Citigroup executives say Bitcoin will perform well, but "unstoppable megatrends" will be better investments

David Bailin of Citibank believes that Bitcoin will perform well due to the high attention of investors. While saying that cryptocurrencies can be part of an investment portfolio, he also believes that there are better investment opportunities than Bitcoin in "unstoppable megatrends" such as big data and solar energy.
Bitcoin will perform well
David Bailin is the managing director and chief investment officer (CIO) of Citi Private Bank, a subsidiary of Citigroup dedicated to serving high-income individuals and families. He is listed as a "wealth expert" on Citibank's website. Last Wednesday, Bailin talked about Bitcoin in an interview with Yahoo Finance. He said:
“I tell you, there’s no doubt in my mind that Bitcoin is going to do very well because of the level of attention it’s getting.”
However, the Citi executive noted that this "fundamentally scares him." Bailin joined Citi in 2009 as global head of managed investments and was promoted to global head of investments in October 2017.
“At Citi Private Bank and Citi Global Wealth, we are fully focused on this concept of core investing and opportunistic investing,” Bailin explained. The former, which accounts for 85% or more of total holdings in a traditional portfolio, focuses on “fundamental investing.” The latter is where Citi clients can choose to take a risky bet on Bitcoin.
The Citi Private Bank CIO warned:
“These funds or structures can be a very, very inefficient way to get exposure to bitcoin if you don’t own the actual bitcoin.”
In January this year, Citi announced the establishment of a single wealth management institution, Citi Global Wealth, integrating the wealth management teams of the Global Consumer Bank (GCB) and the Institutional Clients Group (ICG).
Citigroup is looking for Bitcoin investment opportunities for clients, but believes there are better options
Bailin said he has been looking for ways to give clients exposure to bitcoin, including a “total return swap” that would allow clients to “invest in the appreciation of the actual digital asset.” “I think this is probably the most effective way,” he said.
The Citibank wealth expert added that while Bitcoin may be a hot topic, he believes Citi clients have better opportunities in “unstoppable megatrends” such as big data, satellite technology, solar energy, etc. The CIO believes:
“These big, unstoppable trends that we’re talking about are very good investment opportunities, and in the long term, or in my opinion, probably better than Bitcoin in the long term.”
With these investments, he added, “you can identify them, you can quantify them, you can find the companies that are doing them, and you can see that the size of the market we’re talking about is extraordinary.”
Earlier this month, Citigroup released an in-depth report stating that Bitcoin is at a tipping point and could become the currency of choice for international trade. “We may be at the beginning of a massive transition of cryptocurrencies into mainstream currencies,” the company wrote.