Citi has appointed Vikram Chavali as head of global asset managers (GAM) for the APAC region as it expands its presence in the financial sponsor and leveraged finance space.
In Q2 2025, Citi reported investment banking revenues of US$981 million, up 15% year-on-year (YoY). Within this, advisory fees were up 52%, which the firm stated was influenced by increased market share with financial sponsors.
Ashu Khullar, global head of GAM, commented, “Financial sponsors globally are driving a significant portion of the overall banking wallet and with Citi’s increased global focus on this important asset class, this underlines our ambitions to grow further with clients in Asia.”
Based in Hong Kong, he will take on the role later this year. He reports to Khullar and Jan Metzger, head of investment banking for the region.
With 20 years of industry experience, Chavali joins from Goldman Sachs where he was head of Asia ex-Japan sponsors mergers and acquisitions. He has been with the company since 2005.
Citi has made a slew of APAC appointments in recent months, with Akira Kiyota and Taiji Nagasaka named co-heads of investment banking for Japan last month.
READ MORE: Citi rejigs Japan IB team as deal flow rises
In May and June, the Australia and New Zealand markets teams got a boost.
