Citibank Builds Out Affluent Offering In China

Josh O'Neill

21 March 2018

is bolstering Citigold, its package of services catering to Chinese clients with at least RMB1 million ($158,000), including rolling out a new robo-advisor.

China is the second-largest individual asset market behind the US, Citibank pointed out, which has prompted the bank to build out its offerings to the nation’s affluent.

“Our investment in Citigold has been generating strong results,” Max Xu, head of retail bank, sales and distribution, Citi China, said. “In recent years, we have reallocated resources to build out wealth management hubs, invested in our digital capabilities and strengthened our core value propositions. Our offering allows customers to interact with us through multiple channels with access to better-trained relationship managers supported by digital experiences for convenience and efficiency.”

The move will see Citibank, which oversees $256 billion of assets in Asia-Pacific, launch Total Wealth Advisor, a robo-advisor that includes Portfolio 360 and the Citigold Diversification Index, a bundle of investment analytics services.

The firm will offer access to “many first or exclusively-distributed” QDII funds, it said, which enable investment in foreign securities markets via certified asset management houses.

Citigold will also include “complimentary, instant” global fund transfers and privileges including access to overseas Citigold centres, free overseas airport transfers, zero fees on premium credit cards and credit of up to 100,000 miles. In addition, the package has overseas education and health services.