After boosting its presence in the mortgage market with the acquisition of Woolwich for £5.4bn (€8.9bn), Barclays Group is prepared to make another purchase to complement Barclays Global Investors, its fund management arm.

While Matthew Barrett, Barclays chief executive, confirmed no talks are under way at the moment while the bank digests its acquisition of Woolwich over the next 18 months, he did proclaim that fund management is the next area in which the bank wants to expand over the next 12 months.