Published by Asian Private Banker – 4th March 2019
Frontline private bankers have demonstrated a notable shift in mindset and motivations towards movement over the past 12 months in a largely candidate-driven market, according to Danny Jones, founding partner at Huddleston Jones.
“Active candidates have place priority towards client requirement and platform capability over personal needs or gain, which has historically been a primary driver for change,” Jones told Asian Private Banker, adding that stable management, positive brand image, and pro-business approach to account opening have also ranked high on candidates’ agendas.
This paradigm shift, according to Jones, is borne out of continued consolidation and “client cannibalisation” in the industry, increasing pressure on relationship managers to provide additional value on top of their core everyday capabilities.
In the first half of 2019, however, Jones expects hiring to “remain stagnant” despite robust demand for human capital at private banks, as candidates adopt a wait-and-see stance amid regulatory and geopolitical uncertainties.
“Interest in external opportunities [are likely to spike] later in the calendar year, when geo-economic tensions resolve and domestic political agendas conclude – encouraging passive mindsets to [activate],” Jones said, against the backdrop of the still-unfolding 1MDB case, Indonesia’s and the Philippines’ tax amnesties, and Chinas crimping of capital controls.
By employer type, Jones believes candidates will “remain indifferent” towards independent asset managers as the year progresses, judging from a fall in candidate inquiries relating to IAM models in 2018 as they gravitated towards more traditional private banking models.
However, the emphasis will likely switch in favour of boutique wealth managers that have shown increased growth, appetite, and commitment in Asia throughout 2017 and 2018” Jones added.
Meanwhile, as employers engage in intensifying competition for talent, Jones is seeing private banks look beyond traditional talent pools to upscale internal expertise across their breadth of product coverage, leveraging from “an influx of talent” made available from downsizing investment banks and capital market divisions in the region.
“We anticipate a rise in competition for capital market specialists transitioning from product-focused roles within the corporate and investment bank into the private bank, fuelled by ongoing displacement”, Jones concluded.
In February, talent movement in the industry took on a contemplative note, as documented by Asian Private Banker’s round-up of the most important people moves in Asia’s private banking space over the month.
