Barclays' top banker in Europe opted for an easier job at JPMorgan and people are surprised

Alisdair Gayne, Barclays' co-head of investment banking in Europe, has moved on. Financial News says he's gone to JPMorgan to be a chairman of investment banking instead. Barclays declined to comment for this article, but Gayne's former colleagues tell us they are surprised. 

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"He was very well regarded," says one. "He was only promoted into that role in September 2024 and he had a lot of power. It was a big position for him and people liked him. He's a good manager and people person."

As a chairman at JPMorgan, Gayne will still get to be a people person, but his people will be clients rather than colleagues and subordinates. Chairmen are outward facing creatures with client responsibilities but limited managerial duties. "A chairman is a cushy position but it has now power," says the former colleague. "You have money and title but that is all. He's quite young for that." 

Presumably this is what Gayne (to whom we have not spoken) wants from life. "You don't have to bother with admin and you get paid for doing client stuff," suggests another observer. "He will have less to bother with."

JPMorgan's gain is Barclays' loss. Despite a focus on investment banking, the British bank has fallen down the UK league tables in recent years and was lurking at 4th in Dealogic's UK investment banking ranking at the end of the first half of 2026. Historically, it was first. 

Gayne joined Barclays from Morgan Stanley in October 2009. He's a corporate broker by background and to have been a key custodian of Barclays' relationships with UK corporates. Gayne's clients include the likes of Tesco, with whom he's worked for many years. "His exit will be a problem as he was key to Barclays' UK business," says one source.

Gayne was hired in the days when Bob Diamond ran Barclays' investment bank. Diamond's other hires, including Mark Astaire and Jim Renwick left years ago.

Now that Gayne has gone, Tom Johnson and Arif Vohra are Barclays' new co-heads of investment banking for EMEA. The UK bank recently appointed Adrian Beidas and Rob Nayhew as co-Heads of investment banking in the UK 

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