This publication interviews wealth management recruiters on the state of the Asia-Pacific market.

Wealth management recruiters in Asia feel generally optimistic about the pace of employment growth in one of the regions to have witnessed significant recent growth but the pace may not always match that of recent years as the sector matures, firms say.

Among common themes in Asia are that firms are particularly focused on recruiting private bankers and other managers with a proven career track record and able to bring over a sizeable book of business, and preferably, that the  speak Mandarin Chinese and have deep local knowledge of markets. Also, bankers with knowledge of jurisdictions such as Indonesia, Malaysia and some of the younger markets such as Vietnam and Thailand are sought after.

All the responses here touched on Asia in some degree, although other regions are mentioned also where relevant.

While a large number of firms have responded to questions, a number did not do so, in some cases due to lack of time or because they did not want to be quoted. Don’t be left out if you want to add views. If any recruiters still want to comment, please do contact me at tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com 

We appreciate the time and effort taken to pass over views and ideas. Other collections of views by executive search firms, concerning other regions, will be published in due course.

Daniel Jones, of Webbe International. (The firm has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore. Jones has been at this firm since April 2012)

The pace of hiring and movement at wealth management firms in the Asia-Pacific region has not been as hectic as a few years ago, although this is partly caused by increased wariness of managers in switching firms, given the greater regulatory burdens and costs of bringing clients from an old firm, he said.

“[The pace of hiring] has definitely levelled out..It is not that the market has slowed so much that candidates are now wary,” he said.

“In the current environment, banks would favour director-level hires, and above,” he said.

There is a preference for people who have been in the market for at least five to 10 years. Coverage is important at the moment – banks are very market-driven. Greater China is picking up quite dramatically with banks hiring Chinese talent. Indonesia is a key market for strategic hires,” he said. Offshore Indonesia private banking is done predominantly from Singapore.

“A problem is that the market is heavily saturated and it [Jakarta] is the most banked market in Southeast Asia,” he said. Besides looking at Jakarta, Jones mentioned Sumatra as an area of upcoming promise. “There is a need for bankers that go off the beaten track,” he said.

“Banks are obviously looking for strong revenue generators with a successful track record in client acquisition,” he said. Banks are looking to “go back to basics” in their hiring, seeking out people who are not afraid about selling services to clients. “I have seen cases where banks have gone onshore to find bankers that can move offshore; the added value being stronger onshore networks, linguistic capability and cultural connection,” he said.

Jones also deals with boutique firms and family offices. In the case of family offices, they will want senior managers “who don’t need to be hand-held by their bank”, he said. The attractions of working in a family office to people are that they tend to involve less politics and bureaucracy and focus on the job in hand,” he said.

Tim Gibson-Tullberg, who recently took up the role of director, Sheffield Haworth, Singapore, after his eponymous firm was acquired by the former, also weighed in.

What would you say is the most noticeable trend in the wealth management recruitment market at present and for the next 12 months, and why?

Banks and wealth managers have become conditioned to expect poor revenues. This has created something of a bunker mentality. This year to date, the markets look more buoyant and underlying clients more active. We see some growth plans being unveiled which are aggressive and result from saturation within domestic markets and brands looking to where they can launch/ deepen their market share. Thus the trend will be polarized with passive brands, slow to react and those with quite aggressive intent who capture opportunity,” he said.

Which areas of wealth management do you see as offering the biggest opportunities for growth and which areas are the least promising? Again, can you briefly say why?

"Niche players have real opportunity as talent from big labels finds it increasingly tough to do their job in light of regulatory and internal bureaucracies. The big labels are contrarian: they offer the client a recognised brand and product ‘supermarket’ but carry high charges and reputational risk given their wider exposures,” he continued.

“The smaller bank can meet the client needs for the most part within or via third parties and will be flexible on fees. Candidates are becoming wise to the bonus opacity and internal restrictions in the larger banks thus making career path selection vital. The key is to ask: when is one at a big label and when does one move downscale?” he said.

How and in what ways would you say the wealth management jobs market has changed the most in recent years?

"The market has slowed and bankers have started to analyse the brand mythology, looking at precisely what their platform can offer for client and employee alike. Not long ago, Tier 1 banks were the supposed place to be. In reality, one can face serious restrictions and internal competition making business tough. This has bolstered the options at smaller banks in recent years. That said, there are some signs that the bigger labels are addressing their issues and the quest for talent. They have to,” Gibson Tullberg said. 

“The rise of the internal recruiter is also noteworthy. They operate to save cost initially but after 2-3 years they have largely exhausted the market which can only be asked one question ‘Do you want to join ‘X’ bank’? They cannot, by definition be comparative,” he continued.

“To make headcount target, they often inflate offers and bankers who subsequently fail to make aggressive targets/ cover intrinsic higher costs are then arbitrarily let go. Whilst they can contribute real value it can be quite wasteful in human capital and brand terms if unchecked. We work in tandem with some great ones,” Gibson-Tullberg said.

“The other aspect is package construction. It has changed, and the variation is actually now far greater than pre-2008. We have clients who will pay uncapped and those who have strict limits in scale/ content. The general feel that it’s all bad is a myth but there is a stronger correlation to meritocracy,” he said.

What regions of the world/your local region would you say are the most/least busy in terms of recruitment?

"Least busy are probably the onshore WEU [western Europe] markets, although there is the perennial market share battle. The active markets remain the emerging ones but on a selective basis. Asia remains the leader but with much greater emphasis on regional national staff and their growing business books,” he said.

Selby Jennings

What would you say is the most noticeable trend in the wealth management recruitment market at present and for the next 12 months, and why?

“Relocation has increasingly become an issue for private bankers and private banks as it is increasingly hard to gain work permits in countries such as Switzerland and in the US. Therefore, deals are breaking down unless they are already in the country or have a permit in place. It is getting very difficult to move a top candidate from one location to another,” the firm said. 

“Product knowledge - It is still very much about how many assets you can bring to an organisation, but recently clients are looking for more and want experienced candidates with specific product knowledge on the investment side. Why? Because clients are becoming more demanding and the private banks need to be equipped for this to keep the clients and provide first class service,” the firm said in an emailed statement.

Which areas of wealth management do you see as offering the biggest opportunities for growth and which areas are the least promising? Again, can you briefly say why?

“There is a big opportunity with Family Offices as they can provide flexibility and an open architecture to private bankers and allow for clients to remain in the banks they are established with, which is resulting in a lot of senior candidates looking to make this move,” it continued.

“Boutique organisations are attractive because candidates feel that they are more valued as an employee and involved in where the business is going. Boutiques allow growth in different markets and do not restrict bankers to market segments as the established private banks do,” Selby Jennings said.

“Least promising area for growth would be the Swiss market. Switzerland will struggle with the new laws coming in that will further restrict private bankers. Growth in Switzerland will be limited due to this and clients will look to leave and create opportunities for other jurisdictions such as Monaco, Singapore and Dubai,” it said. 

How and in what ways would you say the wealth management jobs market has changed the most in recent years?

“The wealth management job market used to be about potential and client facing skills but now there are less jobs and more specific requirements for the leading private banks,” the firm said.

“Most top banks are resorting to speculative hiring as a result of a saturated market and budget issues. Clients are looking for only the best candidates and if you are a private banker with a book of €100-150 million looking to move, you are better off staying where you are until your book is €200 million ($271.3 million) -plus, as most banks will only look at bankers with sizeable books of €200 million-plus,” the firm said.

“It may be an opportunity for boutique banks to capitalise on this and get ahead of their competitors by bringing on some talented private bankers that haven’t breached the €200 million mark yet and that top banks are overlooking. The market has become more specific and focused to particular skills, with product knowledge and deep relationships spanning 10 years or more with each client and specific focus on bankers with UHNW clients becoming increasingly important. This is especially evident with the top tier private banks,” it said.

What regions of the world/your local region would you say are the most/least busy in terms of recruitment?

“The most busy regions would be Miami, New York and Houston in the US who are aggressively hiring in the LATAM markets, Africa and Russia are rising in recruitment and the Middle East and Singapore continue to be active hiring locations,” it said.  “ The least Busy would be Europe in General but in particular Switzerland and London as they are hesitant about the new laws and are only hiring very good candidates,” it added.

Dudley Edmunds, of Culliford Edmunds.

What would you say is the most noticeable trend in the wealth management recruitment market at present and for the next 12 months, and why?

“Continuing trend to want people with established and moveable books and there is a strong focus on real quality of individual. I don’t see this changing. I think that we may see an awakening interest in IAs [independent advisors] again as the main differentiator within the top players will be investment advice and asset allocation,” he said.

Which areas of wealth management do you see as offering the biggest opportunities for growth and which areas are the least promising? Again, can you briefly say why?

“The ME [Middle East] and FE [Far East] will continue to be interesting. Top-quality relationship managers will be fought after but become more difficult to prise out unless there is a real premium or substantially better career opportunity,” he said.

How and in what ways would you say the wealth management jobs market has changed the most in recent years?

“Much higher focus on the real quality of relationship manager,” he said.  

What regions of the world/your local region would you say are the most/least busy in terms of recruitment?

“Middle East and Far East and for us, Europe, including Eastern Europe,” he said.

Christina Ng, associate director - financial services and legal, Robert Walters Singapore. 

What would you say is the most noticeable trend in the wealth management recruitment market at present and for the next 12 months, and why?

“Private bankers remain in demand and we will continue to see team movements for 2013 despite the major moves we have seen in 2012. This remains a growth sector in Asia and Singapore, especially with the drive to make Singapore the private banking hub of Asia. We are likely to see other areas such as risk and compliance being a key area of focus due to increasing regulations,” Ng said.

Which areas of wealth management do you see as offering the biggest opportunities for growth and which areas are the least promising? Again, can you briefly say why?

“NRI and Chinese markets continue to be the top focus due to the growth of millionaires in those regions. For Singapore, we are still seeing strong interest in Indonesia, Thailand and other emerging markets in SEA. There is a subtle shift away from offshore banking for European markets due to regulations and the crackdown on tax evasion globally,” Ng continued. 

How and in what ways would you say the wealth management jobs market has changed the most in recent years?

“Salaries have increased exponentially in Singapore and Hong Kong especially due to the development of the wealth management industry in these countries. Private banking professionals with an established AuM could easily be commanding double the compensation that their predecessors with the same years of experience would have received a few years ago. This was largely attributed to the competition between the private banks for such experienced individuals and changes in compensation structures. Bonus components and amounts have also shifted, with other non-cash elements built in (such as shares) that will tie in top talents for the long term and to ensure that the rewards goes to top talents as opposed to the heydays, where good bonuses was paid to mediocre bankers as long as the team as a whole was making money,” she said. 

What regions of the world/your local region would you say are the most/least busy in terms of recruitment?

Due to the sluggish growth and recovery in US, we are still seeing some restrictions in hiring in North America. Europe remains an area of concern despite the bailouts and there is a wait and see attitude towards hiring plans in London and Switzerland in most organisations.

Carlton Senior Appointments

What would you say is the most noticeable trend in the wealth management recruitment market at present and for the next 12 months, and why?

“Private bankers remain in demand and we will continue to see team movements for 2013 despite the major moves we have seen in 2012. This remains a growth sector in Asia and Singapore, especially with the drive to make Singapore the private banking hub of Asia. We are likely to see other areas such as risk and compliance being a key area of focus due to increasing regulations,” the firm said. 

Which areas of wealth management do you see as offering the biggest opportunities for growth and which areas are the least promising? Again, can you briefly say why?

“NRI and Chinese markets continue to be the top focus due to the growth of millionaires in those regions. For Singapore, we are still seeing strong interest in Indonesia, Thailand and other emerging markets in SEA. There is a subtle shift away from offshore banking for European markets due to regulations and the crackdown on tax evasion globally,” the firm continued. 

How and in what ways would you say the wealth management jobs market has changed the most in recent years?

“Salaries have increased exponentially in Singapore and Hong Kong especially due to the development of the wealth management industry in these countries. Private banking professionals with an established AuM could easily be commanding double the compensation that their predecessors with the same years of experience would have received a few years ago. This was largely attributed to the competition between the private banks for such experienced individuals and changes in compensation structures. Bonus components and amounts have also shifted, with other non-cash elements built in (e.g. shares) that will tie in top talents for the long term and to ensure that the rewards goes to top talents as opposed to the heydays, where good bonuses was paid to mediocre bankers as long as the team as a whole was making money,” it said. 

What regions of the world/your local region would you say are the most/least busy in terms of recruitment?

“Due to the sluggish growth and recovery in US, we are still seeing some restrictions in hiring in North America. Europe remains an area of concern despite the bailouts and there is a wait and see attitude towards hiring plans in London and Switzerland in most organisations,” it added.

Octavian Partners. Ally Ho, head of Asian private banking.

What would you say is the most noticeable trend in the wealth management recruitment market at present and for the next 12 months, and why?

"Most banks; boutique and large are all looking for the same talent i.e. 10 years + of experience, a book north of $250 million with a solid track record in singular coverage countries. This is significantly different to say Europe and the Middle East where bankers normally cover 2-3 countries. The reason for this focus is the untapped potential of Asian countries both onshore and off shore. There has been significant demand over the last 12 months for bankers covering China, Hong Kong and the Philippines – with a strong preference on team moves," Ho said.

"Other than this, the general requirements are for bankers who are director level and above who can ‘hit the ground running’ and have a highly transportable book. Most banks have focussed on management hires over the last 18 months and as a result these types of positions are now slowing down with the demand for pure producers on the rise," Ho said.

"With tighter regulation in Switzerland, and Hong Kong; banks are also considering other countries where they may be able to secure new clients with many of the tier one institutions now focusing on the HNW segment versus the over-banked UHNW and family office piece," Ho said.

"Hiring is still continuing at the same pace as the last few years, most of my clients are looking for high double digit growth in head count for the next 12 months in order to remain competitive in market share," Ho said.

"The products side of wealth management has certainly seen a slowdown in growth, with very few exceptions most banks are overweight or full in terms of headcount and for the foreseeable future are not considering any further expansion," Ho said.

It depends on which market – within Europe there has been a definite slow down on talent acquisition, with most only requiring back fills or at best an additional one or two in headcount for the year. The Middle East continues to be optimistic with most banks speculating that most things have settled down market wise and now is a time to look again at top talent, a lot of banks in this region are essentially regrouping as there were a lot of moves in 2011," Ho said.

"In Asia the market was initially highly buoyant with many bankers moving from one guaranteed bonus to the next with banks having little power other than participating in the beauty parade. This has now changed, and not only are clients more selective on the bankers they will agree to hire, but also pushing back on demands for 50 per cent premiums on previous salaries for example," Ho continued.

"Perhaps the greatest change however especially in Asia has been in the attitude of candidates, the most stable and therefore attractive bankers are unwilling to move, even for management opportunities; preferring to remain with their employer. This has been for a number of reasons; platform capabilities, client servicing ability, brand and consistency for clients. Most seasoned veterans of the market are happy to understand what is available out there, but unless there is a real compelling reason then they would rather remain where they are," Ho said.

"London remains pretty stagnant, Switzerland has slowed significantly, the Middle East has remained relatively level with the exception of investment banking and the demand in Asia continues," Ho added.