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The global head of Citigroup’s private banking arm and one of its highest- ranking female executives is leaving the company 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 next. Her decision follows a string 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.
Citi did not return a request for comment on Liu’s departure.
Liu’s exit will thin the limited number of high-ranking female executives on Citi’s org chart below Fraser. While not on Citi’s executive management team, Liu, along with Tasnim Ghiawadwala, who runs Citi’s commercial bank, was among just a handful of top women leaders there.
Citigroup reorganised itself into five major business units a little over a year ago, all five of which are run by men. Fraser’s 18-member executive management committee includes only two women executives besides Fraser.
Liu’s departure follows those of other top-ranking Citi female executives including Titi Cole, who was Citi’s global head of restructuring and left in May, and Karen Peetz, who was Citi’s 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 Selva, who had been head of Citi’s consumer division.
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.
Liu reported to Andy Sieg, who was brought in a year and a half ago to turn around Citi’s struggling wealth division. Sieg 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 the bank 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 on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, praising Sieg. “This is where we see the big upside.”