Private banks aggressively increasing headcount to service China’s growing wealth
(28 November 2018 – Asia) China’s booming wealth has triggered a hiring spree among domestic and international wealth managers as they all seek a bigger piece of the pie.
International banks such as UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG are battling to hire wealth managers who can grow their customer base to gain a bigger share of Asia’s rapidly expanding pool of millionaires.
Chinese banks don’t have that challenge as they already have a large portion of wealthy clients in their home market. The challenge for the Chinese domestic banks is hiring people who can grow offshore investments to help their clients diversify and navigate international markets.
Both groups however need Mandarin speakers with good client networks, product knowledge and skills.
Since Bank of China set up China’s first private banking operation in 2007, the nation’s personal wealth has swelled to an estimated $21 trillion in 2017 according to data from Boston Consulting Group. Most of that remains in China due to government regulations designed to prevent capital outflows however a sizeable chunk, roughly $930 billion, sits abroad.
While the Chinese banks have a large domestic client base, they still lag behind their overseas rivals in private banking in Singapore and Hong Kong.
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