Citi veteran on the art of building a relationship

THE chairman of Citi Private Bank for South Asia Lee Lung-Nien has been a banker all his life, but don't let that one thing define him.

The certified executive coach is also an avid photographer, plays the drums for church, races go-karts competitively, plays football, and was once an advanced scuba diving instructor. The outspoken 30-year Citi veteran, an influencer of sorts on LinkedIn with more than 17,000 followers, believes that it is these varied interests that help to shape the kind of banker he is today.

"You must have the ability to talk about anything under the sun," he told The Business Times in an interview. "You cannot just be talking about the product - if your only interest is something niche like underwater basket weaving, you are going to have a problem."

To make it as a private banker, it is not about pushing products but the ability to build a relationship, said Mr Lee, or Lung as he is known in banking circles. "It's never about the price or the actual product itself. The moment you try to sell, you are seen as pushy," he said. "Whatever product you have, your competition can provide something similar - the tiebreaker is the relationship."

BT spoke to Mr Lee prior to Citi's announcement this month on its bigger focus on wealth hubs including Singapore. The bank also announced exits from 13 consumer markets.

Mr Lee's latest tour of duty may be his first stint at private banking, but his knack for engaging with people from all walks of life perhaps makes him a natural fit for his new role.

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His mandate now is to grow Citi's private bank portfolio by deepening existing relationships and bringing in new clients. Citi Private Bank in South Asia contributes about one-third of Citi's total AUM in Asia. In Citi's definition, South Asia covers the markets from India all the way to New Zealand, with Singapore as the hub.

Mr Lee's three-decade long career in Citi - the only bank he has ever worked for - spanned a diverse range of functions and geographies that rival his colourful past-times.

His most recent role was in Malaysia, where he was the CEO of Citi's Malaysian unit for six years. Prior to that, he was based there as the head of the regional anti-money laundering (AML) business and in 2010 was chief operating officer for Citi Singapore.

Before, he was in various roles in corporate sales and structuring, treasury, e-commerce and credit analysis across London, New York, Malaysia and Singapore.

Firm believer in building relationships face-to-face

Mr Lee's homecoming after almost eight years in Malaysia was several years in the making, he said, amid internal negotiations. His initial plan to return in 2020 was delayed by Covid-19. He felt he had to stay on to batten down the hatches with his team, before handing over the reins finally in August.

But with the pandemic and the lockdowns in place in various countries, he has been mostly grounded in Singapore. And Mr Lee is still a firm believer in building relationships face-to-face. "Zoom meetings are great for the first two months, and that's it. People want to have lunch, people want to sit across the table and read your body language, have a drink and see how sincere you are," he said.

"I imagine that the first year when borders open, I would be on the road for quite a bit, visiting the clients that I have only seen on Zoom," he said, adding that some clients in Indonesia are eager to get a game of golf going.

While he might have a natural affinity for building rapport, he is also upfront that his background has been helpful for opening doors, as many of the well-heeled in Singapore are acquainted with his family.

His father is former senior civil servant Lee Ek Tieng, who had a storied career as managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and managing director of GIC, among many other top roles.

And, as a Singaporean, Mr Lee believes that it gives him an edge as many clients like seeing a local as he is better able to engage with them and establish trust, simply based on a common background.

That being said, he pointed out that Citi has diverse clients, with the bank seeing increasing wealth flows from North Asia and the US, with more family offices being set up here since 2018. Mr Lee noted that family offices will be an area of growth for the bank, with the bank pumping in resources to position itself to ride this wave. For instance, he recently hired a legal specialist in family offices to boost the bank's expertise in this area, with plans to hire 15 relationship managers this year.

With Singapore one of the four wealth hubs left for Citi after exiting 13 markets, the bank is gearing itself up to capture even more of these flows. The bank recently announced that it plans to triple its assets under management (AUM) by 2025.

Even with a pandemic, the bank saw its wealth AUM (including both retail and private banking) rise to US$302 billion as at end-2020, compared with US$265 billion at end-2019. AUM from Citi Private Bank South Asia grew 7 per cent last year.

Private banking remains a "people business", so the ability to connect with people is a key trait Mr Lee looks out for in aspiring bankers.

"Technical skills are a given, but I'm looking for someone with people skills, who can build a relationship with me in 30 minutes," he said. "You must be very comfortable speaking to someone senior."

A question he likes to pose to fresh graduates is: "Tell me things about yourself that are not on your CV."

"That is when many kids fumble because they have their entire CV memorised forwards and backwards and that's it."

Having a broader perspective on life also matters, he said. And there is a difference between someone who got a broader perspective travelling during term break with their parents' money, and someone who had to work in a coffee shop or gave tuition to supplement income, Mr Lee pointed out.

To him then, it's not just the likeability factor that matters, but also the "adversity quotient", he said.

For experienced relationship managers, what he looks out for is people who have high potential to grow within the organisation, even if they may not bring their clients along with them.

"You might be in the Singapore team, but can you become the Indonesian head tomorrow?" he said. "It's got nothing to do with the portfolio, it's got to do with skillsets and whether you have leadership qualities."

A private banker may sound glamorous, but he acknowledges that from personal experience, a lot of personal time will have to be sacrificed in the course of work.

"This is not the job for you if you want a nine-to-five," he said bluntly. "It's not your time, but your client's time."

But if there's anyone who has found a way to keep his various passions alive even during 30 years of banking, it would be him. Mr Lee summed it as such: "There's a time to work hard, and there's a time to play."