As Citigroup welcomes Andy Sieg to the top of its advisory unit and otherwise reshuffles its executive ranks, it saw a slight bump in its wealth management business.
The global bank reported $1.9 billion in net revenue from global wealth management in the third quarter. That figure was up by 2% from the same period last year. The increase came about in part as a result of Citi’s ongoing work to move customers over to its wealth management division from its retail banking unit.
Citi CEO Jane Fraser said in an earnings call on Friday that Citi saw its client numbers for its private bank, which works mostly with high net worth investors, increase by 30% in the quarter. And its Wealth at Work unit, meant for lawyers and other professionals, saw its client count grow by 60%.
“Overall, we are pleased with the progress we’re making across these businesses,” Fraser said of Citi’s Personal Banking and Wealth Management unit as a whole.
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Citi’s strong third quarter — its total profits rose by 2% year over year to $3.55 billion — will help give Sieg a secure starting position as he looks to guide the firm toward fulfilling its wealth management ambitions. Sieg left Merrill Lynch in March after spending 13 years helping the Bank of America subsidiary build a stable of 15,000 advisors.
Sieg also arrives amid an overhaul of Citi’s internal organization. Fraser announced plans Friday to eliminate five of the financial service giant’s layers of management, leaving it with eight.
Fraser made it clear she and colleagues expect a lot from Sieg.
“There is going to be massive global wealth creation,” she said. “I can’t tell you how excited Andy Sieg is now that he’s in the building and knows the way to his desk and all the floors that the people are on. He’s about to hit the road globally.”