The world offers a wealth of opportunities for private bankers. This article explores some of the most significant, including the rapid economic growth of emerging economies, digital transformation, generational change, sustainability, wealth mobility and the need for broader economic expertise.
Don Fletcher, AP Executive Consultant, for London, Europe and the Middle East, notes that, “With the rapid economic growth in countries like China, India, Brazil and parts of southeast Asia has come a concomitant increase in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs).”
Since the financial services sectors in these regions are often less developed than in certain other parts of the world with more established UHNWIs, there is an increasing demand for experienced private bankers in the newly emerging countries.
Another emerging development that offers private bankers increasing opportunities is that of digital transformation. The world is witnessing unprecedented growth in the artificial intelligence (AI) space, which has had significant impacts on private banking. For example, clients are coming to expect 24/7 portfolio access, real-time updates and the daily delivery of personalised portfolio updates. Private bankers who can master all the new possibilities offered by AI, such as AI-driven portfolio analysis, robo-advisory services and AI-generated data analytics are finding themselves very well positioned to advance their careers.
A new generation of wealth management requirements has evolved with significant impacts on private banking. The passage of enormous sums of funds from baby boomers to their dependents has brought both challenges and opportunities to private bankers in so far as younger investors frequently have different financial priorities and requirements than their predecessors. They may be more interested in emerging opportunities such as tech startups and cryptocurrencies, and they may prefer non-traditional communications such as WhatsApp over more established email and texts. Clearly, this offers enticing opportunities to private bankers who can embrace these new preferences.
Increasingly, the world is focusing on sustainability and HNWIs have a deeper desire than ever to have their funds managed according to the principles of environmental, social and governance (ESG) to reduce their impact on the climate and also align themselves more closely with philanthropic concerns.
At the same time, the world is shrinking and wealth is becoming more mobile, and this means that today’s private bankers must be cognisant of international tax laws, residency issues, multi-currency portfolio management, multi-country real estate investment assistance and guidance with citizenship-by investment opportunities.
Also, private bankers find themselves faced with a far broader range of demands than simply the growing of wealth. These new requirements range from tax optimisation and estate planning to concierge-like lifestyle services and insurance and niche industries such as art advisory services and health management. Private bankers who can fulfil these requirements will find themselves in a very enviable position.
Don concludes, “In addition to the above, further opportunities in major financial locations across the globe are available to private bankers and asset managers which apart from the traditional banking also include developments of opportunities from new players in the fintech space.”
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