If you’re a successful private banker the potential job opportunities on offer should make you the envy of those in other parts of the finance sector. Private wealth is growing globally and in Asia especially relationships managers (RMs) remain in high demand and short supply.
Yet private banking interviews are notoriously tricky to navigate, not least because banks are perpetually anxious that even the best RMs won’t convince enough of their clients to move with them.
If you’re heading into a private banking interview, get set to be grilled on a wide range of topics – here’s what interviewers really want to know.
The size of your AUM
“All interviewers want to understand the size of your current assets under management [AUM] as well as your business plans so they can judge whether you could meet their revenue expectations and what level of job you would be suitable for within their team structure,” says Sunny Kwak, a private banking consultant at recruiters Morgan McKinley.
The structure of your AUM
“You may manage a $300m book, but if a lot of it is taken up by loan products to clients, the new bank may not be so interested,” says Rahul Sen, a former Merrill Lynch private banker, now head of wealth management at search firm The Omerta Group. “Make sure your overall portfolio is well diversified across multiple product categories – most banks wouldn’t want to risk too many eggs in one basket,” adds Liu Sanli, practice lead, private banking, at CA Search.
The length and strength of your relationships
To show how loyal your clients are, first explain how you started the relationship from scratch, says Kwak. “And to demonstrate how well you know them, talk about your clients – without revealing their identities – as if you’re talking about close relatives or best friends,” says Liu. “Do this in all relevant contexts: what products they invest in, their risk profiles, and how you’ve gone the extra mile to offer a personal service.”
Whether you’ve helped clients through tough times
Banks want to know whether your client relationships have survived any major market downturns. “It’s the ultimate sign of client loyalty – if they’ve stuck with you during the bad times it proves their ‘stickability’ to you and shows the interviewer that your clients are likely to more to the new bank,” explains Sen.
How many of your clients are duplicates
It’s becoming more common, especially in Asia, for private clients to use more than one bank for their investments, so interviewers will want to find out the extent of any duplication. “The discussion will then move on to whether or not you could take over sole management of that client at the new bank, or whether it would split the client’s assets between you and their existing RM,” says Sen. “UBS allows join management, Credit Suisse doesn’t, for example.”
The depth of your product knowledge
“The interviewer will want to know how much of a product expert you are. Especially if you originally moved into private banking from another industry, you might have great client connections but more limited product knowledge,” says Sen. “This is potentially not a deal-breaker, but banks do need to understand what degree of investment support you’ll need from their in-house product teams.”
The products your clients are demanding
Private banks aren’t just looking for relationship managers with loyal clients and large AUMs. The products that your clients need must match those the new bank can provide, says Clarence Law, a Singapore-based business advisor in private banking. Not all firms can offer investment banking services or large credit facilities, for example.
Your approach to winning new business
Even if you prove that your current clients are likely to move to the new bank, interviewers will still ask how you will win new customers once you join their team. “You need to give the interviewer an impression of how solid your pipeline is,” advises Kwak from Morgan McKinley. “They’ll expect you to share the channels that you use to win new business – for example, social events, referrals from existing clients, and networking with intermediaries like accountancy firms, M&A bankers and lawyers.”
The strength of your referrals
Of all the methods for snaring new business, interviewers will hone in on how successful you’ve been in getting current clients to introduce you to their friends, family or business associates. This has the added benefit of showing that your clients like you enough to recommend you. “If you became the private banker for your client’s uncle, for example, you should tell the interviewer all about it,” says Sen from The Omerta Group.
How you deal with demanding clients
“Clients sometimes have lots of money without a good understanding of it, and interviewers expect you to manage all different types of clients if you join their bank,” says Kwak. “So prepare a few examples of how you’ve handled difficult requests from demanding clients in the past.”
How well you will fit into the team
While your success as a private banker largely depends on hitting personal revenue targets, interviewers will still want to make sure that you’ll fit into their team culture. “Team working is essential in private banking – with all the travel involved banks need people who will cover for each other,” says Sen. “Goldman Sachs will make sure you’ve met everyone in the team before they’ll hire you.”
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