By Steve Slater and Emi Emoto
TOKYO (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects to add about 5 percent more staff to its investment banking and private bank arms in Asia-Pacific next year, the bank's regional head said on Tuesday.
Barclays has grown net staff at its investment bank arm Barclays Capital and at its wealth management business by about 5 percent in the past year to around 3,000, excluding its global support hub in Singapore.
Robert Morrice, chairman and chief executive of Barclays in Asia Pacific, said he expected a little more hiring this year and then net growth of 5-6 percent in 2010.
BarCap is building up in equities and M&A advisory as part of its aim to be a top three investment bank.
Private banking arm Barclays Wealth aims to double the amount of assets in the region in the next three years, and would consider acquisitions to bulk up, Morrice said at the Reuters Japan Investment Summit.
Barclays Wealth should have over $10 billion in assets under management in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan by the end of the year, and Morrice said he wants to reach $20 billion by 2012.
"We see some very interesting opportunities in that space. We believe we're still too small and need to grow the business aggressively ... but we need to be patient and pick our spots," Morrice said.
"We wouldn't rule out acquisitions if we saw the right opportunities, both in India and the rest of the Asia-Pacific business," he said.
Barclays Wealth launched an onshore private banking unit in India last year and Morrice said it was on target to have over $1 billion in assets by the end of 2009.
BarCap would also consider acquisitions in Asia, but it was not obvious where a deal was needed, he said.
BarCap has long been strong in debt markets and aims to use last year's purchase of Lehman Brothers' U.S. operations as a springboard to become an equities and M&A powerhouse.
The London-listed firm, Britain's second-biggest bank, is optimistic it can make a mark in Asia at a time when western rivals like Citi (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Bank of America/Merrill Lynch (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are reshaping and retreating from some areas.
EASTERN PROMISE
Barclays, which is in 12 countries in Asia-Pacific, has grown aggressively in India in the last five years and now has over 7,000 staff.
Korea and Indonesia were two other markets ripe for growth, Morrice said. Continued...
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