India and
China remain the two main targets for Barclays Wealth’s business ambitions in
Asia, the Asia-Pacific chief executive of Barclays’ wealth management division said, according to an interview with the Financial Times.
“We have a strong presence in
India,” Didier von Daeniken said. “That will be our focus.” Barclays has a big retail network in the country and, because of the historic ties with
Britain, there is high awareness of the Barclays brand, he said.
The “sheer numbers” of potential customers in
China make the country an obvious place to expand, although there are none of the traditional foundations it has in
India to build on, he said.
The recent recapitalisation of UK-listed Barclays may have been controversial but, he said, it has left Barclays as one of the best capitalised banks in the industry. “With hindsight, the fact that we are not the biggest player today is an advantage. You can move faster. That’s a good position to be in,” he said.
Japan is also on the radar. “We would be very interested in partnering with someone. It’s challenging in
Japan. The Japanese private bank market is unlike others in
Asia,” he said.
Analysts say Barclays’ expansion will depend on the bank’s ability to attract and retain talent. In recent months Mr von Daeniken has beefed up his senior team. He hired Pheabe Chau to head the
Singapore team of investment specials. She previously worked for RBS Coutts’ private bank joint-venture with Bank of China in
Beijing and
Shanghai.
Also from RBS is Nitin Birla, who has been given a brief of attracting rich south Asians living in north
Asia to become Barclays Wealth clients. Manpreet Singh Gill joined from ICICI Bank in
India to be
Asia strategist.
