Citi’s wealth division posted a steep drop in net new investment assets in the fourth quarter of 2025, weighing on the unit’s overall growth for the year.
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The wealth unit reported $7.2 billion in net new investment assets for the quarter, a 54% decline from the same period a year earlier. For the full year, the division brought in $44 billion in NNIA, a modest 4% increase from 2024. That follows a far stronger prior year, when the unit’s net new assets jumped 40% to $42 billion.
Citi said the wealth unit’s organic growth rate for the past 12 months was roughly 8%, calculated as total NNIA across 2025 divided by client investment assets at the end of 2024.
CEO Jane Fraser attributed the performance to strategic investments made over the past two years, including talent recruitment and partnerships aimed at improving efficiency and the client experience.
“It’s a direct result of the strategy we’ve executed over the past two years — attracting and retaining industry-leading talent and driving better operating efficiency that’s allowed us to invest in key growth areas,” Fraser said on Wednesday’s earnings call. She pointed to partnerships with firms such as BlackRock as helping to strengthen Citi’s open-architecture platform.
Companywide, Citi reported fourth-quarter revenue of $19.9 billion, up 2% year over year. Results were weighed down by the sale of AO Citibank, which housed the firm’s remaining Russia operations and resulted in a $1.2 billion loss. Excluding that sale, revenue rose 8% from a year earlier.
Within wealth management, revenue for the quarter totaled $2.1 billion, up 7% year over year. Commission and other fee revenue increased 5% to $376 million. For the full year, the wealth division reported $8.6 billion in revenue, a 14% increase from 2024.
Fourth-quarter operating expenses in the wealth unit rose 6% to $1.7 billion, driven by higher technology spending and increased transaction and product-service costs. Net income for the quarter edged up 1% to $338 million, while full-year net income surged 49% to $1.5 billion.
Citigold and private bank fuel gains, but work remains
Growth in the wealth division was led by Citi’s Citigold and private bank businesses, partially offset by weaker results in its Wealth at Work unit.
Citigold, which serves clients with at least $200,000 in assets, generated $1.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 12% year-over-year increase. Full-year revenue reached $5 billion, up 17% from 2024. The private bank, which primarily serves high net worth clients, reported $656 million in quarterly revenue, up 6%, and $2.7 billion for the full year, a 12% increase.
The private bank saw significant leadership turnover in 2025. In November, Hannes Hofmann, global head of Citi’s family office unit, departed the firm. His exit followed a broader revamp earlier in the year that included the departure of longtime private bank chief Ida Liu, who recently became CEO of HSBC’s private bank.
Under the new structure, four regional heads now lead the business and report directly to Andy Sieg, who joined Citi from Bank of America in 2023 and oversees the firm’s wealth operations.
Meanwhile, Citi’s Wealth at Work unit, which serves law firms and other professional clients, reported $227 million in revenue for the quarter, down 11% from a year earlier. For the full year, revenue totaled $930 million, up 6% from 2024.
Fraser said Citi has made progress improving its platform and client experience but acknowledged that further work remains.
“There’s room to grow profitability and revenues from here. And Andy is going to lay out the path at Investor Day,” Fraser said. “So you have a clear set of KPIs and the different elements that are needed to continue to drive that growth forward.”
