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Barclays Beefs Up Sustainability Unit With Shuffle of Top Bankers

Barclays Beefs Up Sustainability Unit With Shuffle of Top Bankers

Barclays Plc is moving some top bankers to its new sustainability teams as it seeks to gain a larger foothold in providing financing and advice for activities that help mitigate climate change.

Justin Peagram, previously a managing director in the natural-resources group, will now focus on sustainable energy and other emerging-growth areas as part of the sustainable and impact-banking group, Barclays said Monday in a statement. Greg Cass and Atul Jhavar will lead the green, social and sustainability debt-financing units for investment-grade clients in the Americas and Asia-Pacific region, respectively.

“The client reaction to this effort and this group has been overwhelming,” Joe McGrath, global head of banking at Barclays, said in a telephone interview. “We see a huge opportunity as energy transitions to get on our front foot and work with growth-oriented clients across renewables and other parts of the environmental spectrum.”

Barclays has been a frequent target of climate activists because of its role in providing finance to some of the world’s biggest polluters. Still, earlier this year the bank received shareholder support for a proposal that it would eliminate much of its carbon footprint from its own operations, such as heating and cooling buildings, and also from the activities it finances.

The bank and its rivals have been focused on helping the companies they advise produce less carbon-based emissions amid public outcry over the impacts climate change has had on the planet. In the first six months of the year, Barclays grabbed the No. 2 spot in the league tables for book runners on sustainable bonds, up from ninth place a year earlier, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.

Barclays has raised more than $86 billion in bonds and loans for energy companies, excluding solar, wind and other renewable producers, since the end of 2015, more than any bank in Europe, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Other appointments Barclays announced Monday:

  • Amit Chandra will lead the equity capital markets teams in the Americas for the sustainable and impact banking unit, and will continue as head of natural resources for the Americas within the equity-underwiting business.
  • Alex Dyroff and Eldar Pius will be environmental, social and governance ambassadors within leveraged finance. Dyroff will handle the Americas while Pius is responsible for Europe and the Middle East.

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