Amy
Barclays Wealth
Which degree did you study and which university did you
study at?
I read pharmacy at the University of Dublin Trinity College in
Ireland. I did a four year course where my undergrad was obviously
pharmacy. After which time, I had to undertake a year in order to
get my license in pharmacy.
What was your career path before joining Barclays
Wealth?
Unfortunately I wasn't able to continue my career in pharmacy so
after spending four hard years studying, I decided to join a
graduate development programme with a consumer goods company. I
undertook a number of different projects that mainly involved
corporate finance and corporate affairs. During that time I
undertook an executive MBA with Cass Business school and it was
then that I really gave a lot of thought to my career in terms of
the direction it was going in, what I enjoyed, what I needed to
learn, what new challenges I wanted and at that point I decided
that corporate banking was really an avenue that I wanted to
explore.
What made you want to become a private banker with
Barclays Wealth?
I was very conscious that I had a good amount of experience for
the level that I was at when I decided to make that move, however,
I really realised that I needed to have a lot of training and
structure to making that particular move. So, after speaking with a
number of different head hunters in the city, I realised that
Barclays was definitely the right place for me given the training
that they offer lateral hires and new people in the
business.
Tell us about your role and how you work with
clients
I'm responsible for managing people's wealth, advising them
about everything we offer here in the bank. I really, really love
what I do, it's very diverse, I work with lots of different clients
and it's a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the markets and
having the responsibility of translating what's happening in terms
of the global economies around the world and ensuring that we can
bring the correct solutions to our clients.
What aspects of private banking do you most
enjoy?
Having worked in a number of different roles beforehand and also
a number of different industries, what is really interesting and
what I love is being able to bring two elements together, which is
the relationship management side and also the more financial
orientated side. I think there aren't that many roles where you get
to enjoy building relationships with people, servicing clients,
getting to know your clients, building trust, becoming somebody
that is important in their life, in terms of the decisions that
they make, but at the same time, have that technical expertise and
that knowledge that you can bring them, where there is essentially
a need between the two of you.
What's the key to success as a private
banker?
It's very important to obviously to be able to listen to
clients, to understand what they are telling you and being able to
translate back to them, the most suitable solution for them.
Equally, being in a position where you can translate something
that's quite complicated into a language that they can understand.
It's slightly different to being in a more corporate role, where
you're advising them about their company, where it's effectively a
balance sheet, it's actually wealth that they need right now, but
also for the future generations of their family or when they want
to retire early for example and fund their lifestyle that
way.
How has the wealth management industry changed and what
challenges and opportunities do you see in the sector for the
future?
I think the wealth spectrum now is a lot more diverse. I think
that people are making their money in lots of different ways, so
obviously we still have the traditional route around inherited
wealth but equally, people are making their money through
successful careers, through the sale of their business and even
winning the lottery. So in that regard, the population of clients
that we are serving is more and more different. So it's important
that we can be nimble enough to meet all of the challenges that
come with such a client base.
How is Barclays Wealth poised to meet those
challenges?
Well clearly I've had a career outside of Barclays before I
joined the wealth management industry and the one thing I would say
about Barclays is that it is probably the most nimble company that
I have ever worked for. So I think we are very well placed, we are
market leader, we are the largest wealth manager in theUKand this
is our home market and in this regard, we are well placed for being
successful.
What is your typical day, if there is such a
thing?
There is definitely not such thing as a typical day but common
themes include reading the financial times, on a daily basis,
listening to our morning call which involves a call with our
economists and research colleagues. Looking at the previous day's
performance and the markets; obviously building my book and winning
new business is crucial to my success in the company, so a huge
focus will then be upon going out to market, speaking to new
people, trying to prospect people into the bank and attract them to
our wealth management proposition. It's all very client focussed;
it's ultimately trying to bring in new clients but equally to
deliver the best service possible to those that I already look
after.
What's your most memorable achievement since you have
been with Barclays Wealth?
I'm glad to say I have a few but I guess my most memorable would
be a recent client actually that I'm with. He very much recognises
and he understands how complicated his own structure and his own
situation is but I think he is just really, really glad that we've
had success already at this point, in terms of being at a position
where we can move things forward.
David
IPB 2008 Graduate
What degree did you study and which University did you
study at?
I studied Economics atUniversityofExeter. As part of that, I did
the Erasmus exchange programme so I spent my third year, and also
did my internship abroad as well.
What made you want to become a Private Banker with
Barclays Wealth?
The thing that made me want to become a Private Banker at
Barclays Wealth was really looking to work for a large financial
institution at the beginning of my career. Working at such a big
organisation like this, there is so many opportunities, whether
here in theUKor opportunity to travel or work abroad so, it was
that working for a large institution I thought would be
beneficial.
What made you apply to the graduate programme at
Barclays Wealth?
I knew that I wanted to be a Private Banker and there weren't
many companies in the industries that offered a specific training
programme, to create the (as we call it) the 'next generation' of
Private Bankers. So working for a firm that had that, that clear
objective, I think was certainly something that attracted me to
Barclays.
What is your typical day, if there is such a
thing?
It varies so much that it is hard to answer that question, what
is your typical day. That not knowing what is going to happen that
makes the job quite interesting I think. It really keeps things
varied and you come in everyday and you are not sure where you will
be taking that day, but it's great.
Has anything surprised you about the role?
I have been very lucky; I work with a long-standing Banker here,
and the thing that surprised me most is the relationships over a
number of years that he's been able to build with his clients. When
we go to a meeting, it's as though old friends are coming together
as supposed to that relationship of Banker and client, so that
relationship obviously works out very well for the client. We can
deliver solutions to them and obviously, it's great for us to have
those long-standing relationships that we know we can rely
on.
What's the key to success as a Private
Banker?
Being able to manage your workload and being able to organise
yourself and your team to deal with the many different things that
are going on at any one time, it goes without saying that in this
industry you really have to be able to deal with people and enjoy
dealing with people.
What's the training been like, what skills have you
developed?
I think it's fair to say that Barclays Wealth really give you
the support that you need to do that. Certainly friends elsewhere,
it would seem, don't get the level of support that we do here at
Barclays; re: working with the more experienced members of the team
and learning from them is really how you learn to become a banker,
it is working with the people in your team, I think.
You work very closely with your clients, what do you
find interesting about this and what challenges does this
present?
The thing I find most interesting about working with our
clients, and it's always amazed me during my three years at
Barclays, is really the really broad range of clients we have and
how they have basically been successful and built their wealth and
really dealing with such a broad of people and being able to adapt
your style and how you interact with them.
What, in your opinion, makes private banking different
compared to other careers within banking and finance?
The fact that we are dealing with the key decision maker in a
relationship, where as in investment banking and corporate banking,
you may deal with a group of people or a board of directors, we are
actually talking to the key principle in the relationship.
The other thing is that the key to it is really dealing with
people. So, if you are in trading and you are dealing with numbers
and monitoring markets and making decisions based on the numbers.
Actually what we do here is working really closely with people.
Your role as a banker is very much about that relationship you
build with your clients.
Tell us about which of your rotations you enjoyed the
most?
I was lucky enough to go and work in ourSingaporeoffice for six
months and that was a very eye opening experience, and challenging
at times, but having the opportunity to work on a different
continent and a big thing that really differentiated it for me was
working with a different client set.
Now that you've nearly finished the programme, what are
you most looking forward to next?
Now that I have finished the programme and become a junior
Private Banker, working in theMiddle Eastteam, one of the things
that I am really looking forward to this year is travelling out to
the region, meeting our clients; hopefully meeting some new
clients. It's certainly going to be tough, it's going to be
challenging, but it is something that I will welcome over the next
year, two/three years. I will build a book of my own clients and
really shape my franchise as a banker and start to do
that.
Lauren
Internship Programme
What degree did you study and which university did you
study at?
I studied a BSc Economics at the University of Bristol. I've
just finished my final year, so I've graduated and I now have a
year to try out other things before I hopefully come back for the
job next September.
What is your typical day, if there is such a
thing?
My typical day consists of arriving at the office at about
7:00-7:15. I spend the first hour or so checking my emails, getting
up-to-date with what's gone on in the US overnight. Throughout the
day, I maybe go to various client meetings and help my banker in
various ways as well as getting together with other interns to do
our project.
Has anything surprised you about the role?
There are a few things that have surprised me about the role,
mainly how closely the teams within Barclays work together. So it's
not just a private banker that enters a client meeting, it's
typically a wealth adviser and financial planner as well. This
enables the clients to receive the highest level of response to
their financial needs.
What's the training been like, what skills have you
developed?
We've received a broad range of training andwe have an initial
three intense days of training at the beginning of the scheme, they
really taught us a lot, from anything from reading what personality
type someone is, to how to interact best with different types of
personalities.
What's your most memorable achievement since being at
Barclays Wealth?
I think my greatest achievement since starting with Barclays
Wealth is actually being able to get involved in a client meeting
and actually being able to liaise with the client and giving some
useful input into the meeting.
What, in your opinion, makes private banking different
compared to other careers within banking and finance?
I think the aspect of private banking that makes it different
from other jobs in finance, is the high level of client contact.
It's a given that in finance you have to be financially astute and
have high credentials but its really being able to interact with
clients and tailor your level of service to the client you're
seeing.
What's the key to success as a private
banker?
I think there are a number of skills that make a successful
banker. The first of which, you have to be adaptable and be
adaptable to every situation and the different clients which are
inevitably going to meet. Secondly, I think you have to be a team
player, that's a really important skill.
What kind of work has the internship exposed you
to?
There's a big variety of work I undertake on the Internship
Programme. It ranges from office-based work, so I've become quite a
whizz at excel, to more softer skills that you would use in a
client meeting perhaps.
What made you apply to the Barclays Wealth Internship
Programme?
There are a number of reasons why I chose to apply to Barclays.
They're the number one private banking institute and with regard to
asset under management, they're a household name and have a great
reputation. They're a worldwide firm, so there's plenty of
opportunities to explore,living in another country and working in
another country.
Has anything surprised you about your time at Barclays
Wealth?
There are a number of things that have surprised me about the
Barclays Wealth Internship Programme: the depth that the initial
training week goes into. Secondly, the amount of time that is
allocated to networking, we've had a number of events that have
allowed us to practice our networking skills and build our
networks. Three, how much team work goes into completing projects
and how highly you need to interact with other members on the team
and on the floor and Barclays Wealth as a whole.
How did the induction prepare you for work?
The induction prepared me for work in a number of ways. We had
various training at the beginning of the internship, ranging from
financial background and various sessions on how to network and how
to communicate, which have been invaluable.
Banking is a broad sector, what made you choose private
banking?
I chose private banking because I enjoy working with people, I
feel that's one of my strongest skills and it's really a career
that allows you to utilise this time.
Would you recommend a career with Barclays Wealth and
why?
I would definitely recommend Barclays Wealth Internship
Programme to others. It's a very good general scheme, you get a
high level of training and they really do care for your career
progression.
Oliver
Core 2008 Graduate Regional Manchester
What degree did you study and which University did you
study at?
I studied Economics and Finance atHeriot-WattUniversity, just
outside ofEdinburgh. That said, whilst its been helpful for me
along the way to have done economics and finance, I thinking what's
good about the Barclays Wealth Graduate scheme is that, they are
prepared to look at the potential with anyone, and there are lots
of people within the Graduate scheme that didn't come from the
financial background at all, but they are still at the same pace as
I am.
What made you want to become a Private Banker with
Barclays Wealth?
There are a number of reasons why I wanted to be a Private
Banker with Barclays Wealth. The fact that they are prepared to pay
and put all graduates through the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)
which is an internationally recognised qualification; I thought
that shows commitment to you as an individual. When you are
looking as a graduate, you have to consider, you might be offered
these opportunities but what support is there, so it was good to
see they had won awards.
What is your typical day, if there is such a
thing?
I wouldn't say I have a typical day, and I don't think anyone in
the industry would say they had a typical day. Often as a graduate,
you are given various projects to work on, which is quite a good
thing, so it gives you the opportunity to work with other people
outside of your team, but maybe even outside of the country, so it
really does depend.
What's your most memorable achievement, since being at
Barclays Wealth?
My most memorable achievement; I have only been with Barclays
for just under a year now. We had one of the top management come
and visit the office and after a group meeting, he asked me to stay
behind and whether my project could be run out across the rest of
the firm, which as a graduate was quite powerful for me, the fact
that he would take the time and also knew what I was up to and
could see the implication.
What are the benefits of working in a regional
office?
I feel you are exposed to - maybe I am a little bit biased,
being a regional graduate - more things, on different levels.
Because you are working with maybe 15 different bankers, as I am
inManchester, you get the opportunity to see what each of them is
doing rather than solely align to maybe one to two bankers in other
offices.
Its quite appealing as you get to go out to client's houses and
offices, so you get to see where these people live, you get more of
an understanding of who they are, which ultimately builds you into
a better Private Banker in the long run.
Its been a great opportunity, working in a regional office; I
think I have had more exposure to more things in the last year,
purely because of the fact that I work in a regional office, and I
work with everyone within the office and its not a small
office.
Tessa
Core 2010 Graduate
What degree did you study and which university did you
study at?
I read Economics at theUniversityofManchester. Whilst Barclays
don't specifically say they want a Maths-related degree or anything
like that, I did find it useful. Although a lot of my colleagues
did things like Philosophy which obviously are very different, so
that was also something that they were looking for.
Why did you apply to Barclays Wealth?
The reason why Barclays Wealth appealed to me is that when I was
looking at the different private banks, this was one of the firms
that really stood out because it was investing a lot more than
anywhere else. It seems to be a real area that the company as a
whole is investing a lot of money in. And also obviously the
international element is something that was very appealing for
me.
What about the Barclays Wealth graduate programme
appealed to you?
The graduate programme seems very well structured. They have
different rotations during the programme, one of which is the
international element which is obviously very exciting for a lot of
the people. And, you also get several months in the products
office, which is another aspect that a lot of people enjoy to kind
of give you something that is a bit more market focussed as
supposed to the day-to-day role.
What is your typical day, if there is such a
thing?
I wouldn't really say I had a typical day; it's varied, which is
something I enjoy. Obviously you come in and you listen to the
morning call, you review what happened in the markets. And then I
will work to support the bankers in the team. So that will be more
day-to-day things with what queries they have got with the clients,
corresponding with them, pre and post meetings, which is obviously
really rewarding if it ends up going ahead. And then on the
sideline, in the last year, I have had a lot of project work, which
a lot of graduates get involved in. For example, I have been
looking at the small value clients and some of our legacy clients
and what's going to be the most appropriate service for them going
forward.
What aspect of private banking do you most
enjoy?
For me, it's all the client interaction, that I enjoy most. To
understand the client, how they have gained that wealth over the
years, look at the different investments; the rationale of why it
might be best for them. And sort of pitching that to your
banker and going through it prior to the meeting. Because
obviously, they do end up going ahead with that, you feel like you
have really made a difference.
What's your most memorable achievement since you have
been with Barclays Wealth?
For me, it was definitely passing the first level of the CFA
(Chartered Financial Analyst). It's a really difficult exam, but
something we all work hard towards so when you pass, it does feel
really rewarding and obviously nice when your cohorts pass as well
as it's a really good atmosphere.
You work very closely with your clients. What do you
find interesting about this & what challenges does this
present?
Obviously, I do work really closely with the clients,
particularly with the projects. we have had to speak about what
services is going to be best for them going forward. So you really
have to listen to the clients and appreciate how different each of
them are and their needs.
What in your opinion makes Private Banking different
compared to other careers within banking and finance?
I think private banking is different because there is a focus on
soft skills. I think some people get the perception that it is
quite a lot like investment banking. And that has to be something
that I would really say to people to think about as it is very
different.
What advise would you give to someone thinking of
applying?
I think it is really important that you understand what the role
is actually going to be like and where your skills lie. You have to
obviously know that you are going to be best at that sort of
relationship side and I think you need to understand as well that
it is very different from other aspects of finance.
Tell us about what you most enjoy about working in
Private Banking?
For me the aspect I enjoy the most is definitely the client
side, going to the meetings is really interesting. Finding out
about the people and how much they can each vary and it's really
nice when you deal with them on an ongoing basis and you do build
up a sort of relationship with them.
Tell us about the CFA qualification, why is it so
important?
The CFA qualification is really highly regarded throughout the
industry. It does help you in many ways throughout your career, not
just your role at Barclays Wealth.
Was it easy to balance work with studying for the CFA
qualification?
I think that's the biggest challenge a lot of the graduates
face; studying while doing the career obviously of their day-to-day
job but I think, you know, that your team are all supporting you,
they're aware that you are doing it, they are a bit more flexible
with your hours and things like that, so it is a challenge but I
think that people understand that you are doing it and they are
there to try and help.
What support did Barclays Wealth provide you with during
your studies?
Barclay's worked with seven cities, through both the investment
management certificate and the CFA and they are a really good
company and you have lectures with them over a five day revision
course and you also get five days off to revise, before the exam,
which I'm sure everyone fully appreciates in those final few
hours.
How do you feel you've benefited from your
studies?
I think the studies have really allowed me to understand the
markets better and the products. I mean, I think you can get the
initial concepts of everything quite easily but the CFA allows you
to get that deeper understanding and so you feel really confident
in explaining it and, you know, suggesting it and why that might be
best for a client.