Barclays Wealth Names Aaron Gurwitz as Chief Investment Officer and Head of Research, Economics and Strategy

NEW YORK, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Barclays Wealth, the global wealth manager and advisor, is pleased to announce the appointments of Aaron Gurwitz as Chief Investment Officer and Head of Research, Economics and Strategy, and Kevin Gardiner as Head of Global Investment Strategy.

In his new role, Mr. Gurwitz will oversee the organizations that deliver macro-economic forecasting, economic research, strategic asset allocation and regionally-customised investment strategies for our high net worth clients globally, as well as the groups that handle manager due diligence. He will report directly to Mitch Cox, Head of Global Research and Investments, and Head of Barclays Wealth Americas. Mr. Gardiner will manage the Global Investment Strategy Group, which is responsible for portfolio strategy as well as tactical asset allocations that take advantage of current market conditions. He will report to Mr. Gurwitz.

"Aaron's vast experience over three decades as an economist and a portfolio investment strategist brings enormous value to our research and to our clients," said Mr. Cox. "Together with the proven talent of Kevin Gardiner, our head of global investment strategy, and Michael Dicks, our chief economist, Barclays Wealth is able to offer one of the finest research teams to our high net worth clients."

Mr. Gurwitz joined Barclays Wealth in 2008 as part of the acquisition of Lehman Brothers' Private Investment Management (PIM) business in the Americas. He joined PIM in 2004 as Managing Director of Portfolio Advisory. Prior to that, Mr. Gurwitz worked at Goldman Sachs for 16 years in Fixed Income Research, Municipal Bonds, and Private Wealth Management. Previously, he served as a senior economist at Salomon Brothers, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Rand Corporation.  Mr. Gurwitz holds a BA in Philosophy from the State University of New York at Binghamton, an MA in English language and literature from Adelphi University, an MA in Education from Stanford University, and a PhD in Economics from Stanford University.

Mr. Gardiner joined Barclays Wealth in 2009 as Head of Investment Strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Previously, Mr. Gardiner was Global Head of Equity Strategy at HSBC in London for six years and has worked at a number of other investment banks in a financial market career spanning more than 20 years. In 1994, while working as an economist at Morgan Stanley, he wrote the "Celtic Tiger" report on the Irish economy.  Mr. Gardiner holds an International Baccalaureate from the United World College of the Atlantic, a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University.

Michael Dicks joined Barclays Wealth in 2007 as Chief Economist. Previously, he was Chief European Economist at Lehman Brothers for a decade, worked at JP Morgan in Economics and Fixed Income Research and served as economist at the Bank of England. Mr. Dicks has a first degree and an MSc from the London School of Economics in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics.

About Barclays Wealth

Barclays Wealth is a leading global wealth manager, and the UK's largest, with total client assets of 151.2bn pounds Sterling ($241 bn) as at 31 December 2009. With offices in over 20 countries, Barclays Wealth focuses on private and intermediary clients worldwide, providing international and private banking, investment management, brokerage and fiduciary services.

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.

With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 144,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 48 million customers and clients worldwide.

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