The good news (and bad news) about UK wealth management recruitment

With seemingly hundreds of wealth management roles being created in Asia, it seems that any self-respecting private banker choosing to remain in the UK is missing a trick.

But while the UK is a long way from returning to the heady days of 2007, they recruitment market is looking relatively healthy again, according to recruiters.

"There was practically no wealth management recruitment throughout 2009, so we're seeing a real pent-up demand to hire emerging now," says Christian Sulger Buel, director of wealth management focused headhunters Sulger Buel & Co. "Both boutique and large wealth managers are looking to recruit sales and relationship management staff."

Certainly, there's no shortage of people moves (like Citi's recruitment of Andrew Hodson and Signia Wealth's trio of senior hires) while some firms - such as boutique Quilter and RBC Wealth Management - have been making a string of hires recently.

Then there's the bullish statements of intent coming out some of major players. Barclays Wealth intends to spend $153m this year on hiring after a good first quarter, while Credit Suisse is supposedly still ploughing ahead with plans to hire 200 private bankers a year until 2012.

But, of course, there are still signs of pessimism surrounding the industry.

For a start, there's the note issued last week by Morgan Stanley's respected research team, suggesting that - despite the new hires and inflows - Credit Suisse private banks' margins are likely to remain flat until the fourth quarter of this year. It is "facing headwinds from sovereign risk", says Morgan Stanley.

Then there's the highly polarized views from HNW individuals expressed in a study by Barclays Wealth, in which the UK emerged as the most pessimistic about wealth creation opportunities.

"There's no black and white picture around wealth management recruitment in the UK, it's more a murky grey," says Dudley Edmonds, director of wealth management executive search firm Culliford Edmonds.

"We're extremely busy, but this is down to an appetite for quality over quantity. Private banks want to recruit senior individuals, and sometimes teams of people, which is creating a lot of movement. But most firms are focusing on opportunistic hiring, or replacement, rather than expansion," he adds.