Citigroup's Citibank unit in Hong Kong plans to hire 40 percent more front-line staff for its retail banking business this year as it moves to boost its presence in the city, an executive said on Monday.
The hires will include consultants and customer relationship managers for new branches, said Weber Lo, chief operating officer of Citibank's global consumer group in Hong Kong.
He declined to disclose the current number of front-line staff. Citigroup employs more than 3,000 people in the territory.
Citibank has opened two branches in Hong Kong so far this year, bringing the total to 23, as part of plans to capture a larger slice of the growing wealth management market.
"The potential of the market is very large," Lo told Reuters, adding only 52 percent of the 250,000 people in Hong Kong whose assets exceed HK $1 million (US $128,200) manage their funds through wealth management accounts. Hong Kong banks have been expanding their wealth management businesses in an economy where loan growth shows few signs of growth and interest margins are pressured.
Only 18 percent of assets in Hong Kong are managed by institutions, compared to 33 percent in Asia and 50 percent in the United States, Lo said.
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