Meet the Citi Finance Team – Mohit Gulati, Head of EMEA Equities Valuation Control

Tell us a little bit about your career history so far!

I started my banking career as an analyst in the Chief Operating Office (COO) domain at UBS. Since then, I have had the opportunity to work in 7 different roles across 4 banks and 5 functions. And that’s the part of my career that I have enjoyed the most – learning different things, transferability of skills and knowledge and mobility that banking career can provide. I have held roles in COO team, trading floor based middle office role, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Business Until Control, Valuation Control (across various asset classes).

Why did you decide to join Citi? 

I joined Citi in October 2018 for two key reasons. Firstly, from a product perspective, I had only covered fixed income (Rates and FX in particular) and I was curious to learn Equities (and Hybrids). Secondarily, I really liked meeting the hiring managers and learning about Citi’s finance function plans. I believe it is well-known in the industry how Citi has significantly invested in the systems, people, risk and control management and processes particularly during the last 4-5 years. It has been an incredibly learning experience to be part of that journey. I honestly have learned in heaps and bounds.

What is your role at Citi?

In my current role, I lead the EMEA Equities Valuation Control team (~20 headcount), aligned to the Equities and Hybrids trading franchise of the bank. Working closely with various stakeholders, our team provides full 360 degrees valuation coverage – IPV, Fair Value Adjustments (FVA), FVH levelling/classification, digitisation and automation of processes, several suites of regulatory reporting/disclosures – underpinned by one key objective that bank’s trading books are valued accurately.

What have you enjoyed most about your time with Citi?

It can be a long list, but I will outline 3 key things: 

1. People - I have had the opportunity to work, learn and get inspired from some incredibly bright, talented, and helpful colleagues at every level and corner of the bank. From immediate managers to senior finance management to one of the most helpful and approachable trading desk and quants team. 

2. The cliché – challenges provide opportunities – sentiment. It has been hard work, but it has been equally refreshing to be part of the Citi’s finance transformation journey. Working on systems changeover, remediating regulatory and audit points, and being given the platform to influence controls design and implementation. 

3. Succeeding together - our team had over 10 promotions in the last 18 months or so. Nothing motivates and makes me happier than making sure that we all grow, learn and progress together. This is THE stat that I am most proud of. Citi’s internal mobility and internal progression record is one of the best parts about careers at Citi.

What advice would you give someone considering a career at Citi?

A couple of things: 

1. Bigger the banks, more specialised are the roles. I would highly encourage to understand the ecosystem one and one’s role belong to. It is very helpful and fulfilling to understand and visualise the end-to-end value chain. Get involved – feel involved – and be involved!

2. Be a perpetual learner (advise I was given by my first line manager) – especially in today’s world. I think the technology and the upcoming world of chatGPT (AI and large language models in general) will keep re-baselining skills and experience every few years. Ask questions, think, and learn beyond running process(es).