Barclays Wealth has hired 14 investment representatives from eight rivals, the wealth manager announced today.
The new advisors will be spread across five offices: three in New York, two in Miami, five in San Francisco, three in Los Angeles and one in Boston.
"The addition of these outstanding teams underscores our commitment to growing through high performing Investment Representatives," Mitch Cox, head of Barclays Wealth in the Americas, said in a statement.
Wealth management is a lucrative and relatively low-risk business for investment banks and the Barclays hiring reflects an escalating market-share battle for affluent investors.
In January, FINS reported that Barclays Wealth will hire between 450 and 650 wealth management-related positions for its U.S. and Buenos Aires offices. While the focus is on seasoned talent, the firm will also add junior workers.
At the same time, Goldman Sachs pledged late last year to expand its wealth-management business by one-third by 2013. In December, it had about 600 advisors in the unit, according to a person familiar with the business.
Here's a look at the Barclays hires and where they came from:
New York:
Steven Sweetwood, JPMorgan
Robert Meenan, Merrill Lynch
Shlomo Yedid, Merrill Lynch
Miami:
Louis Tinco, UBS
Ruben Lesmes, HSBC
San Francisco:
Alex Witherill, Credit Suisse
Matt Hodus, Credit Suisse
Christopher Bender, Thomas Weisel Partners
John Shaw, Thomas Weisel Partners
Peter Kong, Thomas Weisel Partners
Los Angeles:
Ron Jacoby, JPMorgan
Larry Roth, Northern Trust
Gerald Gallagher, Northern Trust
Boston:
Joel Beeders, Merrill Lynch
Write to Julie Steinberg
