Jamie Barter

Transcript

Did you do an internship before joining?
I didn’t do an internship with Barclays specifically but I had previously done various other internships in various other businesses.

Why did you join Barclays Wealth?
Barclays Wealth appealed to me because it was, and still is, the leader in the wealth industry today. When I was going through my options at University a vast majority of my friends were considering areas of finance such as mergers and acquisitions and capital markets and other various areas .But for me, what appealed to me, was the possibility of having client interaction on a day to day basis. So the wealth industry for me was what I wanted to go into. Once establishing that, looking at the competition, Barclays Wealth was at the forefront of everything that I wanted out of a career.

What have you been doing since you joined?
My career path so far in Barclays Wealth started off in the classroom. Initially, we as graduates had ten weeks in the classroom where we learnt everything from soft skills to other areas of finance and also took our basic exams, so once they were out the way I was then put forward to my home desk which is a front office role in the UK Private Bank. Once I completed that, it ran until the end of March time, I then moved to structural products which is an investment and products office where I now deal with the product issues and structural financial instruments.

What support and training have you received?
I think the main thing that I noticed when I first arrived here was that the support and training made available to you was far exceeding anything I ever thought would be provided. Not only did I think the initial training programme was absolutely fantastic in terms of what we learnt, what I was exposed to, because I actually didn’t traditionally come from a financial background, my degree at university wasn’t financial, so the help and support and exposure that I got in my initial days here really set me up for my future career. And so I am now in a position where the training both in soft skills and also in the fundamental financial skills I  learnt has really given my the opportunity to implement these in the office space.

Can you describe what your current role entails?
My current role at the moment is in the Investment and Product Office, specifically in structural products, so I work in a small team with around 4 or 5 people and we liaise directly with our sister company Barclays Capital, and also external financial institutions where we structure products for the front office team.

What are some of the most interesting projects you have been involved with?
The most interesting project I have had up to date was actually in my first role in the front office. I was working alongside a new private banker and we actually implemented together a project for myself where I had to implement the procedures for client acquisition. The great thing about that was that I was given free reign in terms of how I wanted to implement that project, so what I learnt very, very quickly was that even though the graduate programme here is very structured in one way, which is great for people like myself, at the same time they give you the ability to think outside of the box and to really implement your own thoughts.

What did you do yesterday?
So yesterday I got in, typical day, we launched a product on our team so my day-to-day activity that day was dealing with front office enquiries. So our bankers were ringing me up regularly with enquiries concerning the actual product, whether it be price or the actual underlying structure and on top of that, I had a bit of time to develop structural ideas and also conduct some presentations that I am providing for my boss next week.

Typically, what other areas of the business might you work with?
In my present role in the product office I deal, on a day-to-day basis, with numerous areas of the bank, mainly with Barclays Capital. They are our feeder and also our eyes and ears when it comes to structured products. So on a typical day I will be liaising with our sister team in Barclays Capital. Also on top of that in the Investment and Product Office we of course have a very close relationship with the front office as well. So two days a week I will be based down in Brook Street down in Mayfair where I will be dealing directly with the high net worth bankers and on top of that the rest of the week we will be based in Churchill Place where we will have interaction on a day-to-day basis with the affluent office. 

What qualities do you need to work here?
I think the most important qualities they could have would be definitely team work and ability to fit into a dynamic organisation. I think that if you come into this job thinking that looking after number one is going to be your career goal, this is not the job for you. I think everyone within this business is geared up to supplementing the requirements of the clients that we deal with, so there really is a sense of team work that sort of goes throughout the whole of the organisation.  

What’s it like working here?
The experience I have had so far working for Barclays Wealth has been absolutely fantastic. It has exceeded all expectations. Not only is it a dynamic place and very diverse place, but it is also a business area that is really on the up at the moment. The wealth industry as a whole is going places and obviously Barclays Wealth is at the forefront of that so you really get a sense from walking around the building that you are part of something special, something that is growing on a day-to-day basis.

What excites you about your future here?
The most exciting thing about my future here, I think, is the excitement that I have in returning to my home role which is in the front office and using all the skills that I have developed and had since my rotation system started and implementing that into my day-to-day role. Inheriting a book, having a client list and becoming a private banker really excites me.

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