Citi wealth head Andy Sieg took to the airwaves to deny accusations of workplace mistreatment; industry experts say the move indicates his role is likely safe — at least for now.
Sieg last week was the subject of a Bloomberg piece reporting that Citi had retained the outside law firm Paul Weiss to look into alleged instances of misbehavior, including expletive-filled rants and sarcastic remarks about an executive after the person had left the room. At least six managing directors at Citi lodged human resources complaints against Sieg, Bloomberg reported, and his treatment of former private banking head Ida Liu in particular was under scrutiny.
In a Wednesday interview on the show "Mornings with Maria" on Fox Business, Sieg called the reports inaccurate without going into specifics about the individual allegations. Sieg, who was recruited from Bank of America's Merrill in 2023 to help revive Citi's flagging wealth business, told the host Maria Bartiromo that "change is hard."
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"We've been driving a lot of change across Citi, and, in our wealth business, that change is working," Sieg said.
Asked if his colleagues are supporting him amid the allegations, Sieg said, "It's disappointing to see a story like that, but, you know, but it's not throwing us off our game."
Signals look good for Sieg, but Citi's 'sticking its neck out'
Bloomberg reported that Paul Weiss had completed its investigation, but Citi has yet to release any findings. Last week, the firm responded to the Bloomberg piece with a statement: "Andy is a hard-charging leader who has established a strong, client-focused franchise that is delivering revenue growth and improved returns. … We look forward to Andy continuing to drive strong business performance."
The fact that Sieg is making public statements about the Bloomberg report signals that he isn't headed for the exit at Citi in the immediate future, industry experts said. His appearance on Fox Business presents a strong contrast to the actions of Dan Arnold, who last year as LPL Financial's CEO was similarly subject to a review by an outside law firm. Arnold made no public statements before he was fired.
Phil Waxelbaum, an industry recruiter and the founder of Masada Consulting, said firms will often place gag orders on executives who are under scrutiny. Sieg apparently has received the green light to go on the defense.
"The fact that he made a public statement relating to the event tells me that he has very strong board-level support at Citi," Waxelbaum said.
Tim Welsh, the president of the industry consulting firm Nexus Strategy, agreed about the significance of Sieg's public defense of himself.
"If they didn't find any smoking guns, or they didn't find any egregious behavior, then this could be them taking the leash off a little," Welsh said.
Waxelbaum said it is notable that Citi's board hasn't yet issued a statement exonerating Sieg. "But that could also be reflective of the fact that they may believe that there is a liability that still needs to be contained, and they're in there and they're working now to move on to containing liabilities," Waxelbaum said.
The larger question is whether the allegations will hinder Sieg's work overhauling the wealth unit.
"This is a big decision for Citi, because three months from now, six months from now, a year from now, if Andy were to be confronted with a new round of allegations, it's terrible," Waxelbaum said. "If Andy's employment remains, as it appears that it's going to remain intact, Citi is sticking its neck out."
Still aiming to be No. 1 in wealth management
In his Fox Business appearance, Sieg made it clear that he's intent on continuing his work at Citi. He repeated his goal of building Citi into the "No. 1 wealth management business in the world."
Bartiromo asked Sieg about Morgan Stanley, which has the largest wealth management business in the U.S. by many measures.
"Morgan Stanley has done an amazing job, but their franchise and others are nowhere near as global as Citi," Sieg said. "Citi is an American bank, but we have a global network unlike anyone else. And wealth creation is not just happening in the U.S. Markets are spreading around the world. … There's phenomenal wealth creation across Asia. And even in a relatively slow-growing part of the world like Europe, there's incredible wealth creation among ultrahigh net worth clients."
