Citi Wealth Names Head Of Art Advisory

Editorial Staff

16 April 2025

Citi Wealth has named one of its existing art advisors, Betsy Bickar, as head of art advisory, with immediate effect. The move highlights how banks can tap the art world to connect with clients over what is sometimes dubbed a “passion investment.”

Bickar was previously a senior art advisor.

For the past decade, Bickar has advised ultra-high net worth clients on buying and selling art. Fluent in Spanish, she honed her skills in Latin America, where she founded and managed an art gallery.

Most recently, Mary-Kate O’Hare served as head of art advisory; she left the US bank earlier in 2025. Bickar also follows in the footsteps of figures such as Suzanne Gyorgy, who was global head of art advisory at Citi Private Bank for 14 years, before heading off to Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance in September 2023.

Citigroup’s art advisory team complements the bank’s art finance team led by Fotini Xydas. This creates opportunities for bankers to engage with art collectors without financing requirements. The team acts as a fiduciary for clients – which Citigroup said is a differentiator.

Bickar serves on the secretary of art advisory's oversight committee, AAIRC and on the global fiduciary oversight committee. Away from her banking role, Bickar is a competitive tennis player at the national level. She is also a USTA certified tournament director, official and team captain.

As this news service has reported, the world of fine art is an important topic for many HNW and ultra-HNW individuals and also a barometer of their values and appetite for risk. A number of firms, such as Citi Private Bank, UBS, JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank provide specialist art advice and specialist lending offerings. According to the Deloitte & Art Tactic – Art & Finance Report 2023, it found that 87 per cent of family offices have an interest in physical ownership of art, but they are also looking at alternative art ownership structures such as art and culture-related social impact investments and fractional ownership .