Importance for native-to-fluent level Mandarin language skills is ever growing, especially for client interface jobs within private banking.

This year Mandarin overtook English as the second most-spoken language in Hong Kong, after the native dialect Cantonese, according to census figures. Headhunters say the national language will only grow in importance as the region’s private banks increasingly turn their eye to the wealth of China.

According to government figures, Cantonese remains the island’s dialect of choice, spoken by 96 per cent of inhabitants. Forty six per cent speak English, while 48 per cent speak Mandarin. Ten years ago, only a third of the population could speak China's national tongue. Hong Kong’s government has been encouraging its proliferation by integrating it into the national curriculum.

The increase in Mandarin-speakers is also partly down to the surge in Mainland tourists and companies, but also it could be down to more companies advertising for Mandarin speakers on their jobs boards.

This appears to be the case when it comes to the job-spec for private bankers. A relationship-based role that relies heavily on ‘guanxi’, (the Chinese word for trust and connections) Hong Kong’s private bankers are increasingly required to have fluency in Chinese on their CVs.

Swapna Reddy, division manager of banking & financial services, accounting & finance division at Hong Kong-headquartered Links Recruitment, reckons that now, as many as one in two relationship manager roles state fluency in Chinese as mandatory.

“Hong Kong offices are mostly covering North Asia markets which means at least 50 per cent of the private bankers based in Hong Kong have Mandarin or Cantonese as obligatory,” she told WealthBriefingAsia.

She added that although there are other factors, like a natural sales flair, experience and a solid book of clients, the ability to communicate with wealthy individuals in the vernacular is rapidly becoming a top priority.

“Importance for native to fluent level Mandarin language skills is ever growing especially for client interface jobs within private banking. Banks are constantly looking to expand their China and Taiwan desks with good quality candidates,” she said.

Aside from the lingo, good local knowledge is also considered increasingly important to a private banker role. A social faux pas with a Chinese high net worth could cost a multi-million account, not to mention reputational damage when they tell their friends, and friends of friends.

Experience and “grey hair” once touted as the key to a good relationship manager, is slipping in importance, as banks, faced with the shortage of talent, increasingly hire laterally from their own ranks.

“Banks are more open to look outside private banking to bring in strong candidates with a natural sales flair. Retail, corporate and capital markets bankers make an easy transition into private banking, particularly those with investment and structuring expertise to meet high net worth clients investment requirements,” she said.

Reddy added that although hiring in private banking is not back to the levels of 2007 or 2008, there is considerable recruitment activity happening in both regional and global banks within Hong Kong and Singapore. Moreover, annual pay rises are averaging around 10-15 per cent, streets ahead of the investment banking industry in the city-state.

Another Hong Kong-based recruiter who wanted to remain anonymous, agreed that Mandarin or Cantonese are crucial differentiators, but increasingly Mandarin is taking the edge. "Hong Kong is becoming an ever smaller market so bankers want to go further into China for their own benefit," she said, adding that bankers are now taking Chinese lessons to be better qualified.

"From what we have seen, bankers are brushing up on their Mandarin so that they can widen their client scope, and exploit the opportunities available in China. This is not just in Beijing and Shanghai, but the second and third cities, meaning Mandarin is even more important."