Citigroup is bulking up its private banking arm, adding 300 new workers to its U.S. and Asia-Pacific offices.
The offers will be made over the next three years, as the firm hopes to double the private banking unit's profit within the same timeframe.
Unit head Jane Fraser told the Wall Street Journal that her team is remaking itself as younger and hipper, in a bid to win business from wealthy heirs and other affluent young adults. The firm wants to distance itself from the stereotype of an "old, fuddy-duddy private banker sitting in a Swiss wood-panelled library office," Fraser said.
To that end, Citi has developed an iPad app and a "fresher" online banking interface that looks more like Facebook than a traditional lending platform.
While the private bank only accounts for 5% to the firm's overall profit, Citi was an early entrant to the Asian market and hopes to expand upon its established footprint in the region.
The division has also spiked commissions for private bankers, to impress upon clients a will to serve rather than push products.
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