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The global head of Citigroup’s private banking arm and one of its highest-ranking female executives is leaving in a potential blow to chief executive Jane Fraser’s plan to grow its wealth division.
Ida Liu announced the departure on LinkedIn on Monday morning, but did not say where she was headed. Her decision follows a number of other departures by senior women at the bank.
“Great careers are defined by embracing new challenges and opportunities, and this is the right time for me to leverage my global expertise, leadership experience and passion for growth in bold and exciting new ways,” Liu wrote.
In an internal memo, Andy Sieg, the head of Citi’s wealth division, said Liu had “left an indelible mark across our organisation and will be greatly missed”.
At the same time, Sieg said Liu’s departure will allow the bank’s wealth division to restructure management, by eliminating her role and creating four regional managers who will oversee both private banking and asset management.
Nonetheless, Liu’s exit will thin the limited number of high-ranking female executives below Fraser.
Citi reorganised itself into five major business units a little more than a year ago, all of which are run by men. Fraser’s 18-member executive management committee includes only two women executives besides her.
Liu’s departure follows those of other top-ranking Citi female executives including Titi Cole, who was global head of restructuring and left in May, and Karen Peetz, who was chief operating officer and departed in 2023. Cole was replaced by Tim Ryan, a former top executive at PwC, who is also Citi’s head of technology. Peetz was replaced by Anand Selvakesari, who had been head of Citi’s consumer division.
Of the four wealth executives promoted on Monday after the announcement of Liu’s departure, only one, Cayman Wills, named interim head of North America, is female. The other three male executives were named permanent heads of their regions.
The departure also comes at a time when Citi is putting new emphasis on its wealth division. Liu, a former Deutsche Bank investment banker, left Wall Street early in her career to become a fashion executive. She returned a few years later to Citi, leveraging her contacts to lure wealthy clients in the world of fashion, media and entertainment.
The bank named Liu head of its North American private bank in 2019, and head of the division globally two years later.
Sieg, a former top Bank of America executive, was brought in a year and a half ago to turn around Citi’s struggling wealth division. He has put an emphasis on asset management and moved to revamp how Citi pays its private bankers — rewarding them for bringing in client assets rather than per transaction, as private bankers are typically paid.
Sieg’s changes in the division have improved results but been accompanied by several senior departures. Income from Citi’s wealth division more than doubled last year to more than $1bn, its highest profit since it began breaking out the unit’s results three years ago.
Last year “was the turning point for wealth as we sharpened our focus on investments, right-sized the expense base and improved the client experience”, Fraser told analysts earlier this month on Citi’s fourth-quarter earnings call, praising Sieg. “This is where we see the big upside.”
