The fight for wealth management talent in Asia is well documented. Now, even in-house recruiters are in demand, with one leaving UBS for a hometown Swiss rival.
Swiss banks Julius Baer and J. Safra Sarasin boosted their Asian headcount last year and look likely to continue that trend throughout 2018. Domestic Asian players DBS and Bank of Singapore also swelled their ranks using their growing regional influence and digital adoption as pulling points.
The tussle for talented rainmakers focuses on private bankers who could potentially bring with them a deep book of clients to swell the assets of the new employer. The reality is that clients do not always follow, despite what they may promise in private.
A few years ago, major private banks moved to cut recruiting costs and build their own databases, scouting for talent in the region while bulking up their own human resources teams by adding experienced commercial recruiters.
But now it seems the battle to find the next banking star is extending into the corporate recruiting space. Credit Suisse has hired Yinn Cheng, formerly in-house recruiter at UBS in Singapore, as a strategic recruiter, according to her LinkedIn profile. The Asian private banking war for talent now extends to the headhunters.
