The private bank business of Barclays expects to post double-digit growth in the Middle East as a global rally of stocks, bonds and real estate this year increases the wealth in the hands of the super-rich.
The only thing that is holding back even further growth is the difficulty in hiring seasoned bankers, Cedric Lizin, head of wealth and investment management for Barclays Middle East and North Africa, told TheNational in an interview.
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Few of these senior bankers are looking to jump ship given the nature of their long-term relationships with clients, he said.
Lizin, who declined to give specific numbers about his business, said: "The importance of the Middle East business is increasing.
"We did a strategy refresh a year ago and the Middle East was identified as one of the key growth areas, which was important. There’s a lot of wealth here and it’s growing and we felt our presence could be developed. The potential is definitely there.
"We have improved profitability of the business significantly. Growth in assets under management was single-digit but in the high single digits, percentage wise," he was further quoted as saying by the publication.
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By GlobalData"When you look at the Middle East market, you have some outfits who are opening new wealth management offices or coming back. You also have people who are going out of that market. Morgan Stanley sold their business, Merrill Lynch sold their business. There’s a bunch of competitors who do not see the Middle East market as a focus anymore. So there’s a bit of consolidation.
"The new entrants tend to be a bit smaller and in terms of competitive threat they are not always the people we would look at. You cannot compare their offerings to what we are doing. We have an offering that spans investments," said Lizin.
