Andy Sieg, president of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, is leaving Bank of America for Citi, the banks announced Thursday.
Sieg will join Citi as head of global wealth in September, after a required six-month leave, the bank’s CEO, Jane Fraser, said in a memo seen by American Banker and Reuters.
"Andy's decision to join Citi sends a strong signal about the potential of our wealth proposition and the attractiveness of our unique global offering," Fraser said. "Growing Wealth is a core pillar of our strategy and will improve our business mix by adding more fee-based revenue and drive improved returns."
Sieg will replace Jim O’Donnell, who will become an executive vice chair and head of senior client engagement at Citi. O’Donnell will continue leading the bank’s wealth unit until Sieg arrives, according to the memo.
"This is a fantastic opportunity to build a leading wealth management business at the world's most global bank at a time of massive wealth creation," Sieg said in a statement. "There is a transformation underway at Citi, and I am excited about becoming part of a team that's driven to deliver for clients, colleagues and shareholders."
Sieg is “no stranger” to Citi, Fraser said. He served as managing director of an emerging affluent client segment of Citi’s wealth unit from 2005 to 2009. Apart from that four-year stint, Sieg has been at Merrill, in one form or another, since 1992. When he returned in 2009, Merrill had been acquired by Bank of America. Sieg has been Merrill’s president since 2017.
Bank of America, meanwhile, named Lindsay Hans and Eric Schimpf as presidents and co-heads of Merrill Wealth Management, according to a Thursday press release. The move is effective immediately, a bank spokesperson told American Banker.
“Lindsay and Eric have excelled as leaders, delivering outstanding results for our advisors and clients,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said. “I’m looking forward to them building on the success and long tradition of Merrill in the years ahead.”
This would be Hans’ second promotion of 2023, American Banker reported. Bank of America appointed Hans as its new chief of private wealth management, international and institutional groups in February, after the surprise retirement of Don Plaus.
Hans previously served for six years as a Merrill division executive in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Schimpf, likewise, has spent six years at the division-executive lever — first in the Southeast, later on the Pacific Coast. Schimpf joined Merrill in 1994, but, like Sieg, left the company and returned, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Fraser said in her memo that she and Citi's newly minted COO, Anand Selva, wanted to find an executive who "has a track record of driving growth, who has deep experience in the U.S. where we aim to grow significantly and who will be well positioned to drive global synergies between Wealth and our four other core businesses."
Under Sieg, Merrill saw assets from new clients double to an average of $1.7 million over a decade, according to American Banker.
During his stint, Sieg sought increased outreach to what he called the diversifying "face of wealth" in the U.S.
Merrill also embraced processes to boost its online marketing to clients, under Sieg.
