HONG KONG, May 23 (Reuters): Citigroup plans to allocate a significant portion of its global wealth management hiring to Asia, where its private bank is growing faster and generating higher productivity than in other regions, the bank's global wealth head Andy Sieg said.
The US bank's recently unveiled hiring plans would be "anchored" in Asia along with other regions, said Sieg, who formerly led Merrill Lynch's wealth business and was brought in by Citi CEO Jane Fraser in 2023 to lead a revamp of the wealth unit.
Citi plans to hire about 100 private bankers globally, alongside roughly 400 other specialists, as part of a broader effort to lift returns in its wealth business, he said at the bank's investor day event earlier this month.
"In the private bank, our business in Asia is the fastest growing part of our private bank," Sieg said in an interview in Hong Kong. "It's the most productive area of the private bank."
He declined to elaborate on the hiring plan in the region, but said "a significant percentage of the hiring will be here in Asia, you know, commensurate with the fact that this is a large percentage of our global business."
Citi this month set a target of return on tangible common equity for the wealth unit of 15 per cent to 20 per cent in 2027 and 2028 and above 20 per cent over the medium term. The wealth unit delivered a net income rise of nearly 50 per cent to $1.5 billion in 2025 from a year earlier.
Asia is a key pillar of that strategy, Sieg said.
The bank's Asia wealth business, including Japan, Asia North and Australia and Asia South, generated about $3 billion in revenue in 2025, or about 35 per cent of Citi's global wealth revenue, the bank's latest official filings show.
Citi to boost Asia wealth business with 'significant' hires, global head says
FE Team | Published: May 23, 2026 22:31:39
Citi to boost Asia wealth business with 'significant' hires, global head says
Share if you like