How much am I worth? Client relationship manager, leading private bank
While most areas of the City are only now starting to see a recovery - with the stock market and other key indicators all suggesting the worst is past - one area that survived the downturn relatively well is looking ahead with even greater confidence. Indeed many headhunters say that in private banking they could be kept particularly busy in 2004. .
Jim Patterson of Napier Scott said: 'There is continued demand by high net worth individuals for more bespoke and sophisticated investments, such as credit derivatives, along with a demand that the fees they pay should be based on performance.
'This is forcing private banks to offer considerably broader services with a more accountable fee structure.'
This has meant private banks are increasingly looking for high calibre staff and are prepared to pay what it takes to get them, especially if they bring high quality clients with them.
High profile moves in the past month include Deutsche Bank's private wealth management division recruiting Martin Keller from DrKW, as global head of hedge fund investments.
The pay of client relationship managers, or CRMs - who deal with clients face-to-face, offering investment analysis, advice and solutions as well as marketing their organisation's products - varies considerably.
In a survey this year, Napier Scott suggests a gulf has emerged between what is paid to senior CRMs at first and second tier banks, with the former generally paid a salary around 95,000 and the latter 75,000.
Other headhunters agree that the range of salaries is very wide.
Charlotte Pols, a consultant at Morgan McKinley's asset management division, said: 'It very much depends on the number of clients they have in their portfolio and the value of assets under their management'.
Pols suggests CRMs with two to four years experience can earn salaries of 35,000-45,000; with four to eight years 45,000-65,000, and 8 years anything from 60,000 upwards, with those at the top end on basics of 100,000-150,00. Bonuses can a multiple of this, with top tier banks in particular moving towards performance-related pay rather than discretionary bonuses.
So what sort of a person becomes a CRM? A minimum of two years general banking experience is usual, often in a marketing role, with good overall knowledge of the products available on the market. Increasingly this now means an understanding of exotic products: wealthy clients are constantly on the look-out for the latest way of boosting their returns and will value a CRM who appears switched on.
'CRMs need to have good communication and presentation skills to build up strong relationships with their clients. They are often fluent in several languages and as a minimum educated to degree level in subjects such as economics and finance,' suggests Pols.
Prospects for CRMs both in London and elsewhere in Europe look good. As financial markets recover, private banks are trying to ensure that all specialist and geographic areas are covered: CRMs who can boast a particular knowledge of a region, product or type of client are thus especially well placed, particularly if they are willing to relocate.
Patterson said that last year their was noticeable demand for Sharia CRMs (providing services to Muslim clients wanting to invest according to Islamic law).
This year? Although most areas look pretty healthy, the Middle East and Asia may remain particularly buoyant into 2005, with high oil prices and Asia's economic recovery deepening the pockets of high net worth individuals from those regions.
Figures and commentary from Morgan McKinley and Napier Scott.
