Growth strategies

Citizens Financial Group is mulling the acquisition of a wealth manager or even a lender in Florida following a deal spree by the bank last year, CEO Bruce Van Saun said.

Seven of the 10 largest merger agreements since 2012 have been struck in the last year and a half. Here's a look at how they stack up against each other.

The Vernon Hill-led bank is being buffeted by a board rebellion, a lawsuit and a burgeoning proxy fight all tied to the complaints of two investor groups that say their returns are subpar if not in the negative.

In a survey last month, only one in 10 chief executives identified mergers as their top priority, while 77% pointed to organic growth. The sparse interest in dealmaking may be due to volatile markets, along with slower approvals from regulators.

CEO Nitin Mhatre, who joined the Massachusetts bank in 2021, said that any M&A deal is at least a year away. For now, the bank is working with fintechs as a way to bolster its balance sheet and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Liberty Bank and Texas Capital Bank are among those trying to attract new online-only customers while experimenting with technologies to benefit the institutions overall.

Citigroup said profitability will fall as the bank pursues a strategy shift that it said will raise expenses in the near term.

Across the country, banks of all sizes are investing in the wealth business as a way to deepen customer relationships, capture recurring revenues and tap into a massive transfer of wealth from baby boomers to Generation X and millennials. A lot of money is up for grabs, but maybe not enough to go around.

Citigroup has been pulling back retail operations from broad swaths of the globe, but its commercial banking business is finding new regions for expansion.

The Silicon Valley fintech expects to make $1.5 billion in auto loans this year after implementing key elements needed to achieve scale, said CEO David Girouard. The expansion comes as the automotive market continues to boom.