Barclays hires John Kolz as Global Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets

Barclays today announced the appointment of John Kolz as Global Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets (ECM), alongside Tom Swerling who has led the global ECM franchise since 2023. John will be based in New York, reporting to Travis Barnes and Tom Johnson, Global Co-Heads of Capital Markets.

John joins Barclays with over 25 years of experience in equity capital markets. He spent 10 years at Credit Suisse, most recently as Co-Head of Americas ECM Origination and started his career at Goldman Sachs, where he held various ECM roles including Co-Head of Equity Syndicate.  He is joining from RBC Capital Markets where he was Co-Head of Global ECM. 

Growing share in Equity Capital Markets is one of Barclays strategic priorities for Investment Banking, a key component of the Group’s three-year plan. The bank is already making good progress, with 2024 full year income from Investment Banking up 12% on 2023. Specifically in ECM, fees were up 64% in USD and market share grew by 100bps, significantly outperforming the wallet, underscored by leading roles on several landmark transactions such as National Grid’s £7bn Rights Issue. 

Commenting on John’s appointment, Taylor Wright, Global Co-Head of Investment Banking, said: 

“John will add immense value to our clients, and his partnership with Tom will be instrumental to the next phase of growth in our global ECM franchise. We have been growing our ECM share in recent years and winning lead roles on some of the most high-profile transactions to come to market. The business has great momentum and is well positioned to continue to capitalize on the market opportunity ahead.”

The ambition for Investment Banking is to increase revenue by £700m by 2026, improve RWA productivity, and rebuild fee share to c. 4%, in line with 2019 levels. The team will do this by focusing on three strategic priorities:  

• Increase share in M&A and ECM  

• Implement Treasury Coverage to deliver more products to clients  

• Continue to improve capital stewardship 

About Barclays 

Our vision is to be the UK-centred leader in global finance.  We are a diversified bank with comprehensive UK consumer, corporate and wealth and private banking franchises, a leading investment bank and a strong, specialist US consumer bank.  Through these five divisions, we are working together for a better financial future for our customers, clients and communities. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website home.barclays.