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London - South African business remains very much a focus for Barclays Wealth & Investment Management and will remain unaffected by a recent announcement by Barclays Plc about plans to cut services, a spokesperson told Fin24.
Barclays Plc announced that it will stop offering wealth management services in about 130 countries by 2016 and cut jobs in the unit as part of an effort to rein in costs and boost profit.
"This is part of our new strategy, focusing on reducing complexity and competing where we can win," a Barclays spokesperson said.
Barclays Wealth employs about 8 000 staff. The spokesperson said that number is unlikely to change significantly, although some jobs will go as part of new structure and technology.
Barclays announced plans in April to restructure its wealth business to work more closely with retail and corporate banking divisions. It rolled out its new strategy this week, after appointing Peter Horrell as chief executive of the wealth and investment management unit on Monday.
Horrell had held the position on an interim basis since May, when his predecessor Tom Kalaris was ousted.
Profitability at Barclays' wealth business continues to lag rivals and the targets of CEO Antony Jenkins. The division posted a return on equity of just 2.5% in the first half of this year.
The plan will see the Wealth unit focus on 70 markets, which it estimates covers 86% of the global wealth market, and leave countries where it lacks scale or which are unprofitable.
Under the plan the bank will stop full-service wealth management for thousands of customers with between £100 000 and £500 000 to invest. They will be served by a "lighter touch" new segment called Private Clients.
Other banks are also restructuring in wealth management, and Credit Suisse said this week it will pull back from some countries.
Barclays Wealth, which has about £200bn of assets under management, aims to cut the number of its booking centres, which enable clients to trade and book assets in particular jurisdictions, to about a dozen from 17.
