Overview
Smith Barney is
Citigroup Inc.'s retail-brokerage arm. It offers brokerage, investment banking and asset
management to high-net-worth investors, institutions, corporations and private businesses, governments and
foundations. Its services include asset allocation, private investments and lending services, hedge funds,
cash and portfolio management, and retirement, education and estate planning. The company has 14,133 financial
advisers in 764 offices around the world.
Smith Barney is expected to merge with Morgan
Stanley's Global Wealth Management Group in the third quarter of 2009 to create Morgan Stanley
Smith Barney, a joint venture 51% owned by Morgan Stanley and the rest owned by Citigroup. The new company
will have 20,000 financial advisors and more than 1,000 offices. The joint venture will also include Citi's
Quilter and Smith Barney Australia. It is expected to consolidate technology, operations, sales support,
product development and marketing.
Smith Barney became part of Citigroup in 1998 when the Travelers
Group Inc. merged with Citicorp but never fully integrated with the bank, operating largely as a separate
fiefdom with its own culture.