Former Deutsche Bank, Citigroup private-client honcho makes the move south. Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks has chosen Mark Peters, former head of Citigroup's U.S. High Net Worth group to lead its wealth-management business. Reporting to William Rogers, executive v.p. in charge of SunTrust's investment management division, Peters will be responsible for the regional bank's initiatives in private banking, international wealth management, sports and entertainment banking, personal-asset management and SunTrust's investment services and insurance group.

"Mark has an extensive and well-documented track record of success in top- tier private wealth management," says Rogers. "We look forward to benefiting from his proven leadership capabilities and many years of industry expertise as we continue to implement our growth strategies in this key business line at SunTrust."

Sources add that Peters is respected and liked by his peers and former colleagues in the wealth-management space.

Brief stay

Between his stint at Citigroup and his recent appointment to SunTrust, Peters was head of Deutsche Bank's U.S. Private Wealth Management (PWM). The length of his tenure there -- which began in August 2005 -- is difficult to pinpoint, however. By January 2006, Deutsche press releases name Thomas Bowers as head of PWM.

Bowers came to Deutsche as CIO from Citigroup at the same time as Peters did.

Deutsche declined to comment on Peters' departure and Bower's promotion, or to say how long Peters headed PWM.

Sources close to Deutsche and Citigroup say that Deutsche dropped Peters after Citigroup quietly objected to the appointment on the grounds that it followed too closely on his departure from a similar -- and directly competitive -- position at Citigroup.

Citigroup says it has a policy of never commenting on former employees.

Prior to Citigroup, Peters headed private-clients services at Credit Suisse and at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, which Credit Suisse acquired in 2000. Before that he was a private-client relationship manager with Goldman Sachs.

Peters will be relocating from New York to Atlanta.

In addition to its in-house private-client group, SunTrust owns Asset Management Advisors, a Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.-based investment and wealth advisory for ultra-high-net-worth families. --FWR

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