But Barclays Wealth apparently has not been paid any of the fees since Barclays acquired the unit.

FORBES: Barclays Claims It's Being Bilked By Ex-Lehman Funds

Customers are also offered access to the products and expertise of other businesses in the group, particularly Barclays Capital, Barclaycard and Barclays Wealth.

FORBES: Barclays Needs To Trade Better To Budge Stock Higher

Greg Davies, a behavioural-finance expert at Barclays Wealth, says the experience of buying a home is a largely emotional one, similar to that of buying art.

ECONOMIST: Bricks and slaughter

Or Barclays Wealth, which has seen its annual meeting at Lake Como dished up in the newspapers with the type of venom usually reserved for celebrity kiss-and-tells.

ECONOMIST: Business travel

"They have the tools they need to keep this from becoming a much worse slowdown, " Aaron Gurwitz, chief investment officer at Barclays Wealth, says of China's central bankers.

WSJ: How to Play a Slowing China