Barclays landed the 27-year-old whale from Nomura, but only as a VP

12 October 2026

2 minute read

a crudely drawn whale with the face of a ginger bearded man with glasses

If you are a big risk taker you might be named after an aquatic mammal. Barclays has landed a Nomura guy who benefits from such a moniker.

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Mark 'The Whale' Wade left Nomura in June. We said that the time that he was going to Barclays and now he has arrived. Wade wrote on LinkedIn on Friday that he was "pleased and proud" to join Barclays' London short term interest rate (STIR) desk. The FCA Register says he officially appeared there on Thursday.

Wade is a source of excitement in the London market. As we wrote in June, he is one of London's top STIR traders and has a reputation as a big risk taker. Wade is thought to have played an important role in building Nomura's sterling rates trading business.

Maybe he will do the same as Barclays where he will work with in under Hamza Hoummady, the former head of macro strats at Goldman, who runs the European rates team. Hoummady is a managing director (MD). Wade joined as a VP.

By our estimation, Wade is aged only 27, so he has ample time to become a managing director himself. Alternatively, Barclays' macro desk has a long history of launching hedge fund careers.

Barclays rates desk is widely expected to promote star rates salesman Puni Raja to MD in December. Raja, who runs UK real money sales, is thought to have made huge profits for the bank this year. Alongside Kristen Macleod, Barclays' global head of macro distribution, Raja is understood to have made the closing remarks at Barclays' macro conference in Paris last week.

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