Barclays calls in McKinsey to find savings in investment arm
Barclays has tapped global consultancy giant McKinsey in a bid to identify cost-saving areas across its investment banking arm.
The FTSE 100 bank is looking to simplify its investment bank, with consultants examining the front office, finance, risk and technology divisions.
The consultants will be looking at duplication of work and whether tasks can be automated, sources told Bloomberg.
Barclays is already reported to be putting up to 200 jobs in the division on the chopping block as it looks to boost returns in the business.
The investment bank division is the firm’s largest division and posted a 16 per cent bump in revenue in the first quarter of the year topping £3.9bn. This was driven by higher transactional activity in global markets after numerous share sell-offs ahead of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on trading partners.
Barclays booked a £2.7bn pre-tax profit for the quarter, ahead of the £2.5bn pencilled in by analysts.
Barclays committed to investment banking division
McKinsey has been working on the project with Barclays for six months and will identify target areas before moving onto execution.
But the consultancy firm noted the cost-cutting endeavours do not relate to any retreat in activity within the market.
Chief executive C.S Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, laid out a new strategy in February 2024 to save near £2bn across the bank by 2026.
Barclays said: “In line with the strategy we announced in February of 2024, we are focused on simplifying our processes to better serve our clients.”
This follows rival banking juggernaut HSBC slashing jobs across its investment bank division as part of chief executive Georges Elhedery’s overhaul on the lender.
The division is set to ditch parts of its business across UK, the US and Europe as the firm hones in on a fresh growth strategy across Asia.