Barclays Wealth Continues Build Out with Investment Representative Hires in the Southeast

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Barclays Wealth, a leading global wealth manager and advisor by assets under management, is pleased to announce the hire of seven Investment Representatives in its branch offices in Miami, Palm Beach and Atlanta, as it continues expanding in the Americas.

“We have been very successful in recruiting new Investment Representatives this year, as the significant global investment the firm is making to the platform and our business continues to attract top performing advisors,” said Mitch Cox, Head of Barclays Wealth, Americas, and Head of Research and Investments globally for the firm.  

Miami

Tony Esses joins as a Director and Investment Representative in Miami, focused on the Latin American market. Previously, Mr. Esses worked at HSBC Private Bank for 24 years, based in Miami and prior to that in Buenos Aires. He began his career at Ambito Financiero, the leading financial newspaper in Argentina. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires.

Robert Sperber joins as a Director and Investment Representative in Miami from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.  Previously, Mr. Sperber was a financial advisor at UBS and Oppenheimer & Co.  in New York.  He was a top-ranked advisor in Florida in Barron’s 2010 list of “Top 1,000 Advisors.”  

James Hafele, who is based in New York, also joins Mr. Sperber’s team from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.  Mr. Sperber holds a BA in Accounting from the University of Miami.  Mr. Hafele has a BA in Economics from the University of Buffalo.

Palm Beach

Matthew Burton joins as a Vice President and Investment Representative in Palm Beach, Florida from JP Morgan. Prior to becoming a wealth advisor, he was a technology entrepreneur and lecturer at Columbia University in New York. He holds a BA with Honors in Literature-Writing from Columbia University and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management in England.  Mr. Burton served six years in the US Marine Corps.

Atlanta

Tom Pair joins Barclays Wealth as a Director and Investment Representative in Atlanta. Mr. Pair brings 17 years of wealth management experience to his new role. He joins from UBS Financial Services, where was a Private Wealth Advisor. Prior to UBS, he was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs in the private wealth management division. Mr. Pair holds a BS in Business and Human Ecology from the University of Tennessee.

John Nicholas joins as a Vice President and Investment Representative in Atlanta from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management.  Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Nicholas served as a Managing Director of Capital Markets Origination at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Head of Risk Finance at AIG Europe (UK), and Senior Vice President, Capital Markets at Wachovia Bank. He began his career at Chemical Bank in 1984. Mr. Nicholas holds a BBA in International Business from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Forest Simmons joins as a Vice President and Investment Representative in Atlanta from BNY Mellon Wealth Management, where he worked for the past three years.  Mr. Simmons brings 26 years of experience in financial services and wealth management, catering to high net worth individuals, to his new role. Previously, he held several senior roles including Partner and Regional Manager at JC Bradford, now UBS, and city and branch manager respectively at Wachovia Securities and AG Edwards, now Wells Fargo Securities. Mr. Simmons holds a BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Master of Taxation program at Georgia State University.

“We are delighted to welcome such seasoned professionals to Barclays Wealth,” said Steve Houston, who oversees the Americas branch offices and Investment Representative network in his role as Head of Wealth Management, Americas.

With 14 offices across the U.S. and Latin America, Barclays Wealth in the Americas provides comprehensive wealth management to high net worth individuals and families. The firm focuses on understanding its clients’ financial needs, personal aspirations and tolerance for risk in order to design and implement highly customized investment solutions.

About Barclays Wealth

Barclays Wealth is a leading global wealth manager, and the UK’s largest, with total client assets of $232bn (153.5bn pounds Sterling), as of June 30, 2010. With offices in over 20 countries, Barclays Wealth focuses on private and intermediary clients worldwide, providing international and private banking, investment management, fiduciary services and brokerage.

Barclays Group is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, corporate banking, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.

For further information about Barclays Wealth, please visit our website www.barclayswealthamericas.com.

Twitter page: www.twitter.com/barclayswealth

Barclays Wealth is the wealth management division of Barclays Bank PLC, functioning through Barclays Capital Inc. in the United States. Barclays Capital Inc., an affiliate of Barclays Bank PLC, is a U.S. registered broker-dealer and regulated by the Securities & Exchange Commission. Member SIPC.

SOURCE Barclays Wealth