Citywealth Leaders List interview: 60 seconds with Michael Topley, Barclays Private Bank 

Date: 21 May 2025

Karen Jones

This week’s 60-second piece is dedicated to Michael Topley, Sustainable and global equity portfolio manager at Barclays Private Bank.

Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

I head up the sustainable portfolio management team within Barclays Private Bank & Wealth Management, where we manage bespoke sustainable investment  portfolios on behalf of our charity, not-for-profit, and private clients. Our approach is bottom-up, ensuring that each portfolio aligns with our clients’ financial objectives and their broader mission-driven priorities.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My day is roughly split 1/3 researching stocks and keeping up with financial market developments, 1/3 meeting our clients and prospects, and 1/3 managing my team. The sustainable investing space is also changing rapidly, so keeping up with the latest regulatory and geopolitical developments is also critical.

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions/requests you have received.

Many of our clients are large charities with specific charitable missions, so a lot of our work is focused around incorporating bespoke portfolio parameters that align to their organisation, as well as bringing out relevant stock stories from the portfolio that they can share with their stakeholders.

For instance, women’s rights were particularly important for one of our clients, so we produced a bespoke report highlighting relevant initiatives – from board diversity to pay equity programs – that  our investee companies were doing to help promote equality.

As we manage portfolios on a segregated basis, we can tailor exposures and reporting which is a really important flexibility for many of our clients.

What challenges do your clients face and how are you helping your clients to overcome them?

The main objective of many of our clients is to maximise risk-adjusted return, but through a portfolio of investments that are aligned to their stakeholder interests. As many of our clients are charities and not-for-profits, the main fiduciary duty of the trustees is to ensure their investment pots increase in size to enable them to continue with their charitable mission. They must do this however, in a way that is not in conflict with this mission. This space is rapidly changing, however, with stakeholder expectations constantly evolving. Several years ago, portfolio restrictions were focused around industries such as tobacco, however this has evolved to incorporate expectations around net zero, human rights and impact on biodiversity. The regulatory landscape is shifting and this is where we feel we can help our clients, by helping them build a portfolio that can accommodate these changes.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

Building out our sustainable investment team is my proudest achievement. We have managed to hire some incredibly smart and ambitious talent, who are far smarter than I am, who constantly push our proposition forward. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing their ideas shape our strategy and deliver real value for clients.

What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?

I think a good leader should be focused on seeing the individuals in their team succeed, and not be focused on their own success. This includes giving people the opportunity to develop ideas, win business, take ownership, and develop their own personal brands within the organisation. I view success as seeing the whole team shine, rather than just the head of that team. If someone on my team becomes CEO one day, I’ll consider that a far bigger flex than any personal accolade.

Who do you most admire and why?

I admire my parents the most. They are my moral compass, and the source of my work ethic. They were key in developing my passion for sustainable investing.

Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?

I travelled to Miami last month to visit the c-suite of many of our investee companies. These trips are a really good opportunity to meet with management, better understand market conditions on the ground, and develop our knowledge around the unique characteristics of their businesses and cultures. As bottom-up stock pickers, this is critical for better understanding our investments.

If you weren’t in this industry, what else might you be doing?

Music is a passion of mine, so I would be an international superstar DJ – taking a page out of Goldman Sach CEO, David Solomon’s, playbook, ha! Seriously though, I think I would be involved in the music industry either through a record label / music production, or organising events. Nothing beats bringing people together through a love of music.

How do you relax after a long day?

I often unwind by going home and DJing for a few hours. It’s a good opportunity to discover new music, and problem solve by working out what tracks sound good together – whether its UKG, house, disco or jungle.