Empowering Generations Of Wealth Owners

Serving one-quarter of the world’s billionaires globally, Citi Private Bank offers a time-tested approach to preserving and growing family wealth, seeking to help legacies flourish for generations to come.

- Francis Kan

SIGNIFICANT WEALTH CAN take many years or even a lifetime to create. Successful entrepreneurs and business leaders work tirelessly as they build their ventures over time. Sustaining the wealth that they achieve, however, typically proves to be an even greater challenge.

Almost every culture around the world has an old saying about wealth’s tendency to dissipate within a couple of generations. These include such pearls as ‘from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations’ (a Scottish proverb) and ‘The first generation accumulates, the second enjoys and the third loses’ (an ancient Chinese proverb).

Such wisdom remains relevant today. In response, we see the latest generations of wealth owners seeking a wide range of customised services. Investing for the long term, strategic borrowing, making cash reserves work harder, and planning and structuring their wealth are pressing priorities. Given their increasingly international presence, many individuals and families also require solutions that span multiple jurisdictions globally.

“We are in the midst of the greatest intergenerational wealth transfer in human history,” says Lee Lung-Nien, chairman and head of Asia South, Citi Private Bank. “Drawing upon Citi’s global network spanning 160 countries and our extensive heritage, our mission is to enable clients as they strive to grow their wealth and ensure their successors are well-equipped to uphold the legacy passed down to them.”

Diversify to Thrive Many families generate their wealth from a single company, perhaps operating in one industry and in one country or region. While such concentration may initially deliver substantial gains, it also creates great risk. If the business suffers companyspecific issues or industry-wide problems, its value can fall sharply. In a worst-case scenario, the losses may become permanent.