By Rebecca Ungarino

A prominent Citigroup executive is leaving as the bank reorganizes an elite arm of its wealth management business, the latest shift in a series of significant structural and leadership changes at Citi in recent years.

Ida Liu, the head of Citi's private bank, will exit this month. Andy Sieg, who runs the bank's wealth business, said on Monday in a memo that Liu had informed him of her decision to leave for new opportunities. Sieg said in a separate memo to employees, viewed by Barron's, that Citi would reorganize its private bank following Liu's departure.

Liu has for years been the face of Citi's private bank, which caters to the richest clients of the firm's wealth business. The new private bank's organizational structure will now have four heads -- for North America; the U.K., Europe, and the Middle East; Latin America; and Japan, Australia, and North and South Asia -- reporting to Sieg. The private bank won't have a sole head, as it did in Liu.

Sieg wrote that the new structure, which is effective immediately, would simplify the business, make collaboration easier, and is "in line with Citi's strategy to reduce complexity and strengthen our focus on clients."

Those goals have been a hallmark of Citi Chief Executive Jane Fraser's tenure. Fraser and her reshaped management team are carrying out a turnaround not just in wealth management but across the bank, which has lagged behind competitors. The stock is down 85% from its record highs two decades ago as other large U.S. banks have sailed to all-time highs as recently as this month.

Citi's priorities for this year and next include expanding wealth, while growing into " a global leader in wealth management" is part of a stated firmwide vision that the company has communicated to investors.

It is a competitive business, even for the third-largest U.S. lender. All of Citi's rivals in business of financial advice, such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America -- where Sieg previously ran Merrill Lynch -- have also leaned into scaling their wealth operations in recent years. Unlike feast-and-famine businesses of stock trading and investment banking, wealth tends to be a more reliable source of revenue.

Fraser has made some progress. She said on the firm's fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts last week that 2024 had been a "turning point" for the wealth business, where revenue for the quarter rose 20% from the year prior. Private banking revenue rose 9% in the same time. The wealth arm's client investment assets rose 18% to $587 billion; Citi doesn't disclose private bank assets.

It remains a work in progress. A separate part of the wealth business is working to incentivize more experienced financial advisors to join the bank, Barron's earlier reported. The wealth business has three segments: a unit that caters to high earners and their employers, Citigold, and the private bank, which Liu had led since 2021.

"Throughout her career at Citi, Ida has been a tireless champion for both women and the Asian community, empowering and inspiring others," Sieg wrote, adding that Liu co-led Citi's Asian Heritage Network and had been a "a coach and mentor to countless other colleagues across the firm." Sieg announced other leadership changes on Monday.

Christian Zeinler, who had previously been head of strategy and business development at UBS, is joining Citi as head of strategy for the wealth business and head of business execution for the private bank. Other announced changes include:

   -- Steven Lo will run Japan, Australia, and North and South Asia for the 
      private bank. 
 
   -- James Holder will run the U.K., Europe, and the Middle East for the 
      private bank. 
 
   -- Cayman Wills will run North America for the private bank in the interim 
      while the firm searches for a permanent head. The private bank's former 
      head of North America left abruptly in 2024. 
 
   -- Antonio Gonzales had already ran Latin America for the private bank, 
      though now he will report to Sieg as part of the new structure. 
 
   -- The family office group, led by Hannes Hofmann, will become part of the 
      integrated client engagement group, led by Dawn Nordberg. Hofmann will 
      report to Nordberg. 

Write to Rebecca Ungarino at rebecca.ungarino@barrons.com

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January 27, 2025 10:10 ET (15:10 GMT)

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