Barclays has today announced that Akshaya Bhargava has been appointed as Chief Executive of Wealth and Investment Management. He will join Barclays on 13 October 2014.
With over 35 years’ experience in the financial services industry, Akshaya joins from InfraHedge which he founded in 2010 and was acquired by State Street Corporation at the end of 2013. Prior to this he was CEO of Butterfield Fulcrum Group and founding CEO of Infosys BPO. He spent 22 years at Citibank, leading teams in London, India and the Czech Republic.
Announcing the appointment, Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking, said:
“I’m delighted that Akshaya is joining to lead our Wealth and Investment Management business. Akshaya brings with him deep management experience and a strong track record of business development and growth. Appointing Akshaya, with his breadth of global financial services knowledge and experience in creating bespoke investment platforms, is a significant coup for the business.
“The wealth management industry is evolving and clients’ needs are changing. A leader who can drive success through transformational times and harness new technologies to enhance the client experience will help to position Barclays at the forefront of this industry revolution.”
Akshaya Bhargava, Chief Executive, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, said:
“Barclays Wealth and Investment Management is well placed to deliver a market leading set of global banking and investment solutions to high net worth clients. This is an exciting time to be joining Barclays and I feel privileged to be taking charge of the next chapter in the growth and evolution of the business.”
Akshaya began his career at Citibank in India in Operations and Relationship Management roles before moving into Transaction Services, based out of London. He was Chairman and Country Manager of Citibank in the Czech Republic for four years, before heading back to London as Global Product Management Head for Small Business Banking.
After 22 years with Citibank, he was approached by Infosys to set up a Business Process Outsourcing offering in India. He led the business from a start up to No 7 rank in the industry in four years by focusing on the more complex and high value segment of the market. After Infosys absorbed the business in 2006, he took on the CEO role for the hedge fund administrator Butterfield Fulcrum. He saw the business through the financial crisis, restructuring it into a profitable business. In 2010 he set up InfraHedge, a hedge fund managed account platform, which was acquired by State Street Corporation at the end of 2013.
Akshaya graduated in India with a BA in Economics and MBA in Finance and Marketing. At State Street Bank he holds the following 3 active authorisations from the FCA – CF1 (Director), CF3 (Chief Executive) and CF30 (Customer).