London, April 8, 2026, 14:08 BST
NatWest Group Plc tapped Nick Rodolakis to run funds and sponsor coverage on Wednesday, hiring the executive from Jefferies for a senior role in its corporate and institutional bank. He starts on April 13 and will report to Isabelle Girolami, head of NatWest’s corporate and institutional banking business. 1
The hire lands at a useful moment for the British lender. As interest rates ease, banks are looking for more fee-based income to offset softer net interest income — the spread between what they earn on loans and pay on deposits — and NatWest has already raised targets and agreed a 2.7 billion pound acquisition of wealth manager Evelyn Partners, its biggest deal since the financial crisis. 2
That makes the corporate arm hard to ignore. NatWest told investors its Commercial & Institutional division generated 54% of group income and 58% of operating profit in 2024, and serves about 1.5 million customers ranging from startups to large corporates and financial institutions. 3
Rodolakis was most recently managing director and European co-head of leveraged finance at Jefferies. Leveraged finance is debt raised for buyouts and other more highly financed deals, while sponsor coverage is banker shorthand for serving private equity firms and the companies they own. 1
“Nick brings extensive leadership experience across investment banking and will play a key role in delivering our strategic plans for this important customer segment,” Girolami said. NatWest said he also held senior roles at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse before Jefferies. 1
The bank is not starting from scratch. NatWest describes its leveraged and acquisition finance business as a London-based centre of excellence for sponsor-backed financing, with capabilities in leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, underwriting and acquisition finance across sterling, euro and dollar markets. 4
NatWest’s wider strategy has shifted toward businesses that throw off steadier fees. Chief Executive Paul Thwaite said in March that Evelyn would add 20% to group fee income and help create a “higher growth, higher returning” NatWest, after the bank reported a 24% rise in 2025 pretax profit to 7.7 billion pounds and set a target for return on tangible equity above 18% by 2028. 5
Some dealmakers are turning more upbeat. “After the recent megadeals, we expect optimism with economic growth, interest rates and valuations to broaden the wave of M&A activity,” Jason Wallace, Citizens’ head of M&A, told Reuters in January, while UK rival Barclays has also said banks are hunting for more fee income as rates fall. 6
But the payoff is not assured. Reuters reported last week that strains in private credit — a fast-growing alternative to bank lending for sponsor-backed companies — have led some funds to cap withdrawals and some big banks to tighten lending, a reminder that uneven dealmaking or fresh market stress could slow the conversion of new coverage hires into revenue. 7
NatWest returned to full private ownership in May 2025, ending a 17-year stretch of state involvement after its 2008 rescue. The Rodolakis hire is smaller than the Evelyn deal, but it fits the same line of travel: a bank using its broader wealth and corporate franchises to chase growth beyond basic lending. 8
