Andy Sieg is quickly shaking up Citi's wealth business. At least 33 senior execs have left since his arrival.

Citi shed 7,000 employees in the first quarter of the year. But the leadership of its ailing wealth unit is continuing to undergo major changes under its new boss, Andy Sieg.

At least 33 senior executives have exited Citi's wealth unit since Sieg, a Merrill Lynch veteran, joined in September. Seventeen of the ex-employees had worked at Citi for at least 15 years. These veterans include five of Sieg's 14 direct reports, such as Naz Vahid, the head of the fastest-growing division within Citi Wealth that caters to rich law-firm partners and other executives.

David Bailin, who departed in May as the chief investment officer, is starting an investment advisory business for family offices. Most departing executives haven't publicly disclosed their reasons for leaving. The bank's restructuring reduced the number of management levels to eight from 13.

Sieg said at a Morgan Stanley conference on June 12 that few of these exits were regrettable.

"We have had a substantial number of departures, but those departures really come through a level of rigorous self-examination of the business," he said. "We've needed to drive significant change across the team, and we're making those changes."

The law firm group lost 17 bankers to BMO Wealth Management on July 17, including unit head Joe Ryan. More exits could be on the way. To turn around the barely profitable wealth unit, Sieg is laser-focused on getting advisors and bankers to sell as many investment products as possible. He said at the conference that only one-third of advisors were meeting expectations.

One of his other goals is to expand Citi's already successful wealth business in Asia. He holds up the bank's reputation among rich customers in Asian capitals such as Hong Kong and Singapore as an example for the rest of the division.

Despite this success, Asian executives have also left the firm amid the upheaval. In February, Sieg attended the ribbon cutting for two new wealth hubs in Singapore for clients with at least $1 million in assets. One month later, Shyam Sambamurthy, the South Asia region head whose purview included Singapore, resigned after 36 years at Citi. At least five other senior Asia executives have left.

Sieg installed a former colleague from Merrill, Don Plaus, when the private bank's North American head, Halé Behzadi, retired in March. He has also hired Dawn Nordberg to lead client-referral efforts between the investment bank and the wealth division. Nordberg, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley, will officially join Citi in September. Keith Glenfield, another Merrill colleague, will start in September as global head of investment products.

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Here is our running list of senior departures from Citi Wealth. This list was originally published on April 17 and last updated on July 25, 2024.

Do you work for Citi? Have a tip or story to share? Reach out to Hayley Cuccinello at hcuccinello@jkmperu.com or 917 740 5340, which works for calls, text, and the encrypted messaging app Signal.