Citigroup prepares to expand wealth management in Australia
US bank Citigroup has revealed plans to expand further into Australia's high-net-worth market, which has grown to 230,000 individuals. The repositioning includes hiring 100 additional relationship managers, new products, such as a digital currency account for clients working in a range of currencies, the introduction of video banking and other innovations. Australia has the third largest pool of high-net-worth individuals in the Asia-Pacific area and Citi's move followed a successful similar initiative elsewhere in the region.

Citi Australia is repositioning its wealth management business to focus on meeting the needs of Australia’s affluent High Net Worth investors.

In what is a rapidly growing segment of its client base, the U.S. bank has ambitious plans for the country.

Australia has the third largest pool of high net worth individuals (HNW) in Asia-Pacific (APAC) with more than 230,000 people with $1 million or more in investible assets.

Australian Ambitions

Having recently expanded Citi Australia’s wealth management business with new specialist hires the bank has rolled out ambitious plans for the coming years.

These include the hiring of 100 new relationship managers over the next three years to meet expected client growth and ensure clients have access to a dedicated relationship manager.

Development of new products and solutions including a digital currency account tailored for clients investing and transacting in a range of currencies.

Digital Initiatives

There will also be continued innovation and investment in digital service platforms and the introduction of more tools including the roll out of video banking, enabling clients to see and speak with their relationship manager and product experts securely via chat, audio and video calls within the Citi mobile app.

The focus on wealth management in Australia follows similar expansion in APAC, with Citi seeking mid teen growth of its affluent client base in the region in 2017.

Citi currently manages $218 billion across the region and has over 400,000 investment clients.