Citizens Financial launches private bank to nab wealthy clients of failed lenders

Citizens Financial Group Inc. rolled out a private bank as it seeks to capture wealthy clients of regional lenders that were felled by the turmoil earlier this year.

Citizens Private Bank has already attracted about $500 million in deposits and investments since its soft launch in September and is targeting about $10 billion each in deposits, loans and assets under management. 

“There’s a lot of talent and a lot of customers in flight searching for a new home,” Brendan Coughlin, head of consumer banking at Citizens, said in an interview. “We believe we can serve that void that was created by some of the bank failures.”

Citizens expects the new venture to break even in the second half of 2024 and boost earnings per share by 5%. The launch is expected to cost 10 to 12 cents in earnings per share this year, Coughlin said.

The firm hired 150 bankers earlier this year to anchor the new venture, most of whom previously worked at First Republic Bank, which collapsed and was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in May.

Don McCree, vice chairman and head of commercial banking, said hiring top talent will attract top clients.

“It’s as much about the individual private bankers as it is about the firm,” McCree said. “The best private bankers at First Republic chose to come to Citizens because they saw the way we’re going to approach this business, and we’re seeing clients follow the bankers.”

The Providence, Rhode Island-based firm will expand its operations in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Palm Beach, Florida, which it views as large, innovation-driven markets where private banking is most likely to succeed. It intends to open six new private banking offices in these locations, three of which will be in the Bay Area.

One of the venture’s goals is to grow Citizens’ size and scale as a company.

“One thing that separates super-regional banks from the bigger banks is the presence of a sophisticated private bank,” Coughlin said. “Being successful in this space will continue to push us on that path of positioning this bank to compete and win clients with the biggest banks in the country.”