Bank of America Corp. has hired private banker Luke Palacio from Citigroup Inc. as it seeks to capture more business serving wealthy individuals in South Florida.
Palacio is joining Bank of America Private Bank in October as the Miami senior market executive, according to a memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. In this new role, he will focus on growing the firm’s ultra-high-net-worth and family office business development.
“In line with our priorities, we are making a strategic decision to expand South Florida,” Hong Ogle, southeast and southwest division executive at Bank of America Private Bank, said in the memo.
A representative for Bank of America confirmed the contents of the memo.
For the biggest U.S. banks, wealth management has been a fast-growing, competitive business. They’ve poured resources into the sector to lure new clients who bring additional assets to invest.
Palacio has more than 25 years of experience working with family offices, private equity and hedge fund clients in the Miami market. He was most recently managing director and global market manager for the southern U.S. region at Citi Private Bank. Before Citigroup, he spent 14 years at JPMorgan Private Bank in New York, Geneva and Miami.
A representative for Citigroup declined to comment.