Citi taps former UBS exec to head family office unit

Citi is enriching its ultra-high-net-worth business as it welcomes a pedigreed industry executive to head its American family office division.

The firm has tapped Richard Weintraub as the head of its family office group in the Americas, according to an internal memo shared with InvestmentNews.

During his time at UBS, Weintraub made significant contributions within the firm’s global family and institutional wealth team, managing relationships with major family office clients globally.

Prior to that, Weintraub held a key position at Goldman Sachs, leading new business efforts for a cross-asset sales and trading group. He also played a pivotal role in founding its mid-market sales and trading team focused on institutional family offices.

His appointment at Citi, where he starts May 7, is poised to bolster the bank's family office business across the Americas. Weintraub will be based in New York and report directly to Hannes Hofmann, who heads Citi’s family office group globally.

Citi also announced it is also shuffling in key members of its solutions group, which is part of its wealth markets division.

This strategic move, aimed at enhancing the upper-high-net-worth client experience by providing seamless access to Citi’s comprehensive services, will see three new members join the team, including Amanda Ens, who covers North America; Stefano Gilotti, covering EMEA; and Stephan Lanz, focusing on Asia.

The three will be reporting to their respective cluster heads within the group, while operating under the leadership of Lorenzo Frontini, the group’s vice chairman.

Frontini is also playing a central role in Citi’s efforts to accelerate its UHNW business, the firm said, as he spearheads its “effort to innovate, expand and partner with bankers and investment counselors to deliver greater value to our clients.”

Weintraub’s hiring speaks loudly to Citi’s hunger to revitalize its wealth business, which include welcoming Andy Sieg from Bank of America as its new wealth management chief last year.

The last few weeks also saw a string of other key appointments at Citi, including Don Plaus joining as head of Citi Private Bank, North America; Antonio Gonzales coming in as head of Citi Private Bank, Latin America; and Frederic Viaud’s promotion to head Citi’s business in France.