The Wealth Industry

We have a huge opportunity. In the past few years there has been a massive increase in the number of wealthy individuals, and a major growth in the number of ways for them to invest, spend and distribute their money.

Within a decade, the number of UK households with aggregate wealth in excess of £1.5 million is forecast to exceed one million for the first time. There is also expected to be a dramatic rise in the number of ‘nearlionaires’ (households rapidly approaching £1 million in aggregate wealth) with a 25% increase in this bracket of wealth expected in the UK by 2016. And across all of the G7 countries the picture is very similar.

The vast majority of these individuals will require specialist Wealth Management services, but the question is from whom? At present, the Wealth Management business is extremely fragmented: vertically by insurance companies, wealth managers, unit trusts and brokerage companies; and horizontally by the number of people competing in the private banking space. The biggest player has a market share of less than 3%, in a market with a projected growth of 7-8% a year. As you can imagine, this offers huge potential for Barclays Wealth on a global scale.

Right now, we see Barclays Wealth as the most exciting opportunity in the financial services marketplace. By continuing to develop world-class products and advisory services, we have the potential to grow across all our client bases. We can also capture mind-share by building on our Investment Banking business – Barclays Capital – and on our fund management services through Barclays Global Investors.

What really puts us ahead of the competition is the support and backing from the Barclays Group, which has 325 years of service to its name, and offers us unique access to 25 million customers. Add to this an investment of £375 million in people and technology over the next three years, and you’ll see why we’re destined for success.