Barclays Wealth has appointed former UBS senior manager Julian Wantling as head of global foreign exchange, a critical role at a time when high net worth clients of such firms have exposures to a number of different currencies.

At UBS, where Wantling had a 25-year career, he worked primarily in foreign exchange distribution for both the investment bank and the wealth management divisions. Since November 2010, he had also been global head of precious metals distribution. 

Wantling joins at the end of February and will report to Thomas Fekete, head of investment products for the UK and EMEA.