Citigroup, a prominent name among the “Big Four” of the American banking circle, recently added three senior bankers to its financial institutions group, hiring two from Bank of America and promoting an internal dealmaker.
Jonathan Alpert, previously global co-head of insurance coverage at Bank of America, has joined Citigroup as its global head of insurance. Ryan Willingham, another veteran dealmaker from the Bank of America, will now be Citi’s managing director covering speciality finance.
Enrique Pani, who oversaw the sale of Citigroup’s Mexican unit Banamex as part of a restructuring announced by CEO Jane Fraser in September 2023, was promoted to vice chair of financial institutions with a focus on Latin America.
Separately, the venture also hired Stuart Ord from Deutsche Bank to lead its UK M&A division, replacing Sian Evans, who left to become director general of the Takeover Panel.
“These appointments reflect our commitment to building a market-leading financial institution franchise,” said Dave Friedland and Jens Welter, co-heads of North America investment banking at Citigroup.
As per Citigroup’s head of banking, Vis Raghavan, the bank has hired 60 senior investment bankers since the beginning of 2025, with half of them being positioned in the United States. The official sees managing director headcount rising by 15% in the “near term” as the bank targets 6% market share in dealmaking.
“Going forward, quality of hires over quantity will be our focus. It’s not just a numbers game”, Raghavan said.
Citi’s “Big Four” rival Wells Fargo is not behind in the talent-poaching race either. Its advisors’ recruiting team recently added wealth management professionals from rival Morgan Stanley, with the new recruits having the prior experience of managing client assets worth USD 5.9 billion.
To sweeten things further for the American financial services giant, which operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide, it will see the joining of a “UBS team” within its organisational fold that has been managing client wealth worth over USD 1.6 billion.
Wells Fargo made the strategic recruitments as part of its ongoing effort to muscle up its national wealth division, which in 2026 moved its headquarters to West Palm Beach. On its most recent earnings call, the firm said expenses were up 11% due to higher revenue-related compensation for its wealth managers.
Among the high-profile additions, we have private wealth financial advisors and brothers Stephen, David and Patrick Bartoli. After serving more than a decade, the team will be leaving Morgan Stanley in order to launch Bartoli Private Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors. Bortoli Private Wealth will also include two other advisors, Craig McLean and William Duval, along with three support staff.
“The team was drawn to our model that combines the scale and capabilities clients expect with hands-on support and strong local resources to deliver a truly high-touch experience,” said Ken Terranova, Wells Fargo Advisors’ Greater Pennsylvania market leader. A Texas-based UBS team and its advisors and managing directors Jay Arbetter, Jason Taraszki, Henry Jordan and Rusti Rogger, after spending nearly two decades with the Swiss giant, will also be joining Wells Fargo. Their new firm, AGT Private Wealth Group, will also include two other advisors and eight support staff.
The largest group joining Wells Fargo has nine private wealth advisors, namely James Taylor, Shane Drumm, Michaella Irvine, Marcus Briscoe, Cameron Irvine, Jamison Embury, Roger McGlynn, Hunter Embury and Kyle Drummby, who were previously with Morgan Stanley. They will now be based in New York City under the name “The Taylor Group of Wells Fargo Advisors”. A support staff team consisting of 10 professionals will assist them.
“This is a highly driven team that operates with precision and purpose. They’re keen to take advantage of Wells Fargo’s full balance sheet, which gives them a clear runway to serve their clients holistically,” said Patrick Baumann, New York City market leader for Wells Fargo Advisors.