Barclays set to create 100 jobs as it steps up private banking push

Barclays is set to add 100 staff to its private bank in a renewed push to attract more business from wealthy clients.

The move comes three years after the FTSE 100-listed lender saw an expansion effort fall short of ambitious targets, which forced it to fold its wealth management business back into its retail operations.

It is understood the lender will adopt a different approach from the one it took in 2014 and will focus on improving profits rather than assets, as well as strengthening the collaboration with its investment bank division.

The first expansion plan, which was launched in 2010 and was meant to last for five years, aimed to increase annual profits from £600m ($778m) to £700m and double assets under management to £300m.

By 2014, however, assets under management amounted to just $131m. At the same time, according to data published by wealth management consultancy Scorpio Partnership, UBS had $2bn of assets under management, giving it a 10% share of the market, compared with Barclays' 0.6%.

As a result, the British bank, which had swung to a loss in 2013, opted to move the operation back within its retail business.

According to a source cited by Reuters, the banking giant will look to expand its private banking hubs in London, Dublin, Jersey and the Isle of Man as well as in India, Dubai and Geneva.

The new staff will include relationship managers, who attract and serve customers, as well as administrative and risk management specialists to support them. All the new hires will work for Barclays Private Bank & Overseas Services, the division within Barclays's wealth division, which falls under the Barclays International unit.

"In line with Barclays International's overall strategy we are positively investing in Private Bank & Overseas Services," said a Barclays spokesman.

The booming number of millionaires in emerging markets such as China and India has seen a number of worldwide banks step up their efforts in the private health management sector. However, strict regulations and customers' reluctance to switch banks have so far posed a major obstacle for lenders.

UBS, the world's largest wealth manage, has seen its assets under management grow by 30% over the last five years, but revenues have remained flat over the period.

Last month, Barclays chief executive Jes Staley revealed the bank planned to hire around 2,000 new staff in the UK over the next three years to expand the bank's technology development capabilities.