Viswas Raghavan is reshaping Citigroup’s investment bank with an aggressive hiring spree and cross-division collaboration. Since joining from JPMorgan in 2024, he has brought in more than a dozen senior bankers and is pushing a culture shift.
Hiring top talent
Raghavan has recruited executives from JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Ares Management and HSBC. Citi has offered multimillion-dollar packages, with recent hires including M&A co-heads Guillermo Baygual and Drago Rajković, and technology co-head Pankaj Goel.
Collaboration push
Bankers are now required to introduce clients to colleagues from other divisions such as wealth and services. This cross-selling model is rare on Wall Street but is designed to broaden client relationships and increase deal flow.
Rising market share
Citi rose to fifth in global investment banking revenue with a 5% share, up from last year. In M&A it climbed to fourth, and the banking division posted the strongest growth among Citi’s businesses with revenue up 23% year over year.
Challenges ahead
The bank still lags in private equity-led deals and lost ground in loan revenue. Equity and debt capital market shares remained flat. Sustained progress will be needed to secure durable gains.
Part of Fraser’s turnaround
CEO Jane Fraser is betting on the revamped investment bank to help deliver a 10–11% return on tangible equity by 2026. Structural reforms and accountability measures are in place, but regulatory remediation remains ongoing.
Recent senior arrivals
- Amit Nayyar — Co-Head Tech Investment Banking EMEA (JPMorgan)
- Guillermo Baygual — Co-Head M&A (JPMorgan)
- Drago Rajković — Co-Head M&A (JPMorgan)
- Pankaj Goel — Co-Head Tech Investment Banking (JPMorgan)
- BJ Vargas — Head, North America ECM (JPMorgan)
- David Friedland — Co-Head, North America Investment Banking (Goldman Sachs)
