Citibank's Ashu Khullar Appointed Global Co-Head of GAM
Citibank India CEO, Ashu Khullar, has been announced as the group's global Co-head of the Global Asset Managers (GAM) business while K Balasubramanian will take the reins as Mumbai-based India head, subject to approval from Reserve Bank of India, sources indicated.
In this new role, Khullar will oversee operations of GAM in EMEA and Asia, and will work closely with sponsors, while his counterpart, Anthony Diamandakis, will take care of North America. The two will help drive Citibank's global GAM strategy and resource allocation. He will also join the investment banking global operating committee. In his five years as India CEO from 2019 to 2024, Citi's revenue grew at a CAGR of around 15%, nearly doubling the growth rate from 2014-19.
Balasubramanian, who heads corporate banking for ASEAN and South Asia, is based in Singapore since 2023. Prior to this, he had been with Citibank since 1996, with a brief stint at HDFC Bank in 2016-17 when the latter was a joint president of the corporate banking group as well as government business. Before joining HDFC, he rejoined Citibank in 2017 to head corporate banking for South Asia and had taken over BCMA head in 2023.
Balasubramanian, a commerce graduate from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, is also a qualified chartered and cost accountant. His move to Singapore recently was pegged as an indication that he was being groomed for the role of India CEO.
Neither did a Citibank spokesperson have a word to say on the matter of leadership transition, nor did Balasubramanian respond to calls or messages.
