The European Wealth Management Hiring Market

​Talent demand in the competitive wealth management sector remains high. The acquisition of Credit Suisse led private banks and asset managers to ramp up hiring volumes to recruit top talent with lucrative packages. In the current consolidation phase, firms are slowing down hiring and are now more selective, with higher expectations. 

Finding highly skilled wealth management talent

Firms shouldn’t just target top professionals with established portfolios, they should also consider interviewing bankers at slightly earlier stages of their career, as they tend to have more desire to develop business more creatively and build their network.

Additionally, it is worth interviewing bankers with smaller HNW client bases as it will be easier to apply flexibility on pricing and better profit margins. Those private bankers can deliver bespoke services to clients in line with environmental, social, and governance (ESG), market instability, and alternatives.

Firms should also prioritize hiring bankers with diverse market coverage, as an individual covering multiple geographies is more likely to survive extreme global economic events, which has been essential in a post-pandemic private banking world.

As the most accurate assessments happen at the first interview stage, we encourage clients to keep an open mind and consider the points above during the resume selection process.

Wealth management hotspots

The strongest private banking centre globally continues to be Switzerland, with Singapore and Hong Kong closely behind. With several geographical tensions, there has been a need to diversify with client relationships in the emerging markets, with Latin America and the Middle East at the forefront.

Changing compensation structures

Organizations are adapting their compensation models, offering a percentage revenue share rather than a target or discretionary bonus. Every contract issued is tailor-made and subjective to the bankers’ business potential, which has allowed firms to hire the ‘best’ talent in the market. However, hiring managers should bear in mind that money is never the only motivator for a career move – despite averaging 100,000 USD retention payments, Credit Suisse bankers still moved to competitors.

Insights for professionals

While demand for bankers at all career stages is high across the sector, last year has proven that no bank is too big to fail. We therefore recommend that professionals in wealth management should be managing their career proactively by engaging in non-committal, exploratory conversations with the market.

The future of financial services in Europe

Learn more about investment banking developments in Europe this year and their impact on the demand for talent in our recent report, 'The Future of Financial Services in Europe - 2024'.

In this report, experts from Selby Jennings in Europe assess the hiring landscape across key financial services sectors, offering guidance to help organizations address the most critical challenge facing business leaders today: finding and securing the right talent.