SUMMARY
Madeline Seddon, Director, and Sarah Courtney-Dockett, Private Banker, talk about the work Citi Private Bank has done to make diversity a reality.
Diversity & Inclusion
May 27, 2022
Gender diversity: An intrinsic value for Citi Private Bank
May 27, 2022
The interview is an extract taken from Acclaim magazine, by WealthBriefing. It was published in May 2022, acknowledging the winners of the 2022 European WealthBriefing Awards, among whom the Private Bank featured prominently.
Left: Madeline Seddon Right: Sarah Courtney-Dockett
What do you think gave you the competitive edge this year?
Gender diversity is one of Citi Private Bank’s intrinsic values. Embedding diversity – gender and otherwise – at every level of our organization is not simply a matter of fairness but is also critical to our business’s success. Our clients are themselves highly diverse; we recognize that they are best served by teams of professionals who are equally so. Diverse talent fosters more insights, greater innovation and stronger relationships with all of our clients and communities.
Citi Private Bank is dedicated to serving the world’s wealthiest individuals, families and the entities that represent them. Our clients include leading entrepreneurs, corporate executives and professional investors. Among them are 25% of the world’s billionaires and around 1,500 family offices. We address their needs across investments, banking and lending and many other aspects of their wealth. Both Citi Private Bank and the wider Citi organization promote a culture where women and other diverse talent can thrive. We pride ourselves on the results we achieve.
We have almost doubled the number of female directors at Citi Private Bank in recent years, with the percentage of females at Assistant Vice President level and above also increasing year-on-year. We have a wide range of grassroots initiatives led by employees and supported by our leadership team. These help empower and support our female employees at every step of their career. Citi’s CEO Jane Fraser is the first woman to lead a Wall Street bank, while Ida Liu is the third female head of Citi Private Bank. The message from the top is clear: diversity is key.
Describe how your colleagues made a difference to your organization?
To accelerate the development of female talent, two senior women within our organization founded Citi Private Bank Women EMEA in 2017. This internal grassroots network offers personalized career support to women at every stage, drawing upon Citi’s wider diversity resources and supported by Citi Private Bank’s leadership team.
The initiatives that Citi Women EMEA promotes are based on input from its membership. It also helps raise members’ profiles and provides visible role models to the wider internal community. Since inception, the network has grown rapidly to over 200 members, with around 70 active contributors of all genders.
What do you hope will be the result of winning the Women in Wealth Management (Company Contribution) award at the 2022 European WealthBriefing Awards?
We are delighted win the award and be recognized as a leader in gender diversity. This is testament to all the work of our amazing women and male allies throughout our organization. We hope our example inspires yet more progress across the industry. As our Global Head Ida Liu says: Our community of clients is incredibly diverse, representing every gender, background, culture and walk of life. We believe they are best served by teams that mirror them.
