Philanthropic giving doesn't create philanthropy jobs

Bill Gates and Sandy Weill are devoting themselves to charitable giving. Does the philanthropic mood spell more jobs for private bankers who help clients give their money away?

'No,' say private banking recruiters. Philanthropists may be doling out money to good causes, but in the UK at least private banks aren't getting much of the action.

"In Europe, philanthropy is generally an individual initiative," says Christian Sulger-Buel of search firm Sulger Buel & Co. "A few banks have philanthropy arms, but it remains a very marginal activity and there is little recruitment."

Coutts & Co, the British private bank, ranks among those with a philanthropy arm. Mark Evans, head of philanthropy and family business at the bank, told eFinancialCareers he role involves helping clients set up strategies for charitable giving and identifying the appropriate charities for them to support.

Evans was previously a private banker at JPMorgan. One search consultant says most philanthropy advisors were private bankers in former lives: "Heads of philanthropy tend to be private bankers who've changed direction slightly."

Sulger-Buel says banks' philanthropy divisions also recruit banking outsiders with a background in charitable trusts.