New signs of life in Irish wealth management recruitment

Despite Ireland's economic woes, the amount of wealth in the country is still on the increase. While there are still examples of private banks cutting staff, a large number of firms remain open to hiring.

There are were 19,000 high net worth individuals in Ireland at the end of 2010, which is a 5% uplift on 2009, according to the latest World Wealth Report released last month by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini.

Obviously house prices, which declined by nearly 15% last year, and private consumption are not great for Ireland's wealthy, but national savings and exports of goods and services are driving up wealth in the country.

Similarly, despite redundancies at Goodbody Stockbrokers and Anglo Irish's disposal of its wealth management arm, Ireland's private bankers have not been decimated in the same way as other parts of the industry.

"The private banker community in Ireland hasn't shrunk dramatically, and a lot of wealth managers have remained profitable and kept headcount stable," says Colin McGhee, managing director of Paragon Search & Selection. "The market isn't buoyant, but it's far from stagnant, and most wealth managers are talking about expansion next year if uncertainty about the sovereign debt crisis subsides."

We've mentioned before that boutique firms are hiring - notably Smith & Williamson, which has created 12 roles in Dublin - and Ulster Bank has also unveiled plans to expand its private banking operation.

But a number of firms are also bolstering their ranks, suggest recruiters.

"A number of wealth managers set up in Ireland during the height of the global financial crisis, and it's only now that these relatively small firms are starting to hire," says Paul Smyth, senior consultant at headhunters FK International. "There's still a huge focus on people who are able to bring a book of business across with them, however."