The rise of private banking’s know-it-all

What does it mean to be a �private banker in today’s world? More than 120 �delegates who attended a PWM/FT �summit on the shores of Switzerland’s Lake Geneva – sponsored by Barclays Capital and BT – heard some suggested answers to this question. Today’s private banker is expected to offer a tailored, global investment approach, without resorting to peddling off-the-shelf products. In particular, they must combine knowledge of �portfolio management and investment banking with a service mentality to �satisfy an emerging breed of �entrepreneurial clients. But few banks are able to effectively source these qualities, according to speakers at the summit, partly due to the war for talent, with a shortage of candidates available for employment in a rapidly expanding sector. The head of one large-scale consultancy was even approached by a Swiss private bank that wanted to hire his entire accounts department as client �relationship managers. Master of all trades This desperation to secure suitable bankers who can service increasingly demanding clients, and deal with �pertinent, cross-generational wealth transfer issues, is one of the key �challenges the industry faces. One �possible solution is the �establishment of wealth management institutes along the lines of the one in Singapore. Unfortunately, consultancy Scorpio found that the wealth managers it worked with introduced such an �obligatory pressure to raise assets that training was often dismissed as a “waste of good selling time”. Training adviser 7 City Learning found that, for some clients, the only way to enforce a full-day’s attendance on a vital course was to actually station �a staff member on the door, and �physically prevent pupils from leaving the room. Well-rounded skillset One headhunter, Rhian-Anwen Hamill, told the conference: “It is rare to find people in the industry with the �intellectual and social skills needed to talk across the whole piece – �investment, taxation, structuring and inheritance. You need basic product understanding, but there are other things you cannot teach, such as social sophistication and poise.” Even in �London, Ms Hamill can name only 20-30 bankers who can do this job well enough to sufficiently impress a large client. Strategic thinkers at many banks have been busy restructuring, �disposing of silos and encouraging cross-selling through a ‘one-bank’ client-facing philosophy. Yet they are left with the basic problem of who should work there, and how to retain these staff. It is all very well talking about �gaining an increasing “share of wallet”, but this can be pointless if the wallet is then nabbed by a �competitor as soon as the new �generation reviews its �private banking arrangements and finds its wealth managers are unable to �maintain a relationship.