Silos, Private Brokers and Farmers

On March 3, Sallie L. Krawcheck, Citi’s head of wealth management, announced that Smith Barney and Citi's Private Bank would restructure, from “silo-first” to “client-first.” This post on a NY Times blog (which includes the text of Ms. Krawcheck's internal memo) suggested the move could lead to a culture clash:

“Citi had moved from a strong U.S. Private bank, to a more commoditized one, to clearly one that favors the brokerage model,” said Allan Starkie, a private banking industry recruiter at Knightsbridge Advisors. “They are taking private bankers and turning them into brokers.”

Some critics deemed Ms. Krawcheck's "silo" reference dated. As The Wall Street Journal noted almost a year ago, the jargon crowd has moved on. The new in-term is "bucket:"

[T]he humble bucket has become a trendy fixture of corporate boardrooms and PowerPoint presentations. It is pushing aside other business-speak for describing categories or organizational units, such as silo and basket.

But wait! Ms. Krawcheck has history on her side. Check out this 1958 ad from Citi's predecessor, First National City Bank. The trust and investment people were kept in a silo called City Bank Farmers Trust Company!