Barclays to cut wealth management services in 130 countries

26th Sep 2013 10:09

Barclays will discontinue its wealth management services in 130 counties by 2016 and axe jobs, a spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.The move is part of the bank's strategy to slash costs and bolster profits. The spokesman said the bank is focusing on "reducing complexity and competing where we can win".Barclays Wealth will focus on 70 markets, which is estimated to cover 86% of the market, while exiting countries which are unprofitable. The move means thousand of customers will no longer receive full-service wealth management.The unit will reduce the number of its "booking centres", which allow clients to trade and book assets in certain jurisdictions, to about 12 from 17.It will also let go of some of its 8,000 workers as part of a new structure and technology. The news follows the bank's announcement on Monday of the appointment of Peter Horrell as Chief Executive Officer of the wealth and investment management unit.In April the company announced a restructuring of its wealth business. Barclays will now work more closely with retail and corporate divisions. Barclays' wealth business has experienced sluggish profits as it continues to fall behind competitors. The division, which has about £200bn of assets under management, reported a return on equity of just 2.5% in the first half of this year.Shares fell 1.63% to 268.55p at 10:27 on Thursday.RD