One of Mark Mason’s formative jobs at Citigroup was cleaning up a big mess. His next task will be to whip Citi into better financial shape.
The 47-year-old Queens native was picked this week to succeed John Gerspach, 65, as chief financial officer of the New York company. Mason will replace him in March, when Gerspach retires after 28 years with Citi, including a decade as CFO.
Mason is built for the job, said Joe Scott, an analyst at Kroll Bond Rating Agency. One of his previous titles at Citigroup was head of Citi Holdings, the unit created to sell, restructure and reduce the unwanted assets collected in the run-up to the financial crisis. When Scott questioned Mason about details of his work there, he was always ready with answers.
“Whatever questions we would ask him, he would comfortably answer,” Scott said. “He’s also really good at looking at the big picture.”
After obtaining his undergraduate degree from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard University, Mason joined Citi in 2001. He steadily rose through the ranks to his current job as CFO of Citi’s institutional clients group, the company’s largest business segment.
Mason has had other roles at Citi — chief of staff to former CEO Charles Prince and head of Citi Private Bank, to name two — but he really made his mark, and connected with now-CEO Michael Corbat, while at Citi Holdings.
Mason worked for Corbat, who was the head of Citi Holdings before becoming CEO of the entire company in 2012. After Corbat moved up, Mason succeeded him as chief of Citi Holdings.
“Mark’s deep experience in products and functions will serve him well as he takes on this critical position after we file our 2018 financial statements in late February,” Corbat said in a memo sent this week to Citi employees informing them of upcoming executive changes.
Citi declined to make Mason available for an interview.
Citi Holdings at its formation consisted of more than $800 billion of assets deemed noncore. They generated “sometimes multibillion-dollar losses in a single quarter,” Corbat said during a
Mason helped lead the disposal of myriad financial assets, which made him a good CFO candidate, said Brian Foran, an analyst at Autonomous Research.
“[Mason’s] experience ticks a lot of boxes,” Foran said. “His time at Citi Holdings shows he has the ability to tackle problems and suggests a close relationship with Corbat.”
Some of the highlights include the sale of the retail brokerage
Another transaction involved the gradual spin-off and
“His role at Citi Holdings provided him with a different perspective and a deeper understanding of illiquid assets,” said Lisa Kwasnowski, an analyst at the bond-rating agency DBRS.
The cleanup job that Mason and Corbat led helped
“We're now clearly on a path towards growth and stronger returns,” Corbat said at that investor day, the first one Citi had hosted in nine years. “We've executed through tough decisions in terms of our capital, our balance sheet and our business model. We have been rebuilding our credibility.”
Now, Mason is tasked with helping Citi catch up to its Wall Street rivals in the area of financial performance, Scott said. Citi trails Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase by wide margins in crucial financial metrics.
In one category closely watched by investors, JPMorgan’s return on average common shareholders’ equity stood at 14% at June 30, and BofA’s at 10.75%. Citi, in comparison, was at 9.2%. Citi also trails JPMorgan and BofA in return on assets.
“Citi has a long way to go to improve those returns,” Scott said. “They are still worlds apart from JPMorgan.”
Mason can also count on fielding incessant questions about Citi’s cost-cutting efforts, Foran said. With an efficiency ratio of 58% in the second quarter and a stated goal of reducing that to the low 50s, investors want Citi to trim spending and Mason will be on the front lines of that task.
“Investors will probably push him most on cost control and operating leverage,” Foran said. “Investors are still concerned that they’ll never get to the low-50% efficiency target.”
Citi also announced two other moves on Tuesday involving top executives. William Mills, 62, will step down as head of North America and his responsibilities will be transferred to other executives, a company spokeswoman said. Also, Jim Cowles, 63, will leave at year-end. Citi has not named a successor for Cowles, who plans to establish a not-for-profit organization. Details of Cowles’ not-for-profit have not been disclosed.
