Barclays silent on US buyout

SPECULATION is mounting over the future of Barclays' American money management arm. San Francisco-based Barclays Global Investors is in talks over a $1bn (£700m) management buyout, according to US reports.

BGI, a leading provider of index-tracking funds, is run by chief executive Pattie Dunn, 49, one of America's best-known female bosses. The daughter of a Las Vegas showgirl and a vaudeville performer, she began her career at BGI as a temporary secretary. Dunn, who is married with four stepchildren, at first refused to take a permanent post. She says: 'I had no intention of working for a bank. I thought I'd rather take chloroform and die.'

While she has been in charge BGI has grown its assets under management from £130bn when Barclays took over in 1995 to £530bn, but it makes relatively slim profits.

Barclays refused to comment on a possible BGI buyout. It said BGI was viewed as a 'growth business' but that every division 'will be reviewed'. The bank is thought to have been looking at ways to offload BGI to focus on its London-based core businesses: retail banking, credit cards and investment banking.

BGI was purchased from Wells Fargo and Nikko Securities for just over £300m during the reign of former boss Martin Taylor who was keen on tracking funds. The present chief executive, Matt Barrett, appears less enthusiastic. Barrett is keen to expand Barclays' wealth-management side, catering to well-heeled individuals. He also wants to make acquisitions in the eurozone, possibly including troubled Allied Irish Banks. BGI is not a key part of this strategy.