BlackRock to Manage $80 Billion of Citi's Wealth Assets

Citigroup is outsourcing $80 billion of client assets to BlackRock, entrusting the investment management firm with tens of billions of dollars of clients' investments. This move will allow Citigroup to focus on the advisory side of its wealth business, as it does not have an in-house asset management platform.

Citigroup Inc. has announced a significant strategic shift in its wealth management operations by transferring $80 billion in client assets to BlackRock Inc. This move is part of a new partnership aimed at streamlining Citigroup's wealth business and allowing it to focus on the advisory side.

The companies announced on Thursday that BlackRock will manage the assets of thousands of Citigroup's wealthiest clients who currently have accounts with Citi Investment Management. This transfer includes the final $80 billion that Citigroup still oversees internally, adding to the $635 billion in client investments already managed by BlackRock [1].

Andy Sieg, head of Citigroup's wealth business, stated, "We are not in the position to take this platform and make it twice as big ourselves — not nearly as strong a position as we will be working with BlackRock. We’ve got the world’s most global bank working with the world’s leading asset manager to make this happen" [1].

While Citi Investment Management will continue to exist as part of the bank’s wealth unit, the proprietary asset management operations and some portfolio managers led by Robert Jasminski will transfer to BlackRock. According to Citigroup spokesperson Mark Costiglio, fewer than 100 Citigroup employees will move to BlackRock as part of this transition [1].

As part of the agreement, BlackRock will receive management fees, while Citigroup will keep fees for advising clients, who will be notified about the changes in coming months. The new arrangement is expected to be completed by year-end [3].

This strategic move marks a key step in streamlining Citigroup's wealth business, which has turned its focus to the mass affluent and is vying to compete in a crowded sector to capture a greater share of rich individuals’ wallets [3].

References:
[1] https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/citigroup-to-outsource-80-billion-in-client-assets-to-blackrock--bloomberg-93CH-4224399
[2] https://www.reuters.com/business/citigroup-transfers-80-billion-assets-blackrock-2025-09-04/
[3] https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/769433