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Citigroup has started tracking how many calls its private bankers are making to clients as the US lender tries to jump-start its struggling wealth management business, according to people familiar with the matter.
Citi’s private bankers must now turn in call reports to record each conversation they have with a client — whose net worth typically has to be at least $10mn to qualify for the private bank — and also what was discussed, the people said.
They have also been encouraged to contact each of their clients at least once every 90 days, the people added.
These new performance metrics reflect how Citi, which has taken a more flexible approach to working from home than many rivals, is trying to squeeze more from its employees.
Citi bankers have had to file some call logs in the past for compliance reasons but have not previously had to do so to track performance. Several private bankers at Citi’s rivals said their banks encouraged them to log calls but had not made this an explicit requirement.
The requirement has been badly received by some employees, who feel it is not a productive use of their time, the people familiar with the matter said. It also comes as Citi is cutting thousands of jobs as part of big reorganisation.
A Citi spokesperson said: “Enhancing client experience is our number-one focus. Documenting and sharing client feedback is one way to ensure we’re delivering for them, and is a standard practice within Citi and across the industry.”
The move is an edict from Andy Sieg, who runs Citi’s wealth management division and joined the company last year from Bank of America.
The business is one of the growth areas identified by chief executive Jane Fraser, along with other Wall Street rivals that view wealth management as a way to meet investor appetite for stable, fee-based profits.
The division has lagged behind rivals such as JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and BofA’s Merrill Lynch franchise, however.
Revenues at the private bank fell 17 per cent in 2023 to $2.3bn, and totalled $7.1bn across Citi’s wealth management division, down 5 per cent year on year.
Fraser told investors last month that the wealth management business “isn’t where it needs to be”.
Sieg has told employees that part of his strategy is to sell clients more investment products and get paid a management fee on their assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
Citi’s high-end private bank is one of three pillars of its wealth management business, alongside its Citi Gold brand, which caters more towards retail clients, and its “Wealth at Work” business which banks employees of corporate customers.
As part of a review of the business after Sieg joined, the consulting firm McKinsey identified 800 Citi clients that have significant net worth but do not have any investments with it, the people said.
