(Dow Jones) Citigroup Inc. (C) has promoted Catherine Weir to head its new global family office group, rededicating itself to a business that was once part of its former Smith Barney brokerage.
In two separate internal memos reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires, Jane Fraser, chief executive of Citi Private Bank, announced Weir's promotion as well as her replacement.
Luigi Pigorini, currently global head of investment finance for Citi Private Bank, was appointed chief executive of the Europe, Middle East, and Africa, or EMEA, region, taking on Weir's current role.
Weir, a 20-year veteran of the banking giant, will lead the group that caters to wealthy families and report to Fraser. Weir will also serve as vice chairman of the institutional clients group in EMEA at Citi.
Pigorini, who has worked at Citi for 23 years, rejoined the private banking unit in 2009, having served as regional manager in Italy, Spain and Portugal earlier in his career. He also reports to Fraser.
The executive announcements are the latest in a series of personnel moves made at Citi Private Bank since the spring of 2009. Building up the private bank, which targets investors with a net worth of at least $25 million, is an important growth area for Citi after the bank formed a joint venture with its Smith Barney brokerage and Morgan Stanley (MS) over a year ago.
Citi previously had its own family office group, but that was combined with Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, or PWM, when the joint venture closed.
Citi, which had 130 private bankers in North America as of March, has said it would like to double that force to reach a total of about 260 over the next several years.
News of the Citi announcements were reported earlier Wednesday by Reuters.
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