Citizens Bank has hired two JPMorgan Chase veterans to lead its wealth management business and opened its first private banking office in Boston, the company announced Thursday.
Citizens appointed Michael Cherny as head of its wealth management advisors and Tom Metzger as head of private wealth managers. The executives will lead the office, which launched in October and will cater to a wide range of wealth clients including ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices, the bank said.
The $220 billion-asset Citizens unveiled its plan to launch a private bank last September.
“With the bank failures of 2023, it is clear that significant white space exists in the market for a new entrant to fill by delivering best-in-market customer service for Private Banking and Wealth Management clients,” Brendan Coughlin, Citizens’ vice chair and head of consumer banking, said in a statement. “Hiring these two high-quality executives demonstrates the strength of Private Banking and Wealth Management talent that we have been able to attract to Citizens.”
“The launch of our new branding and addition of our new Private Banking offices will help them deliver the extraordinary service their clients have come to expect,” Coughlin said.
Citizens Private Bank took in $1.2 billion worth of deposits by the end of 2023 — roughly 75% from commercial clients and 30% non-interest-bearing, according to the lender’s fourth-quarter earnings report.
Before joining Citizens, Cherny spent 18 years at JPMorgan Chase — most recently as managing director in wealth, leading a region comprising $60 billion in investment and deposit balances, the bank said.
Metzger is a 17-year industry veteran who started out at JPMorgan, then served as a managing director at Wells Fargo before moving to First Republic, where he served as head of wealth manager recruiting. He came back to JPMorgan when the bank acquired First Republic in May.
Metzger will “recruit and lead a new team of Private Wealth managers targeting new-to-bank clients in key geographies” across the country, Citizens said.
Citizens recruited 200 bankers to the private bank in 2023 — and at least 50 were private bankers from First Republic.
“These teams have a demonstrated track record of delivering a truly differentiated white-glove client experience that is second to none, which will create long-term customer loyalty across attractive growth areas,” Coughlin said.
Citizens plans to open additional offices this year, including in Palm Beach, Florida, and Mill Valley, California, in the spring, the bank said.
The leadership hires mark the latest advancement in Citizens’ wealth strategy. The bank in 2022 acquired certain assets and liabilities of New Hampshire-based Paladin Advisors, as well as Clarfeld Financial Advisors in 2019.
