This illustrations shows the logo of Barclays in front of a stock graph.
New York Reuters - Barclays' chief executive, C.S. Barclays, is speaking at a news conference. Venkatakrishnan held a virtual town hall this week to address management changes that have led to about two dozen U.S. investment bankers fleeing the country in recent weeks, people familiar with the matter said.
The banks have left the bankers to rivals such as Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. Venkatakrishnan's victory underscores the pressure that the British bank is under to protect its U.S. investment banking franchise.
Barclays was down 14th from sixth in the Americas mergers and acquisitions league table in the first quarter of 2023, even as it climbed from ninth to fifth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa league table, as US dealmakers struggled to preserve market share amid a slowdown in transactions.
The sources said Venkatakrishnan vowed to invest in the investment banking business to boost morale.
While Venkatakrishnan did not name the bankers by name, he did acknowledge management changes that led to former investment banking and capital markets co-head Cathal Deasy and former Morgan Stanley global capital markets co-head Taylor Wright taking over as Barclays' global co-heads of U.S. investment banking.
The elevation of these newcomers to the bank was bypassed tenured Barclays bankers that had been seen as possible successors, including those popular with colleagues like Marco Valla, who subsequently joined UBS, the sources said.
Barclays said it was in talks with Deasy and Wright's predecessors, John Miller and Jean-Francois Astier, about new roles. Last month, Miller left Barclays to join Jefferies, while Barclays only announced a new role for Astier, a worldwide head of financial sponsors.
Venkatakrishnan said the changes were part of a succession plan and reflect the bank's strategic focus on covering big clients and the smart use of its balance sheet when it comes to financing the deals of private equity firms.
Venkatakrishnan said this will reflect each employee's value and performance, pointing to a question from one of the participants at the meeting about compensation.
Barclays said it did not comment on the meeting.
The second meeting between Venkatakrishnan and Bankers has taken place in recent weeks. The first was a shorter 10-minute call last month, where he did not take any questions.
To be sure, Barclays has also been seeking to replenish its talent, hiring five managing directors in the United States and another five globally this year. Last year, the bank hired Jim Rossman, head of shareholder advisory from Lazard Ltd., and this year hired Christopher Ludwig from Credit Suisse to be the chief executive of shareholder advisory.
But the exodus that Venkatakrishnan and other Barclays executives have been trying to stem has continued apace. In recent days, the head of information services, Pete Contrucci, left the company, while U.S. financial sponsors co-head Evan Rothenberg and head of strategic finance Daniel Kerstein, also exited, said people familiar with the matter.
Contrucci and Rothenberg declined to comment on the request, while Kerstein declined to comment.
Barclays has had a bright start to the year with a 16% pre-tax profit surge in the first quarter, which beat analysts expectations. It was its consumer, cards and payments division, rather than investment banking, that led the charge. fees from advising on corporate mergers and fundraising were down 7%.