Barclays is putting two people in charge of its investment bank, and the pairing says a lot about where the bank wants to grow.
Global markets is the trading side of the bank. Investment banking is where companies get help raising money and doing deals.
Khan keeps his global markets job, so he will end up leading two businesses that depend on each other: trading and investment banking.
Barclays previously had four investment-banking co-heads, with Khan among them. Stephen Dainton recently announced his departure, while Taylor Wright and Cathal Deasy, both in their roles since 2023, stay until Joo arrives.
Joo is coming from Bank of America, where he had been co-head of investment banking until earlier this year. Faiz Ahmad and Karim Assef now lead that business in his place, and the Financial Times first reported the move.
CEO CS Venkatakrishnan framed the change as the next stage of the bank's strategy. The two leaders, he said, "will form a strong partnership to deliver an even stronger, more integrated service to our clients."
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The capital limits the CEO put in place in 2024 limit how much money the division can tie up, and they help explain why the bank is pushing into areas that generate fees.
Global markets brought in roughly one-third of Barclays' revenue in the second quarter, a clear sign of how important that unit has become. In that same quarter, the bank collected £423 million ($573 million) in investment-banking fees, a 24% increase.
Profitability is improving, too. Return on tangible equity, which compares profit with the money shareholders have put into the business, climbed to 16% from 12.2% a year earlier.
In underwriting, the business of helping companies sell new stocks and bonds, Barclays has held about 4.7% of the US investment-grade bond market this year, unchanged from 2021. Investment-grade bonds are loans to companies with strong credit ratings, and they make up the safer side of the corporate debt market.
High-yield bonds and leveraged loans are the riskier side of that market, and Barclays' share of it has declined over the same period. The story looks different on the equity side.
Barclays' share of global IPO underwriting, the business of taking companies public for the first time, rose to 4% since 2021. Its share of global mergers and acquisitions, the deal-advising business, slid to 9.3% over that same stretch.
The new executives do not start until February 2027, so this is a signal about direction rather than a quick change. Barclays plans to lean into markets and IPO work, the places where it is gaining ground, and it will need to address the weaker spots in deal-making and riskier credit.
This kind of reshuffle rarely shows up in results overnight. The real question for investors is whether the investment bank can keep improving profits while staying inside the capital limits.
The latest numbers show fees up 24% and return on tangible equity at 16%, so there is something to build on. The next few earnings reports will show whether Barclays is closing its weak spots or just talking about them.
For anyone with Barclays in their portfolio, that is the part that will matter.
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