Citi doubles down where the money is
One of Cayman Wills”™ first jobs after earning a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a concentration in finance, was as a teller in her native Denver with the 36-year-old Young Americans Bank ”“ a state-chartered, FDIC-insured bank for those age 21 and under that is part of the Young Americans Center for Financial Education.
“I fell in love with banking,” she said, particularly with the idea of not only helping young people with their banking but educating them about money in the process.
Today, Wills is still in banking ”“ and financial literacy ”“ though on a much loftier plane. A managing director with Citi Private Bank, she serves as head of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest Region, working with bankers to address the intricacies and nuances of UHNW (ultra-high net worth). In her senior leadership capacity, Wills is involved in not only day-to-day activities and but the overall arc of generating strategic value for Citi. She is one of four senior executives ”“ the others being managing director Henry Minchin, director Andrew Hite and direct investment counselor Monica McClure ”“ whom Citi welcomed to its burgeoning Greenwich team as it redoubles its presence where wealthy clients live and work, namely Westchester and Fairfield counties. Indeed, the Greenwich and Darien area has been listed as the fifth fastest-growing market in the U.S. for millionaires on the move.
“The quality of life is very high,” said Halé Behzadi, Citi Private Bank”™s head of North America. “(Westchester and Fairfield counties) are great places to work and live,” she added, identifying the New York metro area as a Citi target for financial growth, along with Los Angeles, where she is based, Texas and Florida. Not surprisingly, these are the areas, she and Wills said, in which you find multigenerational UHNW families and ever-expanding family offices ”“ investment portfolios individually tailored to them.
“Family offices operate in a silo way,” said Wills, whose résumé includes an MBA from Columbia University in Manhattan and senior leadership roles with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where she oversaw nearly $200 billion in equity assets. As with other investors, asset allocation is key. But family office portfolios tend to be in direct private investments (DPI) like venture capital, growth equity, real estate, buyout, private credit and alternative opportunities that don”™t require intermediation, as opposed to equity funds, she said.
Part of Citi Private Bank”™s role in family offices is to prepare the next generation for wealth transfer, Wills added. But just as all UHNW families and family offices are not alike, the generations also differ. Behzadi has seen the changes in more than three decades of experience serving UHNW families, most recently as global market manager of Citi Private Bank”™s Western Region. (Prior to joining Citi in 2002, she worked for Bank of America, directing a team of private banking professionals in Beverly Hills.)
“The next generation is not monolithic,” she said. “But their attitude to wealth is different. They grew up comfortably, and they see the world”™s problems. They want to use their wealth for impact”¦.Climate change, racial inequality food insecurity and homelessness are all issues they”™re concerned about.”
Behzadi, who came from a banking family that fled the Cultural Revolution in Iran in 1979, understands the sentiment. She holds a bachelor”™s degree in economics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she is a member of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She is also a member of the executive committee and board of governors of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. Recently, she received a Deborah Award, named for the courageous Jewish prophetess, from the Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles for her leadership and civic contributions.
Citi”™s job, she said, is to help the next generation channel its socioeconomic concerns through instruments like 501(c)(3) family foundations and Citi Latitude, which Behzadi called “an ecosystem” of like-minded entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
With the next generation hewing close to home and not spreading out as previous generations did, the concentration of wealth in this area becomes even greater and means more for the local economy.
“You keep family close,” Behzadi said of the New York metro area. And Citi intends to keep families and family offices even closer. She pointed to one of its bankers, a fifth-generation metro area resident.
“It”™s not,” she added, “always easy to find talent that knows the area that well.”
For more, visit privatebank.citibank.com.
Citi Private Bank is doubling down on growing its presence where its clients live and work, recently welcoming four senior executives to its growing Greenwich team including:
- Cayman Wills, US Northeast & Midwest Region Head
- Henry Minchin, Managing Director
- Andrew Hite, Director
- Monica McClure, Direct Investment Counselor
Favorable market conditions made this a clear strategic choice for Citi Private Bank:
- Fairfield/Westchester market is a growing hub for financial institutions and a haven for ultra-high net worth individuals.
- Citi Private Bank has seen strong growth momentum in the market.
- The region has seen a significant influx of capital into the market””with the Greenwich and Darien area now listed as the fifth fastest-growing market in the U.S. for millionaires moving in.
Other trends Citi is counseling its local client base on include:
- Establishing family offices: As Fairfield and Westchester County”™s ultra-high-net-worth residents look to protect their families”™ futures, family offices are on the rise for greater oversight of their wealth
- Preparing the next generation: Behavioral shifts amid a mass generational wealth transfer, and emerging patterns among the new stewards of wealth
- Direct private investments: Local clients increasing their investments in venture capital, growth equity, real estate, buyout, private credit and alternative opportunities
- Wealth in Greenwich: Potential implications of the generational wealth transfer for the local economy
- Legacy planning: UHNW families setting up family offices to not only protect their wealth today, but preserve their long-term legacies
Halé Behzadi
Head of North America, Citi Private Bank
Hal̩ leads Citi Private BankӪs North America operations and is a member of the Private BankӪs Global Leadership Team.
She has more than three decades of experience serving ultra-high net worth families, most recently as Global Market Manager of the Western Region. Prior to joining Citi in 2002, she worked for Bank of America, directing a team of private banking professionals in Beverly Hills, California.
Halé recently received the Deborah Award from the Anti-Defamation League for her leadership and civic contributions. She is also a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Governors of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.
Hal̩ has a BachelorӪs in Economics from Georgetown University, where she is an active member of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
Cayman Wills
US Northeast & Midwest Region Head, Citi Private Bank
Cayman Wills is a Managing Director with Citi Private Bank. She serves as the US Northeast & Midwest Region Head, working directly with bankers to address the complexities of significant wealth. In her senior leadership capacity, Cayman is deeply involved in both day-to-day activities and generating strategic value for the firm.
With more than 18 years of capital markets and wealth management experience, Cayman was previously Regional Director for J.P. Morgan’s NYC office. Prior to that, she was the Global Head of Equities for J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank.
Originally from Denver, Cayman is a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, where she earned a B.S. with a Finance concentration. She received an M.B.A. from Columbia University.