Barclays announced a significant shake-up of its Wall Street investment banking operations on Monday, appointing Mike Zhu, a dealmaker recruited from Bank of America, and Adil Khan, the current head of global markets, as co-heads of the investment bank. This move sharply reduces the four-person co-head structure introduced by Chief Executive Venkatakrishnan less than three years ago, marking a notable reversal of a key management experiment from his early tenure.
Sources familiar with the matter indicate the restructuring is designed to "simplify leadership." The original four-person structure faced internal criticism from its inception, with some employees feeling decision-making was too diffuse and accountability unclear when issues arose. Tensions between co-heads also surfaced at times, particularly between Catherine Dessi and Tyler Wright, who joined from Credit Suisse in 2023. While both shared responsibility for reviving the investment bank, they disagreed on execution strategies. Dessi and Wright are expected to depart after the new co-heads formally assume their roles early next year.
Barclays' investment banking arm has undergone multiple strategic adjustments since its $250 million acquisition of Lehman Brothers' U.S. operations in 2008. That deal propelled Barclays onto the Wall Street stage and established ambitions to compete with giants like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, yet its potential as a transatlantic investment banking powerhouse has never been fully realized. Former CEO Jes Staley made a significant bet on the investment bank during his tenure, with the division generating strong profits that helped fend off pressure from activist investors. However, Staley's departure in 2021 over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein marked a turning point for the business.
Since taking over, CEO Venkatakrishnan has focused on shifting the group's emphasis away from the volatile and scandal-prone investment banking division toward more stable businesses such as retail banking and wealth management. He unveiled a plan in 2024 to restrict capital allocation to the investment bank and reallocate certain assets, clearly distancing himself from his predecessor's strategy. The restructuring has triggered a wave of senior departures within Barclays' investment bank, with managing directors in M&A declining 25% between 2023 and 2024, including nearly 40% attrition in the U.S. market. The bank has also streamlined some corporate client relationships.
The financial backdrop to this adjustment shows the markets unit within the investment bank performing strongly, with fixed income and equity trading revenues up 90% and 58% respectively since 2018, currently contributing roughly two-thirds of investment bank revenue. However, advisory fee income has remained largely stagnant over the same period, still below 2018 levels. Full-year 2025 fee income reached £676 million, up modestly from 2024, while equity capital markets revenue fell over 20% to £278 million. In the first half of 2026, advisory fee income surged 67% to £443 million and equity capital markets revenue grew 65% to £249 million, buoyed by a recovery in M&A and IPO activity.
New co-head Zhu spent two decades at Bank of America, where he led Asian debt capital markets, fixed income, and equity sales and trading before being promoted to global co-head of investment banking in 2025. In recent years, he has focused on building relationships with middle-market U.S. corporates, a segment Barclays is targeting as it expands its international corporate banking franchise. However, Zhu is expected to operate under the same constraints as his predecessors, and with the investment bank set to welcome its seventh co-head in four years, another period of personnel transition lies ahead.