Richard Harman of Principal Search in London has launched a new service, designed to provide a conduit between private banks and investment ...

Richard Harman of Principal Search in London has launched a new service, designed to provide a conduit between private banks and investment banks in the executive search market. The new service, called Global Investor Advisory, has been set up by Mr Harman in response to the growing link between investment and private banks. “Investment banks want multi-asset class sales people who sell to the private banking, ultra-high net worth individuals and the private equity community on a global scale. The Global Investor Advisory team at PSL can offer solutions to these demands through retained strategic alliances,” Mr Harman told WealthBriefing. Mr Harman says investment conditions over the past five years for high net worth individuals have favoured the development of structured products and tailor-made services for the purpose of both cash management and proprietary trading. “As these investors have required ever more sophisticated levels of service from the private banking and wealth advisory teams that traditionally have handled this business, these teams have increasingly relied on building stronger links with the investment bank community in order to satisfy demand for more complex products and execution capabilities,” said the London-based headhunter. Increasingly, private banks are hiring highly skilled individuals with investment bank backgrounds to cater for increasingly sophisticated investors. An example of this is the structured product team at HSBC Private Bank, which has hired individuals from an investment banking background with extensive multi-asset derivative experience. Mr Harman, who has been in the executive search market for wealth managers for more than eight years, believes the demand for such individuals will only increase. “I’m finding banks are demanding these types of expertise in ever-increasing numbers.”