Pinching private bankers

15 May 2007

2 minute read

Scotland's private banking poaching war intensified this month, with the news that Barclays has lured Douglas Noble to head its Scots private banking team.

Noble previously ran the Aberdeen office of Scots boutique Adam & Company. His appointment is all part of Barclays' push to expand its Scots operations after adding 22 bankers last year.

Globally there is a general shortage of experienced private bankers right now and Scotland is no exception. A quick glance at this year's Sunday Times Rich List helps to explain the demand surge. The 1,000 people featured in the 2007 list collectively increased their fortunes by 20% in the last 12 months - that is a lot of extra cash to be looked after.

According to David Bain, the editor of private banking industry journal Wealth Bulletin, high demand for experienced people is pushing up salaries in Scotland. He tells us: "This is an interesting period in private banking. There is a bottleneck in the supply of private bankers and a massive amount of demand, which means that at least for the rest of the year salaries will continue to rise."

Barclays Wealth denies it is having to pay over the odds for top personnel - although it acknowledges competitors are.

Phil Smith, head of HR at the company, tells us it's trying to address the current shortage of qualified private bankers with a three-pronged approach: "There is certainly a war for scarce talent in the sector as firms like ourselves look to grow. Accordingly, the stronger businesses, like Barclays Wealth, have a multi-strand approach where we invest time and money at three levels: (a) recruitment of graduates who will be the bankers of the future, (b) using our lateral hiring programme 'Embark' to train career shifters who have the ability to succeed in private wealth management, and (c) through competitive recruitment of proven skills from our competitors.

"Many other organisations are focusing desperately on the latter alone and are not building a scaleable means of generating talent flow into their businesses."