When Jane Fraser took over as CEO of Citi in 2021, she vowed to modernize and overhaul the bank, heralding in an era of leadership changes, layoffs, and a much-needed winner’s mindset.
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Now, with the firm’s sweeping transformation project more than 90% complete, top executives had to answer for how they’re turning the promised culture shift into a reality for Citi’s more than 200,000 employees. Citi’s new pitbull identity was on display throughout Thursday’s investor day, where the opening video was set to Easy McCoy’s song “Beat the Best” and leaders repeatedly invoked words like “relentless” and “win” to describe the bank’s culture, which was also mentioned at least 9 times.
Fraser’s work is far from done, even as its transformation nears its official end. The bank outlined targets for return on tangible common equity, a profitability measure, of around 14% or 15% by 2029. By comparison, JPMorgan reported a 20% return on tangible common equity last year. Citi’s stock was up 1.18% by market close on Thursday.
Mike Mayo, an outspoken analyst at Wells Fargo who described the old Citi as “reckless, arrogant, and complacent,” pressed Fraser and the business line leaders on how long the culture change will take and what each is doing to realize it. While Thursday’s responses were light on specifics and timelines, some throughlines emerged in how the bank’s leaders are thinking about the cultural shift.
Discipline and oversight
Fraser said that the bank enforces enterprise-wide standards and approaches, and works to deliver consistent messaging. In January, she sent a firm-wide memo instructing everyone to “adopt a more commercial mindset,” and clarifying that she expects to see “the last vestiges of old, bad habits fall away.”
On Thursday, Fraser indicated that she and her team are quantifying some of that mindset shift.
“We measure the organizational health, so there’s no slippage from the org structure changes we put through,” she said. “We review, as a team, the operating dashboards every single month in excruciating detail.”
Earlier in the day’s presentation, Viswas Raghavan, the head of banking and executive vice chair, said he’s investing in top talent and will “measure and reward those who deliver.”
Mindset shifts
Raghavan also said that having a “serial winning mindset” is key to transforming the culture, a theme he repeated in his presentation. And Andy Morton, who oversees the firm’s markets division, said that wins beget wins.
“The success that the firm has had in the last few years in addressing its issues head on, fixing them, and at the same time building something that can win — every single employee feels that,” he said. “You walk on the trading floor, every single employee feels it.”
Morton added that Fraser makes a point of crediting employees who drive success, which changes the atmosphere and, ultimately, the culture.
Leaders mentioned accountability — key for a bank that has been saddled with regulatory issues — throughout their remarks, and Andy Sieg, the head of wealth, said it’s key for culture, too. He mentioned “ambition and accountability” as fundamental components of the new culture.
Focus on the client
Five of the six executives who answered the question mentioned clients or customers, with Raghavan saying employees need an “obsession with delivering for clients.”
“The minute you get into that psyche, the wallet share and everything else we talked about, those metrics will follow,” he added.
Sieg echoed a similar sentiment, saying that workers need to focus on what’s best for the clients, not “managing up” within the firm. Pam Habner, head of consumer cards, used another of the day’s repeat words in her answer: “maniancally.” Her team, she said, is also obsessed with customers and racing to keep pace with the world.
Their mantra this year? “Go mode.”
