About 100 people joined the private bank last year, the lender said, and there are more to come, it told this publication.

The private banking arm of Barclays hired more than 100 people for its operations last year and the pace remains strong as the organisation repositions its offerings, a senior executive says. 

After a period of change and restructuring, Barclays’ private banking arm is pushing onto the front foot, Lisa Francis, who heads up the private bank for the UK and Ireland, told WealthBriefing recently. 

Within the UK and Ireland part of the private bank, more than 30 private bankers have been hired and the remaining 70 were hired in other parts of the world.

“We have done a lot of hiring and there is more to do. The culture is a big part of why we need a more diverse workforce,” she said during an interview from her firm’s offices in Canary Wharf, London. There has been a lot of investment in people, such as through accreditation and provision of professional qualifications."

“We want to be a one-stop shop for our clients. I want to be sure that when a client needs something, they call us.”

The UK-listed financial services group has restructured. It sold its Asian private bank to Singapore-based OCBC in 2016, although Asia is by no means a closed book for the Barclays. The banking group has also reduced some of its exposure to Africa and, like many of its peers, has consolidated booking centres. The lender still has a significant number of addresses in its offices portfolio: London and the rest of the UK, Crown Dependencies, Dubai, Monaco, Geneva, Zurich and a team in Ireland.

That footprint also gives Barclays some buffer against Brexit uncertainties. Barclays has – according to various reports – moved up to 15 per cent of its assets to Ireland.

Ringfenced
Along with a number of other major UK banking groups such as Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays is affected by UK “ringfencing” legislation which took effect in 2019. There is a “fence” that splits lenders’ retail arms (which can be bailed out by the government if there is another crash) and its wealth management business and the investment banking, non-domestic and higher-risk elements, including the private bank. The government's reform was designed to curb the risk of costly future bailouts. 

The private bank, which is outside the ring fence, serves high net worth, ultra-HNW and family office clients in the UK and internationally.

Home-grown
Francis joined the private bank in September 2017 from the investment banking side of the bank – an example, in fact, of how a number of senior Barclays private bankers are home-grown. (The ratio of externally-sourced private bankers to home-grown is 60:40.)

Francis was head of European corporate foreign exchange sales distribution in the investment bank, covering corporate, private equity and fintech clients across Europe and the UK. Her current role puts her alongside Karen Frank, who is chief executive of the private bank and the overseas services business. (WealthBriefing interviewed Frank here.)

Other senior figures at the private bank are Jean-Christophe Gerard, head of private bank EMEA and head of investments; Sandeep Das, head of private bank, India; Shaun Phillips, head of overseas services; Syed Raza, head of banking and credit; Warren McRae, head of business delivery and control, and Rahim Daya, head of business transformation. (Barclays appointed Gerard in early April, adding to his existing role as global head of investment for the private bank and overseas services businesses. Francesco Grosoli, who decided to leave Barclays, had been head of the EMEA private bank.)

Francis spoke about how work with clients, such as helping them to speak directly to private equity houses they want to invest in, is an important example of what Barclays can do. That includes connecting clients to the investment bank, she said. The private bank also works with single- and multi-family offices.

Besides managing teams, Francis has clients of her own - she relishes a hands-on involvement in client business. “I like to see about five clients a week”.

Francis spoke about Barclays’ structured solutions group. This entity has been designed for the most bespoke financial requirements of clients; it gives access to services across the corporate and investment bank, as well as structured finance solutions and access to alternative investments (private equity, real estate, hedge funds, etc). Clients also get investment banking research as part of the package.

At group level, Barclays’ first quarter of this year saw its pre-tax profit fall to £1.5 billion ($1.94 billion) from £1.7 billion a year ago, although its financial targets are unchanged. The banking group doesn’t break out its wealth management results.