Back in November we reported on the new skills you need to thrive as a private banker in Asia. In short, wealthy clients are increasingly being served by multiple relationship managers from several private banks, leading to more intense competition and to relationship managers (RMs) having to offer more high-level client advisory services in order to stand out.
While RMs have long had an advisory role to play, that part of their job is becoming more important as more first-generation self-made rich Asians demand products and services to help them pass down their wealth to their families.
Not all private bankers have the experience or indeed the personality to help clients with family issues – from education planning to overseas property investments. But every so often a bank makes a hire that seems to fit the job description of a ‘holistic’ private banker, primed to perform a variety of all-round family advisory tasks.
Christine Wong seems a case in point. She has been appointed managing director of Edmond de Rothschild Family Advisory in Hong Kong, according to Finews Asia. Wong’s CV is interesting in that – unlike the vast majority of private bankers – she hasn’t simply moved from bank to bank and therefore brings a different (and potentially wider) set of advisory skills to clients.
She joins from Asiaciti Trust in Hong Kong, an independent trustee and fiduciary services business, according to her Linkedin profile. She’s also worked in insurance, developing insurance-based wealth planning solutions for North Asian millionaires, according to Finews. And she began her career with two Big Four accounting firms in Hong Kong, “specialising in trust and tax planning for Hong Kong families”. A mixed CV indeed.
Private banking headhunters in Asia say they are increasingly looking to tap candidates like Wong who have family advisory experience, but talent is thin on the ground.
Meanwhile
Barclays cut fewer Singapore jobs than expected. (Straits Times)
No bonuses for Deutsche Bank board members. (Bloomberg)
Ex-Citigroup trader was ‘cannon fodder’ on maternity leave. (Bloomberg)
Techies name their favourite banker. (Business Insider)
ANZ boss takes lessons from All Blacks. (Sydney Morning Herald)
CLSA analysts set out what the markets have in store in the Year of the Monkey. (South China Morning Post)
Singapore employment growth at 12-year low. (Channel New Asia)
Senior bankers leaves Morgan Stanley in Korea. (Bloomberg)
Credit Suisse Indonesia banker wins lifetime achievement award. (Finance Asia)
Related articles:
Why 30-something Asian private bankers aren’t getting promotedYounger private bankers in Singapore and Hong Kong are becoming increasingly frustrated at being stuck in the same junior job rank for too long.
This is what your private banking salary and bonus should be in Hong KongWith so many firms hiring in Hong Kong it’s good to know how your private banking salary stacks up.
How to avoid horrendous fashion mistakes when working in Asian bankingIf you want to look the part in a bank in Asia, here are some dress code rules to follow.
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