Competition hot for private banking traineeships
Singapore's private banks may be desperate for staff, but that doesn't mean you can walk into a role.
One Singapore-based private banking recruiter says banks that in the past were only interested in scooping up experienced candidates are now prepared to train up new graduates. However, places on traineeships look limited.
Credit Suisse and UBS both run their own in-house universities in Singapore. Credit Suisse was the first to open its doors in 2005, and trained more than 4,100 employees across the region last year according to Patsy Doerr, head of the Credit Suisse Business School Asia Pacific.
UBS followed in April of this year with the launch of its Wealth Management School, which is targeted at employees and clients in the region. Markus Tanner, head of education & development, Asia Pacific, UBS Wealth Management, expects the campus to provide training for approximately 5,000 existing and future wealth management staff in the region by 2010.
However, most of this training appears to be going to experienced rather than entry-level staff. Last year, UBS's associate programme for junior private bankers recruited just 33 associates out of 3,000 employees who applied. Credit Suisse's 'Excelerate' relationship manager development programme - a fast-track option for employees who are seen to have potential in this area - is similarly competitive. Just 26 participants in Singapore and Hong Kong are due to graduate in 2008.
The Singapore government opened a Wealth Management Institute at the Singapore Management University in 2003, which also offers an MSc programme for current and would-be private bankers. Entry requirements are a 'good degree' and two years' experience related to the private banking industry.
The private banking recruiter we spoke to says a big-name MBA will also do you no harm if you want to break into private banking - candidates from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and INSEAD are particularly favoured.
