Openings are there for private bankers

Piers Thynne, a director at search firm Gibson, Whittaker, Stevens and Thynne in London, said the war in Iraq has created business for European private banks in the Middle East. Clients in the region have become less willing to bank with US firms, Thynne said.

Simon Culliford, a director of Private Banking Search International agreed. 'The Middle East is reasonably buoyant. There are a lot of assets to be won from US banks.' Not surprisingly, Arabic speakers were popular for these roles.

The demand is illustrated by a current job advertisement for a senior private banker based in Dubai to work for a European bank - salary up to $150,000, plus performance bonus up to 120% of salary and expat benefits.

The eastern European market also offers opportunities. Dudley Edmonds, a director of Private Banking Executive Search, said Russia was particularly buoyant as its economy was strong. Young Russian bankers who had worked in the West and had good client contacts at home were especially sought after.

Other examples of emerging markets jobs include an advertised vacancy for a vice president-level relationship banker for the Brazilian market, based in Geneva.

Selective expansion continues in some smaller western European markets, including Spain and Greece. A large bank in Switzerland advertised this month for a senior private banker with entrepreneurial flair to focus on the Greek market, based in Geneva.

UBS, which has one of the world's biggest private banking operations, remains the biggest hirer in Europe, headhunters say. One said it is part of the way through plans to hire an additional 1,500 private bankers globally in coming years.

While UBS's overall first quarter profits fell 11% in the first quarter of 2003, it said profits at its private banking division rose from the fourth quarter. The unit attracted 7.4bn Swiss francs in net new assets.

Julius Baer, Switzerland's largest independent private bank, received a licence this month to operate in the Italian market, another buoyant area.

Search consultant Christian Sulger Buel, of Sulger Buel & Co, said there was a trend in favour of onshore private banking. 'Local onshore markets are seen as offering the best growth potential. There is concern about compliance and tax issues offshore and banks fear that unless they have an onshore presence they will lose market share.'

The director of human resources at one large Swiss bank said future hiring was likely to be focused on southern European markets, where growth potential was strongest.

The volatility in private banking is illustrated by figures released by Vontobel, the Swiss private bank, which show that while its assets in Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy declined in 2002, they increased by 400% in the rest of Europe excluding the UK.

Sulger Buel said demand in all markets was predominantly for asset gatherers, who could bring in new wealthy clients. There was also strong demand for very senior private bankers, he said.

Research by Sulger Buel & Co shows that 62% of global private banks appointed a new head in the 18 months to January 2003.

Overall, the private banking job market remains weak in leading centres such as Switzerland and London.

Many firms, including Merrill Lynch, have made widespread redundancies and a survey by Sulger Buel & Co showed that private banking bonuses fell 30%-40% between 2001 and 2002.

One headhunter said a Swiss private bank has cut base pay of some staff by 45%.

As a result, pay varies widely. In London, vice presidents can earn salaries of anything from 80,000 to 110,000; directors receive between 90,000 and 150,000; and a managing director may expect anything from 125,000 to 300,000.