Thanos Levantis

Why did you join Barclays Wealth?
I decided to join Barclays Wealth because the opportunity was very interesting for me. I was looking for a job where I could develop myself, I could have access and contact to clients, I could work back in finance, an industry where I wanted to return, and last but not least, I have met a lot of interesting people who made me feel at ease immediately. It was a very easy decision for me.

What have you been doing since you joined?
My career path at Barclays Wealth to date has been very short but very intensive and very, it seems to me, very long. I spent the first two months in the headquarters along with other new joiners such as myself, learning about Barclays, learning about the products, getting introduced to the managers of different divisions and to the top management of the bank, building our own network within the bank. And then I was placed with my desk, exactly where I am working at the moment, the Europe desk in the International Private Bank. And before I knew it I had my own clients and I was building my own book. I was given pretty early a lot of responsibilities and I had to step up to the challenge. It has been very, very interesting and I have been learning quite a lot and building my own book.  

What support and training have you received?
The support and training we have received has been quite a lot and also very useful. Barclays Wealth is going through a transformation so a lot of things have been changing lately and we need constantly to be aware of what is new out there, to whom we should refer to and also enhance our knowledge on different areas and product areas and also, in the markets. So, on a daily basis almost we have ‘lunch and learn’ sessions during lunch time where we have specialists talking to us about products or markets. We invite over fund managers so we speak directly to the fund managers of hedge funds and loan only funds. We also have more traditional ways of educating ourselves, through the internet we have a very good site where we can go through and look for information, go through training, even have a sort of exam to see how we are doing, with respect to some areas we need to be familiar with. So a lot of training, a lot of people dedicated to that, so we constantly have contact to these people. You can always find what you want.

Can you describe what your current role entails?
My current role as a Private Banker in Barclays Wealth entails mainly assessing the needs of the client, being close to the client, understanding what they need, not only what they need immediately, but in the future from you and then going back to the bank, anywhere in the bank, and trying to find a solution for them. You literally have to come up with a solution and organise everyone, chase everyone, make sure you deliver to the client what you need to deliver and you also have to keep your eyes open to see what other opportunities are out there, which are the best managers to invest in, what are the best markets to be invested in, and what markets you should avoid investing in. So it is quite a responsible role.

What did you do yesterday?
To give you an idea of what I did yesterday, I came to the office at quarter past eight, read about the markets and for myself about the closure from the previous day. I went through the portfolios of my clients to see if there was any major impact, then I went through my agenda to see how to prioritise the different jobs I have to do and work together with my assistant to prioritise the jobs and delegate to the right people. Then I had a client meeting, lasted a bit longer than expected so then I had to go back, rush very quickly, get my own notes and prepare myself for the next meeting which was over the phone because it was overseas so I have to respect their time, well the time that the client had indicated to me. Then I had another meeting with a prospect, so a person who is considering banking with us, so I had to prepare some material for this person to convince him that we can do the best work possible for him and he will prefer us instead of the competition. That also lasted longer than expected so around seven o’clock I had to go back to the desk, wrap up the day, get some notes and postpone the jobs I didn’t do throughout the day for the next one.

Typically, what other areas of the business might you work with?
In my role you work with all the areas of private banking, almost all of them, I can name you the main ones. You work with people in credit, because you have clients asking for loans, you work with people from alternative investments because you have a lot of clients investing in alternative investments, hedge funds or real estate. Work with people from admin because you sign up a new client. You are with people from marketing because you prepare material for a new client. You also work with people from legal because you might have some legal issues you want to sort out and also people from structuring, one of the most important, because you come up with structured solutions for the client, trust or company. So you work with pretty much everyone within the Private Bank.

What qualities do you need to work here?
To work for Barclays Wealth you need, I believe, the following qualities. You need to have an entrepreneurial spirit, you need to be patient, hardworking and open minded.