People Moves
Barclays Wealth Overhauls Top-Line Management Structure
Barclays Wealth has unveiled a number of major changes its top-level management structure in the Americas and other regions as rival private banks such as UK-based Coutts also restructure their businesses, this publication can confirm.
Mitch Cox, who had combined leadership of Barclays Wealth Americas with heading global research and investments (GR&I), will solely concentrate on building the US business. Leadership of the GR&I function will be split between Tom Lee, head of global banking and investment solutions (GBIS), BWA, and Rob Brown, who will continue as head of GBIS, UK, EMEA and Asia. They have been appointed as co-heads of global research and join Barclays Wealth’s management committee.
The announcement suggests that Barclays Wealth, part of UK-listed Barclays, is determined to make a success of its business in the Americas region, pitting it against other non-US heavyweights such as UBS.
In its latest results announcement, the bank said its wealth business recorded a profit before tax of £153 million (about $246 million) for the nine months ended 30 September, up from £122 million for the same period in 2010.
In the UK, the firm has also restructured leadership of its Barclays Stockbrokers business. Des Byrne will no longer be head of Barclays Stockbrokers, focusing entirely instead on his role as head of Core, UK & Ireland Private Bank, understood by Barclays Wealth to be a crucial growth area. The Barclay Stockbrokers business will now be led by Rupert Dickinson.
Dickinson reports to Peter Horrell, in overall charge of Barclays Stockbrokers, Wealth International and Wealth Intermediaries.
Earlier today, this publication reported that Coutts, the wealth management brand of Royal Bank of Scotland, is changing its client-facing staff business structure, in a move which is understood may lead to 100 staff leaving the business.
Firms are battling to deal with an environment in which, despite continued growth in wealth in fast-growing regions such as Asia, the industry has seen its cost-income ratio rise to a record high of almost 80 per cent (source: Scorpio Partnership).
