Barclays sees long-term bargains

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) - There are "extraordinary" buying opportunities for long-term investors in today's markets, though a strong stomach may be required in the short run, the vice chairman of Barclays Wealth (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday.

Gerard Aquilina said he was advising clients that "we are closer to the end than the beginning" of the financial crisis that has pounded global markets in recent weeks.

"If one is selective one can find extraordinary opportunities," he told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit.

Many high-quality securities indiscriminately sold during the credit crunch are now great value, Aquilina said.

"We like emerging markets, specifically Asia. We think there are opportunities in the fixed income sector, specifically corporate bonds," he told the event, held at the Reuters office in Geneva.

"There are a lot of financial institutions out there that don't merit the hammering they've received ... Distressed real estate looks interesting. Being selective is where the science comes in," he said.

But he stressed the timing of a rebound was unclear.

"This will not necessarily be a V-shaped rise, but more like a U. For clients that have long-term vision, asset prices are cheap on a global basis," Aquilina told the summit.

"If one can stomach some volatility, clients will be very happy with what they purchase today."

Aquilina, who estimated he spends 60 percent of his time talking to private banking clients, said many customers have proliferated the number of accounts they have to shield themselves from failing banks and investment houses.

"Clients that had accounts with three institutions now have six accounts. Clients that had six accounts now have 12 accounts," he said, adding that one client has 21 accounts with 50 million pounds ($88 million) in each of them.

To regain client confidence, he said that wealth managers catering to the super-rich needed to get back to basics.

"I think there have been too many people in this business who have sold things they don't understand," he said. "We need to go back to traditional private banking, which is preserve your wealth, grow it reasonably, and pass it on," he said.

Following his company's takeover of Lehman Brothers, which added 850 wealth professionals to its roster, he said Barclays Wealth would expand its presence in Latin America and the United States, which he called "too big a market to ignore."

"The United States is still the largest wealth pocket in the world in terms of its size," he said.  Continued...