Banks offering more training courses as economy picks up

Promotion or a job offer often go not to the most talented staff but to those who have made the effort to be trained in the right skills. The range of training courses available to bankers is expanding fast and the most ambitious are taking full advantage.

Banks are becoming more willing to pay for training as the economic outlook improves. In many cases, employees find out about a course themselves, realise it will give their career a leg up and sell the idea to their boss; other staff, who do not receive company backing, think nothing of handing over large sums of money from their own pocket. Peter Sime, director of compliance at Wachovia Securities International, paid 10,000 last year to do a six-month certificate in quantitative finance, an evening course set up in 2002.

The course - covering such topics as the Crank-Nicolson finite difference method and Monte Carlo simulations - is a mix of high finance and practical skills that is taught through evening lectures, so students do not need to take time off work. Sime said: "It was extremely useful.

Courses like this are filling knowledge gaps that were not being plugged a few years ago."

Paul Shaw, a director of 7 City Learning, which helps to run the quantitative finance course, said individuals are paying for themselves in increasing numbers. At the same time, banks have expanded their budgets in the past few months to send staff on such courses. He said: "Last year was a tough one for training. The banks were reluctant to spend. That is now changing, especially for technical expertise such as derivatives and equity valuation. More courses are being offered."

Peter Wisher, chief executive of BG Training, said US banks cut back their training more than European ones during the downturn. However, he agreed that the climate has changed for the better at all companies and most courses, whether lasting half a day or several weeks or more.

As well as an expanding range of classes, bankers have more choice in the way they learn than a few years ago. One reason is the spread of broadband internet, which has made it easier to study online. Wisher said: "In 2000, everyone was talking about e-learning and practically no one was doing it. By 2002, everyone had stopped talking about it. Now it's back and known as blended learning."

This means mixing use of the internet with traditional teaching methods, such as classroom and books. The extra flexibility this allows is a big advantage. Shaw said: "We hit students from as many angles as possible, so they can learn in their own time and at their own pace. It encourages more people to take courses and succeed at them."

Diane Oswell, head of e-learning at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), said: "The use of internet learning has grown fast and we now have hundreds of courses." She said it worked particularly well for technical and regulatory training, where classroom discussion was not essential.

Courses to satisfy regulatory requirements are a growth area in many countries, notably in money laundering and professional competence. Some banks place great emphasis on soft skills, as well as technical ones. CSFB set up a leadership institute two years ago, for example, to teach senior staff how to become better managers, as well as specific skills, such as presentation and negotiation. David Deacon, the bank's head of executive development, said: "We attach increasing importance to this kind of training. We recognise that it increases the long-term capability of the bank."

However, training companies say not all banks pay much attention to soft skills. Mike Gale, a director of Enb consulting, said: "Some still have a short-term attitude and do not bother with leadership development. They suspect they may be downsizing again in a few years' time, so the investment would be pointless."

Partly to overcome this reluctance, Enb runs courses that combine technical skills, such as product knowledge of interest derivatives, with training in the soft skill of relationship management. "This approach is popular across Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium," said Gale. Grahame Russell, a director of Penna Consulting, a training company, said: "There's a pent-up demand among staff to move to new jobs. With banks starting to hire again, employers know that giving staff the training they want is an excellent way to keep them."

Traditional qualifications, such as a masters degree in finance, remain popular.

Janet Dobson, director of finance programmes at London Business School, said application numbers peaked at double the normal levels at the height of the downturn. They were back to the usual 700 to 800 applicants for 120 places.

Flexibility is a vital ingredient in courses offered by London Business School, Dobson said. The masters in finance can be studied either full-time or part-time and the school has altered the timing of a corporate finance course to make it easier for people based overseas.

Chartered Financial Analyst exams, which are increasingly popular among front-office staff, can also be studied for in a way that suits a student.

Shaw said: "You can learn during the evening, or during the day, and through classrooms, books or the internet. The pass rate is low, so it is crucial that people find the method that works best for them individually."