Investing
Barclays scraps private banking for clients with less than £500k
Barclays Wealth has acted to cut its services for customers with less than £500,000, as it implements plans revealed last year.
According to a report in the Sunday Times, the bank wrote to clients at the end of last year, warning them they would lose their dedicated private banker.
Instead sub-£500,000 clients will now see their investments managed by a central team, in the latest example of wealth managers trying to shed lower-net-worth clients.
Businesses are acting to focus on ever-higher value clients because of increasing regulatory costs, which makes managing clients with smaller pots of money less profitable.
The move comes after a cull of the bank’s staff, with Barclays Wealth announcing last September is is to cut 100 roles – or 35% – of staff.
The job cull is partly due to the acquisition of Gerrard 12 years ago when Barclays inherited a number of clients with portfolios under £500,000.
At the time the bank said sub-£500,000 clients would be transferred to a section of the banked called Private Clients were they will receive a “lighter touch” service.