The appointment is part of the bank's continuing focus on areas such as wealth management, and another example of women rising to the top of this bank, with CEO Jane Fraser at the helm.

Citigroup, which has been offloading some of its retail businesses and focusing more on areas such as high net worth and affluent clients, has appointed Angel Ng as head of Asia-Pacific global wealth management. 

Ng will head the US bank’s integrated wealth platform serving clients across the wealth continuum from the affluent to high net worth, it said in a statement today. Ng is Citi CEO for Hong Kong and Macau and will still be based in Hong Kong. She reports to Peter Babej, Asia-Pacific CEO, and Jim O’Donnell, CEO of global wealth management.

She will be responsible for managing the bank’s ambitious growth strategy across the region centered on wealth management hubs in Hong Kong and Singapore. Ng will also lead Citi’s personal banking franchises in Hong Kong and Singapore, including retail banking, cards and loans.

Ng is taking over from Fabio Fontainha and Steven Lo, formerly co-heads of global wealth management for APAC, who have moved into new roles. Fontainha is now global head of Citigold and Citigold Private Client, leading Citi’s global client strategy across these client segments. Lo has become head of Citi Private Bank for APAC.

“As a top three wealth manager in APAC, and with clients across the region prioritizing global diversification, Citi is well positioned for further growth. With Angel’s leadership, our wealth business will deliver the full capabilities of our global network to support our clients’ needs and ambitions,” Peter Babej, Asia-Pacific CEO, said.

Citigroup has been focusing more on its wealth management business over the past year, part of a strategy prompted by its chief executive, Jane Fraser. To illustrate what’s at stake, Citigroup said that in 2021, global wealth management reached more than $2.5 billion in revenue in the region. The bank has added several hundred staff, and is planning to add 2,300 staff and $150 billion in client assets by 2025.

Part of the Citigroup business since 1998, Ng joined the bank in Hong Kong that year, subsequently holding several leadership posts. In 2015 she was appointed head of consumer banking for Hong Kong. Since May 2018, Ng has been CEO for Hong Kong and Macau expanding the franchise across Citigroup’s institutional and wealth management businesses despite some strong headwinds.

“Under her leadership, we will enhance our already strong position in this critical region, especially our two key wealth hubs – Singapore and Hong Kong,” O’Donnell said.

“Angel is a proven and capable leader with extensive experience across Citi. Her knowledge and understanding of both wealth and the institutional side of Citi will be instrumental as we continue to build a winning wealth management business.”

The bank recently appointed Eduardo A Martinez Campos as group head, Citi Wealth Services and Strategic Investments, reporting to O’Donnell.

Citigroup has been restructuring. In January, it agreed to sell consumer banking businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to United Overseas Bank for about S$4.9 billion ($3.6 billion). That disposal followed the sale of its assets in the Philippines to Union Bank of the Philippines for a cash consideration plus a premium of about $904 million in December. Citigroup has also wound down its consumer and SME banking operations in Mexico. Citigroup has agreed with Singapore-based DBS to sell its consumer banking franchises in Taiwan.

Under CEO Fraser, the bank’s US consumer and global wealth arms are being melded into a single business. Like other international banks, it is also pushing into areas such as wealth management and private banking in Asia to tap a rising and affluent middle class.

The bank issued its fourth-quarter, full-year 2021 results here.