Citigold has introduced a new loan and bonus program to attract more top-tier financial advisor talent to the firm. The firm believes there’s a big opportunity for advisors in its 641 bank branches to receive referrals from relationship managers serving affluent bank-only clients in need of investments.
“A lot of clients know us for our premium banking and credit cards business,” said David Poole, head of Citigold and Citigold’s private client business for North America. “What we’re trying to do is make sure we enhance that knowledge and experience around investments, which is significant.”
Citigold currently has 641 retail bank branches in six affluent markets: the New York metro area, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and the broader Southern California region, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Those branches have relationship managers who are fully licensed professionals with bank-only books of business. They’re paired with senior wealth advisors, who can then provide investments to those premium banking clients.
Overall, Citigold's North America business has increased its investment revenue by over 30% year over year, and it has seen a 50% increase in referral flow from relationship managers to advisors, accounting for well over 50,000 referrals since the beginning of this year.
Poole said 50% of those branches currently have senior wealth advisors, and the firm is looking to hire 150 more by the end of 2026 to get to 75% coverage. Ultimately, Citi wants to have a wealth advisor in what he calls "high-opportunity branches," where the firm has identified clients that could benefit from getting into the market.
To hit those numbers, the firm is sweetening its recruiting deal. In the past, the firm has offered 50% of trailing 12 months’ production up front, designed as a forgivable draw and targeted to advisors with $1 million or less in trailing 12 months’ production. That deal, which will remain in place, includes a two-year bonus payment as well, based on acquiring new assets.
“To accelerate our growth trajectory and to fill all of our high-opportunity branches, we’re enhancing, with an additional offer, that’s really targeted more to the $1 million-plus trailing-12 advisor,” Poole said.
The new deal is structured as a loan plus bonus, in which advisors can earn as high as 250% of trailing-12, depending on the individual, the market they’re in, the composition of the book etc. They receive an up-front loan based on their trailing-12, and that’s amortized over a nine-year period. They can also receive bonus payments every quarter. On the back end, there’s a two-year payment based on newly acquired assets into Citi, where the firm will pay another loan, amortized over a seven-year period.
“We did spend well over a year designing this deal for Citi, and worked with various experts in the industry for the loan plus bonus in this design element,” Poole said.
He said the new deal will help larger advisors bridge a more substantial gap from their prior employer. It would be a good fit for a more established advisor who wants to grow their book rather than someone just looking to annuitize their book.
“It’s really for that person that has been successful but knows that they can take it to the next level, if they have the support of a branch, the support of referral flow, which is tremendous,” he said.
The move aligns with one of the core goals of Andy Sieg, who left Merrill Lynch to lead Citi’s wealth management group about a year ago.
“He’s made it very clear that one of his core goals is really cultivating the broader Citi market,” Poole said.
Citi also has relationships with institutional clients via its commercial banking business that advisors can tap into. The executives and owners at these companies need retail support for their individual portfolios.
