Citibank Reorganises Global Wealth Structuring

A headline I saw today makes for interesting thoughts.

Someone thinks that sales teams and trust relationship management teams should be combined into one.

Now this is an interesting and potentially explosive genetic mix. The mythical creature who can sell, manage and administrate is indeed worthy and compelling goal. Who doesn't want an unicorn?

There was a time in my youth when I thought these creatures did exist. I thought I saw them. These extraodinary beings seemingly were able to do it all. Land the client! Draft the documentation! Set up the trust! Transfer the assets! Do the trust accounts! Meet the beneficiaries! Do the distributions! Do the terminations! Alas, evolution doomed these creatures. Like the simple cold virus, a trust professional has mutated into tens of dozens of strains. So-called specialists abound at every turn and function and every product. I've heard that one institution actually had 1 team that did only distributions and nothing else. Hi, I'm Jack the Distributor.

Kind of ironic that I always considered Cititrust's Mikey T to be such a all-empowering creature when he was with Matheson. Now he's got to spread some of that ancient DNA to the young ones.

The trust sales specie in Asia is now nothing but sound-bite spewing, brochure hurling, powerpoint presentation clicker, product pusher who knows not what he sells, not does he care. I swear I saw your Trust Specialist handing out credit card applications last week. The streets are abound with these 20 or 30-somethings for whom a trust is just another notch in the scorecard. Ask him to explain a clause in trust deed and he automatically pushes a speed dial button. Get me Ted from the removal-of-trustee team ASAP. Oh sorry, Gwen from explain-the-indemnity-clause team is on holiday, can I get back to you next week? The slick ones give you some half-filling, not-entirely correct nor satisfying bullshit of an answer as if it were law. When's the last time you actually met a front-line person under 35 that impressed you?

Alas the poor trust officer who has to put out the fires of discontent from those mis-sold, mis-lead and emptied of pocket for magical benefits of trusts. Squashed between broken promises of the absentee salesman, the anti-business Compliance team, the do-what-the-client wants tirade of the Private Banker, the cost-cutting beaucrat running the department and last shread of fiduciary decency he still holds dear and knows to be the "right thing to do".

Nature is against this reoganisation working. Evolution is against this working. Business models is against this working. What you need is an extremely,extemely well-educated person with multiple personalities. Meet Sybil the trust specialist.

So how many schizophrenic people would you like to employ at your organization?
Good luck Mikey.

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