South Africa needs private bankers

Private banking is alive and well in South Africa.

"There are a lot of very rich people out here," says Alain Cheenne, managing director of Michael Page SA. "Private banking is still going strong. HSBC and other banks are looking for people - more junior and middle management than senior positions - but the fact is they are hiring."

Research confirms it: according to the last Capgemini/Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report, the number of South Africans described as being high net worth - with net private assets in excess of $1m - has more than doubled to 55,000 in the past three years.

RBS Coutts, for example, the international division of Coutts, has recently closed offices from Basle to Tokyo but it is expanding in South Africa.

At the end of last year, the bank moved into an office occupied by the Johannesburg branch of ABN AMRO, which following the takeover of the Dutch bank has started to operate under the RBS brand.

The RBS Coutts SA team was previously based in Geneva and people travelled out to South Africa on a regular basis. It now has three people in Johannesburg on a permanent basis, allowing them to be closer to their clients and leverage synergies with the RBS office.

"Our move from Switzerland to South Africa is a reflection of the growth of the market and the opportunities we see," says Linda Puetter of RBS Coutts. "We are a small team and at this stage cannot have a great hiring strategy, but we are certainly growing."