In what appears to be a coup for Boston Private, the duo join to build out its family offices services business. The men have been involved in promoting thought leadership around the FO sector in recent years.

Bill Woodson, a managing director working at Citi Private Bank who left the firm recently as reported by this publication, is to work at Boston Private. He will also be joined by fellow colleague Edward Marshall, who also leaves Citi.

Woodson will become executive vice president, head of wealth advisory and family offices services, a newly-created role and he will report to Anthony DeChellis chief executive. Woodson starts with the firm in June this year.

Woodson will be the highest-ranking leader of Boston Private’s wealth advisory and ultra-high net worth family office practice.

Woodson has more than 25 years of experience of working in financial services. This publication has published several of his white papers on family office issues (see examples here and here) and his role in thought leadership in this area has become well known. Prior to joining Citi Private Bank, Woodson held senior private banking and family office positions at Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch where, among other responsibilities, he ran a multi-family office (MFO) business and managed ultra-high net worth and family office clients. Woodson was also a founding member of myCFO, an integrated wealth management firm started by Silicon Valley technology executives.

Starting in late April, Marshall is planning to join Boston Private as a senior relationship manager and managing director responsible for leading business development of ultra-high net worth and family office relationships for the firm’s Private Banking, Wealth & Trust business. At Citi Private Bank he was a director in its global family office group. Before Citi, Marshall was a member of the UHNW and family office practice at Credit Suisse.  He joined Credit Suisse from Booz Allen Hamilton where he was a member of its organization and strategy practice. Marshall began his career in the public sector working for the federal government in the United States and abroad.

While there have been departures from Citi PB, the US private bank also announced the creation of a new unit.

A few days ago WealthBriefing, sister news service to this one, reported that Citi Private Bank has created a new “strategic segment” known as private capital – institutional solutions – and has hired James Holder to head this group. Holder will also lead the bank’s broader family office strategy. Holder has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry with a background covering private banking, mergers and acquisitions, and equity capital markets. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and joined the private bank in London in 2005. He was appointed head of Family Office EMEA in 2011 and global market manager for Northern Europe in 2012.

The new segment “will align our global resources covering the pools of private capital controlled by families with needs and behaviors best served by the private bank and the wider platform of the institutional clients group," the memo, signed by Peter Charrington, global head, Citi Private Bank, said.