Around 1,000 of the total will be based in Hong Kong, of which 550 will be newly hired RMs and private bankers. The bank reckons it has hired 75 private bankers in the city already in 2021.
Most of the 2,300 will be located in Hong Kong or Singapore, two of the bank’s four global wealth centres, along with the UAE and London.
It is all part of a plan to boost regional client assets under management to at least $460 billion by the mid 2020s, from $310 billion at present.
“We are well-positioned to capture the strong growth opportunity by supporting our growing client base, especially in light of Wealth Connect and the Greater Bay Area [GBA],” says Citi’s Hong Kong and Macau chief executive, Angel Ng.
