Barclays bolsters Asia investment banking team in push for fee growth

HONG KONG, July 28 : Barclays is moving to bolster its investment banking presence across Asia-Pacific, prioritising fee-rich advisory and M&A opportunities a year after restructuring its regional team."We want to add more to our core coverage advisory business because our global focus is to grow that business more," Avinash Thakur, who was appointed regional investment banking chief in July last year, told Reuters in an interview with three senior Barclays executives.Barclays' global investment banking and underwriting fee income grew 24 per cent in the first six months of this year from a year ago, its results on Tuesday showed.Thakur highlighted Japan, India, Australia and Southeast Asia as key growth drivers for the London-headquartered bank's efforts to grab a bigger share of high-val