Barclays Group moves down from fifth last year to ninth for 2014, but maintained its gross sales figure of £1.4bn. The main part of this related to the Barclays’ Wealth & Investment Management division, which has an international presence and more than £200bn in client assets.
After the period covered by this survey (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014), Akshaya Bhargava was appointed as chief executive of WIM in September 2014, a year after a ‘strategy refresh’ was implemented.
Mr Bhargava said: “We have a clear strategy for our Wealth & Investment Management business and we continue to make good progress on its implementation. We remain focused on positioning the business for future growth and continue to invest in delivering market-leading solutions to enhance the client experience.
“This includes enhanced digital capabilities such as the launch of Barclays Mobile Banking and Pingit for Wealth & Investment Management clients and a continued roll-out of award-winning Voice Biometrics across personal and corporate banking.”
Speaking of future developments, Mr Bhargava said: “There is a great deal of regulatory change under way across the industry, including significant transformation of the pensions market. Given the breadth of our offering, we feel well placed to capitalise on the opportunity presented by these and continue to serve our clients in the right way.”
