As they continue moving forward on their path to make the wealth management unit more profitable, U.S. banking giant Citi is betting on increasing its number of bankers, leveraging the relationship between the unit and retail banking in the United States, and taking advantage of technological tools, including developments involving artificial intelligence. This is the roadmap outlined by Andy Sieg, Head of Wealth at the firm, during the company’s Investor Day, to strengthen the unit within the bank.
“How are we going to grow this business? Well, it really comes down to focusing on a few key areas: products, coverage, and platforms,” the executive said during his presentation.
The firm has managed to steadily increase the volume of capital its clients are investing, aiming to strengthen relationship-based pricing dynamics. “Over time, this is going to drive results,” Sieg predicted. In fact, he added, an increase has already been seen: while in 2022 investments represented 42% of clients’ total balances, that figure has now risen to 52%.
The U.S. bank’s plan to grow its wealth management business includes strengthening service across all client segments, which are divided among its Citi Private Bank, U.S. Citigold, International Citigold, and Wealth at Work coverage programs.
This includes expanding its roster of professionals. Sieg announced that the firm plans to hire more than 100 private bankers in the short term, which would allow it to grow in “key markets.” At the same time, he projected that they will add more than 400 client advisers and personal bankers.
One of the things they seek to leverage is the clients the bank already has. The firm estimates at $5 trillion the potential market represented by wealth management clients or transactions that are not currently part of Global Citi Wealth’s existing platforms. “That’s $5 trillion in investable assets belonging to clients who are already in our bank and already trust us,” Sieg emphasized.
Integration With Retail Banking
Along those lines, one of the central pillars of the strategy has been integrating the Wealth division with the U.S. retail banking business, as part of a corporate realignment announced last year.
In fact, the U.S. bank has seen internal synergies accelerate, with a 40% year-over-year increase in referrals within the company during the first quarter. That, together with the greater focus on investment advisory, increased net new invested assets (NNIA) by 1.7 times per adviser since 2023.
“With retail banking realigned with Wealth, Kate Luft (Head of Retail Bank and Citigold) and I are dedicated to making the most of this massive growth opportunity,” Sieg said, adding that they are planning “significant investments” in Citibank, including branch improvements, hiring, and technological tools.
In addition, Sieg emphasized the importance of the high-net-worth investor channel for the firm. The average Citi Private Bank client has a net worth of more than $400 million and highly varied global needs. “Clients like these are few in number, but they represent a large and fast-growing market,” the executive said, projecting that the cross-border UHNW segment would grow to $6 trillion by 2030.
“That’s not just a tailwind. That’s a structural shift, and the global platform we’ve built is perfectly suited for it,” said the Head of Wealth.
Use of Technology
In addition to these changes, Citi has been pushing digital transformation in its wealth management business, developing a series of tools in partnership with technology firms. “We have embraced the firm’s mantra that we need to be modern and simple, and we are accelerating the pace by working with top-tier partners such as Palantir and Google,” Sieg noted.
According to the executive, by incorporating generative AI technology into research and Citi’s proprietary models, they have accelerated the process from investment thesis to portfolio construction.
In addition, they recently launched a new tool called Citi Sky. It is an AI-based virtual assistant supported by Google DeepMind and Google Cloud. “Now, it’s more than a digital tool. It gives our clients a new layer of intelligence that is conversational, actionable, and secure,” Sieg said, adding that this tool “is going to change the wealth management model.”
Still, the Head of Wealth emphasized that Citi Sky is only the latest—and most visible—advance in its technology platform. The model they use, in that regard, has four major layers: secure and trusted data; core capabilities for products, analytics, and risk control; AI orchestration; and client and adviser experience.
A More Profitable Business
The firm has already made progress in improving the profitability of the business in recent years, taking RoTCE from negative territory in 2023 to 11% in the first quarter of 2026. They attribute this improvement to increased revenues, cost control, and balance sheet discipline.
“That’s quite a bit of progress, but honestly, we’re only halfway to what a strong Wealth business should look like,” the division head said during his presentation.
Part of this transformation has been a campaign to sharpen the company’s focus over the past few years. This included exiting non-core businesses such as trusts and proprietary fund management; reducing the workforce by 20%; and simplifying the leadership structure.
