Barclays Capital is a rarity. It has been climbing the bond league tables, is consistently top of the European loans league tables, is nurturing a niche equities franchise, and its employees seem to like working there. "We've had just three managing directors leave us to join competitors in the last five years," says Bob Diamond, Barclays Capital's CEO. "And in that time 70 or 80 have joined us at that level."
What's more, it's even managing to build a business in the US, and is making a profit while doing so. "Whether in absolute terms, or by return on risk-adjusted capital, we're a very profitable institution," says Diamond. "And we have the lowest cost-income ratio in our peer group."
For all this, Euromoney still baulks at giving Barclays the award for best investment bank. It's partly a matter of geographic clout: it is improving its US standing, but with 35 mandates as lead manager in 2002 there is still some way to go. It ranked fourth for private placements, though, and is a solid credit card ABS underwriter.
Second, though, while we could heavily discount the lack of an M&A business over the past 12 months, the lack of an equities mandate still counts against it.