Barclays’ Head of Charities Kathleen Britain on Helping Not-for-Profits Become Future-Proof
A holistic approach across the three sectors of wealth, corporate and investment helps address the specific challenges of the charity sector, says Kathleen Britain, Head of Charities for Barclays Wealth and Investment Management.
Last year, Kathleen Britain moved from a strategic role, as Head of Citizenship, to become Head of Charities for Barclays Wealth & Investment Management – a post that is far more client facing. “It’s a big change for me personally,” she says. “I’m taking the skills I learnt in citizenship and applying them to the non-profit side of wealth management, but the new role is focused on clients.”
In her new role leading a team of 20 specialists including four portfolio managers, Britain is identifying the specific wealth management needs that charities, as distinct from private clients, possess. “The first thing you should think about when dealing with a charity’s investment portfolio is ‘what is the objective for the charity?’” she says. “It’s a different driver for how you look at things, because you have this investment pot that needs to sustain the charity, in some cases into perpetuity, to achieve their mission for years to come.”
