Citigroup names Wieting chief strategist for private banking

Citigroup Inc, the third-biggest US lender, named Steven Wieting global chief strategist of its private bank, the unit that claims relationships with a third of all billionaires.

Wieting will provide views and investing ideas to the business and its clients, the New York-based bank said on Tuesday in a statement. Wieting, 42, a managing director and US economist in the Citi Research unit, will report to Eduardo Martinez Campos, the private bank's global head of investments, according to the statement.

CEO Michael Corbat and private bank head Jane Fraser oversaw a January shakeup in how the firm crafts investing ideas for its wealthiest clients.

The lender fired Richard Cookson, the unit's chief investment officer, and told employees that it would no longer rely on one person for "investment strategy and asset allocation," Fraser wrote at the time.

"Steven is an economist, investment professional and thought leader of the highest caliber, and we are happy to bring his extensive experience at Citi and elsewhere to this pivotal role," Martinez Campos said in the statement. "Our clients around the world will benefit from his investment views and strategies on both a macro basis and across asset classes."

Wieting's position is a new role, said Natalie Marin, a spokeswoman for Citigroup. He joined the Smith Barney brokerage unit in 1996 and was appointed as lead economist for the bank's U.S. institutional-equities business in 2000, according to the statement.

Citigroup's private bank advises some of the world's most affluent families on "how to create, manage and enhance their wealth," according to its website. The unit had revenue of $629 million in the first quarter, a 5 percent increase from a year earlier, according to a financial supplement. The bank doesn't disclose the division's profit.