Singapore’s wealth boom is raising the bar for aspiring private bankers

[SINGAPORE] Singapore’s growing wealth-management sector is raising the bar for aspiring private bankers, as employers seek skills that go well beyond traditional investment knowledge.

Artificial intelligence, relationship management and an understanding of increasingly complex client needs are becoming more important, even as private banks continue to prize experienced relationship managers with established client books.

At the same time, industry players have said employers are becoming more willing to develop talent from the fresh-graduate stage.

Christopher Poh, director and wealth and fintech lead at recruitment company Ethos BeathChapman, said demand for entry-level talent through private banks’ management associate programmes has remained strong over the past five years.

Employers have also become more willing to groom fresh graduates alongside experienced hires, partly as a younger generation of wealthy clients emerges in Asia, he said.

Still, graduates face an inherent disadvantage. Front-office hires are often valued for the client relationships and net new assets they can bring, while fresh graduates have yet to build those networks.

Young hires need time to learn how the business works, including through rotations in front, middle and back-office functions, Poh added.

Universities and training providers are responding by broadening their programmes, as both the industry and its clients become more sophisticated.

At Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School, Associate Professor Chong Beng Soon, academic director of its master’s in asset and wealth-management programme, said there is “strong student demand” for courses under its undergraduate wealth-management track.

The school is expanding its AI-related finance courses, while increasingly sophisticated clients mean students will need capabilities beyond traditional private banking, including in asset management and quantitative investing, he said.

A broader skill set

At Singapore Management University (SMU), the curriculum has expanded into areas including family-office advisory, regulatory compliance, impact investing, philanthropy, AI and digital assets.

Associate Professor Mandy Tham, academic director of SMU’s master’s in wealth management programme, said client needs increasingly span multiple jurisdictions, asset classes and generations.

Wealth management now goes beyond investments and traditional wealth planning, she said, with advisers increasingly expected to understand a client’s business, family needs and longer-term plans.

Foo Mee Har, CEO of the Wealth Management Institute (WMI), similarly said advisers increasingly have to pull together investments, family considerations, structuring, succession planning and jurisdictional issues into coherent advice.

The role is shifting away from product distribution alone, towards what she described as “orchestration”.

AI is also changing the way junior bankers are expected to contribute.

She noted that as routine analytical and administrative work becomes more automated, “new entrants are expected to contribute value earlier in their careers, rather than spending extended periods performing largely execution-focused work”.

That places greater emphasis on judgment, critical thinking and understanding clients from the outset, she added.

Associate Professor Zhang Weina of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School said future wealth managers will need to work with AI and data, while understanding their limitations and exercising sound judgment.

But technology does not make people skills any less important.

“Wealth management is ultimately about understanding clients, building trust and helping them make complex, long-term decisions,” Prof Zhang said.

NUS is also developing a new course on applying and critically evaluating AI in financial services.

Associate Professor Neo Poh Ling, head of Singapore University of Social Sciences’ (SUSS) finance programme, said students may still associate wealth management mainly with sales-oriented roles, and could benefit from greater exposure to the wider range of careers available in the sector.

Dr Sunny Leong, head of work-study programmes at SUSS Academy, added that investment and product knowledge increasingly needs to be complemented by expertise in areas such as alternative investments, estate and legacy planning, regulation and AI, alongside communication and emotional intelligence.

Ethos BeathChapman’s Poh also indicated the ability to build networks and develop business in growing wealth markets outside Singapore, as well as knowledge of digital assets, as useful skills for young talent.

A practical runway into the industry

Universities and training providers are also placing greater emphasis on work experience to narrow the gap between classroom-learning and client-facing roles.

SMU’s private banking work-study elective, for example, includes an eight-month internship with DBS Private Bank and remains popular among undergraduates.

But Prof Tham believes the industry could go further.

She proposed an “apprenticeship” model, under which students spend one to 1½ years working as full-time associates at a wealth-management company within a four-year university programme.

Such sustained exposure would build domain expertise and career skills more effectively than a short internship, although employers would need to commit more resources, she said.

WMI is likewise looking to create more structured pathways for young talent, including a substantial traineeship model aimed at bridging the gap between having no prior experience and entering professional practice.

The institute runs more than 160 programmes with over 20,000 enrolments annually, and has extended its reach to students and fresh graduates through initiatives such as its Investment Accelerator Programme.

Building a stronger pipeline of young talent should go hand in hand with hiring experienced professionals, Foo said. Seasoned hires bring expertise, while investing in undergraduates and fresh graduates supports the sector’s longer-term growth.

That pipeline will also need to become more regional, as wealth creation expands in the Asia-Pacific.

Poh said aspiring private bankers should gain exposure beyond Singapore, including opportunities to build relationships and experience elsewhere in the region.

“Universities should focus on equipping our next generation of private bankers to be more global,” he urged.

This is the first part of a new series on the battle for talent in the wealth industry.