Under BofA alum Chris Biotti, Citi’s private bank is targeting $3 trillion in untapped North American client assets by installing new leaders across the region.

Citi’s installation of about 12 new private bank leaders in about 15 months is a signal of the lender’s intent to move up the ranks of the biggest private banks in North America, an executive said.

New York-based Citi is a top player on the global private banking stage, but is keen to grow its North America business and named Chris Biotti as head of North America for Citi Private Bank in May 2025.

Citi’s wealth client assets amount to more than $1 trillion. About $3 trillion in North America is not held at Citi, Biotti said in a recent interview. He had been the Northeast division executive at Bank of America’s private bank before joining Citi.

CEO Jane Fraser and other bank executives have made it clear Citi is eager to draw in more of its clients’ assets and drive higher returns, and building out the private bank leadership team is part of that effort, Biotti said.

“Jane says it best: To be the best, you have to beat the best, and so we're going to have to beat the best all along that continuum to get to No. 1,” Biotti said.

After the sale of the Smith Barney wealth management business to Morgan Stanley post-2008 financial crisis, Citi’s wealth management position in North America “changed drastically, and now we’re rebuilding that position,” Biotti said.

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