Execs who manage big money in hot demand in Singapore

25 April 2022

SINGAPORE - The finance industry may be suffering a dearth of tech-savvy executives to cope with digitalisation, but the old-fashioned talents that manage money for the well-heeled are proving just as elusive.

Relationship managers, private bankers and asset management executives are in high demand as Singapore courts the global rich to park their wealth here or use the city as a springboard to invest in the region.

And it is the soft, not keyboard, skills that are sought in these positions - skills such as proficiency in Chinese, understanding of the Chinese market and a good personal touch, recruiters say.

Ms Lim Chai Leng, Randstad Singapore's senior director of banking and financial services, says she is seeing a "more aggressive" movement among wealth managers between competing organisations.

Whether banks are poaching or executives are being enticed by better offers is uncertain, but "banks and institutions are trying to have their fair share of the AUM (assets under management) acquisition", she said.

Relationship managers could start at salaries of between $3,000 and $3,500 a month, she added.

The amount of assets under management in Singapore has been on a steady upward trajectory since 2014, reaching $4.7 trillion in 2020, while the number of family offices managing finances for the very rich increased fivefold between 2017 and 2019, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Citi Singapore is planning to add 1,500 more staff to help triple its AUM value by 2025. The bank employs 8,500 workers and bases its largest wealth advisory office worldwide in Orchard Road.

The bank increased the number of relationship managers for its premium-tier wealth customers by a quarter last year. It will add a quarter more to the department this year.

It also bumped up the number of private bankers who serve its wealthiest clients by 50 per cent last year, said Mr Sarab Preet Singh, its head of human resources for the region.

The bank declined to say how many relationship managers or private bankers it has.

Digitalisation is upending the industry and creating demand for candidates in areas such as data analytics and cyber security, said Mr Gavin Teo, associate director for digital, banking and financial services at recruiter Michael Page Singapore.

But for private wealth management, digitalisation is "more transformation but not really taking away their jobs". "We still need human interactions for the transactions to go through," he added.

"There are still a lot of things that cannot be replaced by AI (artificial intelligence) machines or technology tools."

Besides wealth advisory, UOB is finding it difficult to fill jobs in technology and data and business financing, said Mr Dean Tong, its head of group human resources.

The bank, which employs around 9,000 people in Singapore, is carrying out expansive retraining programmes, such as a one-year course designed to train 100 new graduates and young joiners with fewer than three years of work experience in software development, cyber security, infrastructure and platforms.

It also hired 60 mid-career joiners and trained them in data, user interface design, business analysis and risk and compliance analyses.

DBS Bank has identified 7,300 employees out of its 12,000-strong Singapore work force to be trained over three years from 2021.

Despite the talent crunch leading to some banks outsourcing functions to countries such as India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Poland, Singapore is still the preferred base, noted both Ms Lim and Mr Teo.

"Now that the system has already been set up for remote access, banks realise that some of the functions can be brought back on shore," added Ms Lim.

"They can turn things around faster, get immediate attention and have people on the ground to address matters."

Both recruiters say banks are also adjusting to the job market, such as reducing the number of skill requirements or splitting a role between two candidates.

The feverish jostle for talent should ease towards the end of the year, when banks typically step down recruitment at the close of the financial year, said Ms Lim.

But Mr Teo said it could take three to five years for banks to adapt workflows for digital tasks, adding: "Then, we can maybe reduce the amount of manpower needed for IT jobs."

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapo...nage-big-money