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Reorganized in one of the largest banks on Wall Street, Citigroup promoted more than 8,000 employees by the end of 2024.
Citi said on its website that the New York-based lender promoted 8,500 employees to part of the year-end process to retain higher performing employees, bringing the total number of promotions to more than 31,000 in 2024. As part of the statistics, it also appointed 344 people to the position of managing director.
Citi’s year-end promotional avenue is comparable to previous rounds, following a wide restructuring that has cut about 11,000 positions since the fall of 2023 and shocked its five major divisions as CEO Jane Frazier (Jane Fraser) seeks to reach her primary profit margin target.
Managers recently sent a signal to bankers that fewer promotions are planned to be granted in November. The team has 229,000 employees.
Revenues for all of Citi’s major businesses rose last year, including 32% growth in its corporate and investment banking sectors. Citi’s overall revenue grew 3% to more than $8.1 billion, while profits rose by one-third to $12.7 billion.
Its stock has risen 50% over the past year, slightly above the leading Bank of America’s KBW index, and it is hoped that the Donald Trump administration will cut regulations recently.
Citi has made some progress in cost cutting in 2024, with operating expenses down 4% compared to the previous year, including 2% of employee compensation and benefits spending.
The bank’s tangible common equity returns (a metric for profitability) were 7% in 2024, up from 4.9% in 2023, but below its big peers. Citigroup is targeting 11-12% by the end of 2026, but reduces that range to 10-11% in January.
Fraser described 2024 as a “critical year” in January and said Citi’s lower profit target was because it chose to make substantial investments to drive future growth.
“I’m not going to sacrifice proper long-term investment to achieve short-term stopgap. It’s a waypoint. It’s not a destination,” Fraser told analysts in January.
