In the Americas, Narciso Muñoz has been hired as an investment representative, based at the firm's Miami office. He joins from HSBC's international private banking division, where he spent seven years working with ultra-wealthy Latin American individuals and families. Before joining HSBC, he worked at BankBoston in Argentina with both individual and institutional clients. He reports to Richard Hutchison, manager of the Barclays Wealth representative office in Buenos Aires.

In Swtizerland, Isaac Topel and Andres Cazenave are joining Barclays Wealth's Geneva office as private bankers. They both latterly worked at JP Morgan, specializing in Swiss-based Latin American clients. They report to Thomas Roiz, market head for Latin America, International Private Bank, Europe, the Middle East and Africa

The private bank views the Latin American UHNW market as a “priority area for expansion,” due to the growth the region has seen over the past decade, said Steve Houston, head of wealth management, Americas. Its global team serving this market is currently 70 strong, and is expected to grow considerably over the next few years. In addition to the latest hires, Barclays earlier this year brought in Daniel Esslinger as a managing director and head of Latin American relationship management and distribution in the Americas, as well as Roiz. Esslinger is based in Miami while Roiz is located in Geneva.

The hires reflect how the firm is serving this market both from the US and internationally. Some two-thirds of the LatAm team are currently based in the US, including Louis Tinoco, René Joliot, Edgar Ramirez and Romel Rodriguez, who joined Barclays from UBS Wealth Management; Ruben Lesmes and Tony Esses from HSBC Private Bank, and Jorge Carreras and Carlos Molina from the private wealth management division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

In the US, the expansion of the Latin American team forms part of a wider build out of the wealth management operation, to which Barclays has added a number of staff over the past 18 months. It currently has 13 offices across the Americas, including the Barclays Wealth Trustees business, and some 250 investment representatives.