Citigroup has set tougher performance objectives for its private bankers, with some staff members saying the new demands may be out of reach as the bank tries to strengthen its wealth operation, reported the Financial Times.
The updated measures centre on net revenue and on the amount of client money placed with Citi for investment.
In certain instances, the sources said revenue objectives for 2026 have been set at twice the level recorded a year earlier.
The goals are determined on an individual basis.
The stricter benchmarks highlight the plans of Andy Sieg, who runs Citi’s wealth arm.
They have also caused discontent inside the bank because they will feed into annual appraisals and bonus decisions.
“It’s just not even possible,” one Citi banker said of the targets that had been handed down.
One of Sieg’s main tasks is to lift net new investment assets in the division, measured as the gap between money coming in from clients and money leaving.
He has called this figure his “north star”, yet it dropped by more than 50% from a year earlier in the fourth quarter.
The changes come before Citi’s investor day in May, when the bank is due to outline progress in the restructuring led by chief executive Jane Fraser.
Citi has said it wants returns on tangible common equity, an important gauge of profitability in wealth management, to reach 15 to 20% this year and exceed 20% over time.
Citi’s private bank serves clients with net worth of at least $10mn.
The wider wealth unit also covers Citigold, aimed at less wealthy clients, and the bank’s workplace business.
The division has faced departures among senior employees, subdued client expansion and the aftermath of an investigation into Sieg’s management style that has now ended.
Citi’s wealth business lost momentum after the sale of its Smith Barney retail brokerage arm to Morgan Stanley in the period following the 2008 financial crisis.
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are all much bigger than Citi in wealth management.
Citi’s private bank reported revenue of $2.7bn in 2025, up 12 per cent. At JPMorgan’s private bank, revenue increased 9 per cent to more than $12bn.
Fraser hired Sieg from BofA in 2023, where he had been president of Merrill Lynch’s wealth management division.
Sieg had already changed pay arrangements in the private bank to give more weight to gathering assets and less to originating fresh loans such as mortgages.
A Citi spokesperson said: “As our private bank’s performance has strengthened, expectations for colleagues have risen accordingly.
“We also remain committed to a transparent performance and compensation framework that aligns with our strategic objectives and evaluates colleagues on a broad range of factors, including the value they deliver to clients and Citi.”
