Bramson feels the heat from his own investors

THE corporate raider fighting for change at Barclays is facing a backlash from his own backers who argue the fees his firm is charging are unjustified.

In a financial update, Ed Bramson’s firm Sherborne said management fees for January to June this year were just over £2m, only slightly down on last year despite its net asset value falling 25pc compared with a year ago.

One of his investors said he feels the fees are not justified particularly in regards to his raid on Barclays, which has seen its shares plunge since March 2018 when Mr Bramson bought a stake in the bank at around £2-per-share.

“Our gripe would be that this is a waste of time now and they pay themselves a lot for doing nothing. The Barclays thing is irrelevant so why not do something else.

“I don’t mind if he’s got shares in Barclays, but don’t charge us fees for it thank you very much,” the person said.

New York-based Sherborne, which owns almost 6pc of Barclays, has been fighting for Barclays to cut its investment bank since 2018, a campaign that has largely frustrated many of the bank’s major investors. The investment banking arm was boosted by a surge in trading volumes over the past few months when markets crashed worldwide, helping prop up profits as the lender set aside £1.9bn to cover soured loans in other parts of its business.

In response Mr Bramson said that coronavirus had significantly distorted banking results. He argued that Barclays is chasing “unrealistic ambitions” and boss Jes Staley should give up his desire to compete with the largest players on Wall Street.