Five Questions With: Tim Swanson

"As more of the baby boomer population continues to reach retirement age, the need for sound planning and investment advice increases as well."

Tim Swanson is the head of Citizens Private Bank & Trust, which oversees the bank’s investment strategy and portfolio management teams, custody, institute investments and retirement plan services. The private bank recently appointed a new senior vice president and Swanson believes more hires could be on the way as the bank services continues to grow.

PBN: Is Citizens Private Bank an area in which the bank sees growth potential?
SWANSON:
Absolutely. As more of the baby boomer population continues to reach retirement age, the need for sound planning and investment advice increases as well. We continue to see an increasing need for consumers looking for advice to preserve and grow their wealth, and we are responding to this growing need by growing this business.

PBN: What will Citizens offer that a person looking for a private bank cannot already get?
SWANSON:
At Citizens, we are focused on delivering a simple, clear, and personal banking approach to help customers manage their wealth and effectively plan for retirement. Our professional advisors have deep experience in helping customers understand and select the best options to help them create an investment plan. Convenience is also something we place a premium on at Citizens. Whether it be direct access to our financial advisors in one of our branches, or simply checking your balances, we aim to be accessible to customers when they need us.

PBN: Does Citizens have the personnel in place in the private bank to execute your plan coming in, or will you be looking for new talent?
SWANSON:
Our Private Bank team is dedicated to helping our clients preserve and grow their wealth by providing sound planning, investing, banking and borrowing advice. We are growing the team and will continue to hire more people in the coming year as the business continues to grow.

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PBN: Will Citizens becoming totally independent of RBS have an effect on its ability to offer compelling service? Why, or why not?
SWANSON:
We have benefited from our long association with RBS and will continue to maintain a strong business relationship with RBS throughout this period and beyond. That said, as we become independent we have the ability to make more decisions locally and to invest in the products and services that our customers need. Our expanding wealth management business is a good example of this. We’re very excited by the opportunity that we now have to enhance our offerings in this area and help even more Citizens customers reach their long-term financial goals.

PBN: Citizens reported $1.3 billion in assets under management in Rhode Island. Do you have a goal for where you want to be in five years? Ten years?
SWANSON:
We do have a goal, and while we can’t publicly disclose the specific number, we are very focused on growing the business and providing our customers with the advice they need.

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