Barclays

C.S. Venkatakrishnan has served as Group Chief Executive Officer since 2021, overseeing all business lines including investment banking and asset management. Heads of specific divisions, such as leveraged finance and principal investing, manage day-to-day deployment decisions within their mandates.

Barclays sources deals primarily through its investment banking relationships, M&A advisory mandates, and leveraged finance origination. This gives it access to both sponsor-backed transactions and direct corporate opportunities before they reach the broader market.

Barclays engages in both direct deals and fund commitments through its principal investing unit and asset management division. It provides direct lending, co-invests alongside private equity sponsors, and allocates capital to external hedge funds and private credit funds.

Barclays' investment activities primarily target later-stage and mature opportunities, including leveraged buyouts, infrastructure projects, and structured credit. Its direct lending operations focus on middle-market and large-cap corporate borrowers.

Barclays does not publicly disclose a list of excluded sectors for its principal investing activities. However, as a regulated bank, it maintains environmental and social risk policies that restrict lending to certain high-carbon industries, which may influence its investment appetite.