Citi launches secondaries advisory unit

Citi, one of the US’s largest investment and retail banks, has launched its secondaries advisory business.

Citi private capital advisory, a unit within the bank’s senior markets origination (SMO) team, advises on fund recapitalisation and restructurings, portfolio sales, seeded joint ventures, and management team spin-outs, according to a job advert seeking a vice-president on the bank’s website.

PCA focuses on deals across buyout, real estate, venture, private credit, energy and infrastructure, the advert notes.

The SMO team’s clients include private equity, sovereign wealth funds and select pensions and asset managers.

Last October UBS director Orcun Unlu returned to Citi after 18 months away, as Secondaries Investor reported at the time. He is now head of the PCA unit, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Citi had responded to a request for proposals for an advisor to help Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association sell more than $1 billion of stakes, according to May investment committee meeting documents. The eventual shortlisted firms were Greenhill, Evercore and Campbell Lutyens.

According to Citi’s job advert, the successful vice-president candidate will originate and sell capital solutions, structured trades, illiquid portfolio finance and portfolio risk mitigation trades to general and limited partners. The successful candidate will have three to seven years of experience in a similar financial services position, solid understanding of private equity, and specific experience of covering secondaries markets buyers and sellers, the ad notes.

The position will be based in New York.