Q1: Private banks in Asia have faced a number of challenges in 2024, from uncertainty around interest rate cuts in the US to volatile markets and geopolitical tensions. Considering this background, how did you safeguard AUM and revenue streams in 2024, while also attracting net new assets? What will your strategy be in 2025?

Market volatility creates opportunities as there is an even greater need for wealth portfolio diversification, and Citi Private Bank is well-positioned to help investors navigate the increasingly complex markets.

One of the exceptional flows we saw this year was in Japan where client trading volume grew by double digits year-on-year.

Our teams remain laser-focused on delivering investments for our clients, and a key attribute of our success is the quality of advice and market insights we offer our clients. In the third quarter this year, we delivered one of our strongest quarters in net new investment assets, nearly double the previous quarter. We also saw a remarkable increase in investment penetration across our newly-qualified accounts, with over 70% of assets allocated to investment products.

Q2: How are you advising clients in terms of investment opportunities in 2025? Which markets and asset classes will provide the best opportunities? And how can clients balance leveraging these opportunities while managing risks to their portfolios?

Having defied usually reliable recession signals, the global economic expansion is expected to continue in 2025 and 2026. We advise investors to keep core portfolios fully invested for the long term while being wary of over-concentrated portfolios. The long period of sharp outperformance for US large-cap equities has reduced future returns while many other assets – including smaller-cap US growth and international markets – offer potential opportunities.

In our newly-released 2025 Wealth Outlook report, we also highlighted 10 opportunistic positions that we believe may complement core portfolios, depending on investor objectives. They include semiconductor equipment makers, medical equipment, biotechnology, defence contractors, US banks, midstream energy transportation, nuclear energy, positioning for renewed volatility, enablers of cryptocurrencies’ growth, and Brazilian equities.

With systemic trends powering global economic growth in 2025 and beyond, investors have reason for optimism. At the same time, discord around the world can threaten market stability. With so many variables to consider, it’s important that investors have advisors they can rely on.

Q3: Much hype has been made about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. What opportunities does AI present to your financial institution, and how does it fit into a broader strategy of technological upgrade and digitisation?

It’s clear that emerging technologies including AI and generative AI are driving the future of financial services and business more broadly. It can help create models based on a client’s investment preferences and past behaviours, recommend products and services, rebalance portfolios based on market conditions and client preferences, manage risk and analyse data to make more informed business decisions. We were one of the first banks to release AI ethical principles because we understood the importance of ensuring we use this technology safely and responsibly.

We see AI as an opportunity to improve investment decisions – it is a tool in our arsenal that we intend to use to the fullest extent to enhance support for our clients. Our focus is on the relevant use cases that will have the largest impact on our businesses across the firm. Our highly personalised client service across the wealth spectrum will evolve to integrate AI, as needed, for optimisation.

Earlier this month, we launched two new GenAI tools for our colleagues in numerous markets including Singapore. We plan to introduce these tools to the rest of our colleagues throughout 2025.

Q4: Trillions of dollars of wealth are expected to be passed down to the next generation of clients in Asia over the coming years, bringing into the spotlight services targeted at next-generation clients. What is your bank doing to ensure it captures the full potential of this opportunity, whether via content, outreach, or solutions like family office and wealth planning?

As more and more of the next generation captures the wealth transfer, we need to anticipate and navigate the shifting expectations from next-gen clients. Our well-established Next Generation programmes provide important connections, knowledge and opportunities, and they bring together emerging leaders from around the world, allowing them to form personal and professional ties with their peers.

Through these programmes, we aim to increase participants’ knowledge and awareness of key developments in areas such as disruptive technologies, emotional intelligence, leadership, as well as family governance and legacy, financial literacy and wealth preservation management.

Our approach also involves bringing generations together to discuss succession issues. Every year, we hold the Business Families Summit where two or three generations of each family explore succession planning, wealth transfer, family governance and legacy building. Following private discussions with experienced next-generation wealth professionals, participants identify the existing and new investment objectives that seek to support their strong performance, and they come up with a plan of action customised for their families.