Article from FT19 Mar 2018 14:02
Edward Bramson’s activist investment fund has taken a stake of just over 5 per cent in Barclays, becoming a top five shareholder in the British bank and increasing pressure for it to turn round its faltering performance.
Barclays said in a statement on Monday that entities controlled by Sherborne, Mr Bramson’s investment vehicle, had acquired voting rights over 5.16 per cent its issued share capital.
The bank said that made the activist investor its fourth largest shareholder behind Capital Group, the Qatar Investment Authority and BlackRock.
Mr Bramson, who was born in London but moved to New York more than 30 years ago, is understood to have met with members of the Barclays board to discuss the bank’s annual results and to hear its outlook for the coming year.
Barclays said he had not made any specific demands, such as to gain a seat on the bank’s board or to change its strategy. Mr Bramson stands among the top UK investment institutions after successful investments in several companies.
The activist investor has led several high profile corporate turnrounds in the last few years, including F&C Asset Management, the fund manager, and Electra, the private equity group.
Sherborne’s investment in Barclays is the second time in a few months that a hedge fund has made a large bet on the bank’s shares after Tiger Global in the US invested about $1bn in its shares last year.
Barclays, which reported a full-year loss of £1.9bn last month, was one of the worst performing shares in its sector in 2017, falling more than 12 per cent while the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index rose 7.5 per cent.
But its shares have rallied recently, after the bank announced plans to restore its dividend back to where it was before being cut two years ago and said it would benefit from US tax cuts and a revival of volatility in financial markets since the start of this year.
Jes Staley, chief executive, has made a big bet that he can turn round the performance of Barclays’ investment bank, which has been hit by a long period of low volatility in financial markets and changes to regulation on bank capital requirements.
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