New tools by Citi help clients create sustainable PE portfolios

Singapore

PRIVATE banking clients at Citi are looking at ways to improve their private-equity portfolios, which were "disfigured" during the financial crisis as investors shunned illiquid assets at that point, said a top executive from the bank.

The private bank, which managed US$210 billion in assets in Asia at the end of 2015, is using freshly developed portfolio-allocation tools - largely built in-house - to work through not just clients' private-equity holdings, but also concerns over credit portfolios, as well as milestones at family offices when the next generation of wealth transfer comes into play, said Philip Watson, head of Citi's Global Investment Lab.