British bank, Barclays has decided to launch its wealth management business in India in the last quarter of 2008. Barclays already has investment and retail banking operations in India, Asia's third largest economy.

Satya Bansal, Chief Executive, Barclays Wealth India, said that in the next six to eight months the wealth management team in India will have more than 100 professionals. As of now, there are 57 professionals in the India team, he said.

Barclays Wealth will focus on high networth individuals (people with £10 million investable assets) and ultra high networth individuals (those with investable assets in excess of £30 million). They will include promoters of large corporate houses, SME owners, corporate professionals, directors and CEOs. "There will be no strict cut-offs but they will definitely be above the mass affluent class," added Bansal.

Initially, the bank will carry on its operations only through Mumbai, where it has a branch currently. Thereafter the operations will be extended to Delhi and Bangalore followed by Chennai and Kolkata.

"As the market is not very well penetrated now, there is a talent constraint in the country. Hence, we are imparting training to those recruited on the board to carry on business efficiently," said Bansal.

He also confirmed that the bank will only hire people with 5 to 7 years of experience in the industry. Freshers would not be offered the post of Relationship Managers.

The Barclays Group has allocated $400 million for the expansion of its global private banking business as compared to the current wealth under management that does not even total up to $20 billion in India.

"Barclays aims to tap the under-penetrated Indian HNI market, which has estimated $50 billion investable assets, excluding the core promoter holding," said Bansal.

India's wealth management industry is expected to quadruple its size to manage about $1 trillion of assets in five years, an opportunity that has attracted the likes of Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.