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The global head of Citigroup’s private banking arm and one of its most senior executives is leaving the company in a potential blow to Chief Executive Jane Fraser’s plan to expand its wealth division.
Ida Liu announced her departure to LinkedIn on Monday morning, but did not say where she was headed next. Her decision follows a series of other departures of 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 dilute the limited number of senior female executives on Citi’s org chart under Fraser. While Liu was not on Citi’s executive management team, along with Tasnim Ghiawadwala, who runs Citi’s Commercial Bank, she was among a handful of top female executives there.
Citigroup reorganized itself just over a year ago into five key business units, all run by men. Fraser’s 18-member Executive Management Committee includes just two female executives Fraser.
Liu’s departure follows those of other senior Citi executives, including Titi Cole, who became Citi’s global head of restructuring in May, and Karen Peetz, who was Citi’s chief operating officer and left 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 reshaping its asset base. Liu, a former investment banker at Deutsche Bank, left Wall Street early in her career to become a fashion executive. She returned to Citi a few years later and used her contacts to lure wealthy clients in the world of fashion, media and entertainment.
The bank named North American private bank heads in 2019 and global division heads 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 placed an emphasis on wealth management and to overhaul the pay of its private bankers, rewarding them for bringing in client assets rather than per transaction, as private bankers are typically paid.
Sieg’s changes to the division have improved results, but have been accompanied by several senior departures. Income at Citi’s wealth division more than doubled last year by more than $1 billion. The highest profit since the bank broke out in the unit’s results three years ago.
Last year was “the turning point for prosperity as we focused on investments, right-sized the spend base and improved the customer experience,” Fraser told analysts on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, praising victory. “This is where we see the big advantage.”
