In its study of the issue in its World Talent Report, IMD ranks Singapore 10th in a ranking of countries' ability to meet corporate needs. By contrast, Malaysia, which took fifth position last year, has fallen out of the top 10 after suffering a decline in a number of relevant performance indicators.

The report represents an annual assessment of how effectively nations are able to nurture and sustain talent for the businesses operating within their economies. 

Professor Arturo Bris, director of IMD's World Competitiveness Center, which carried out the study, said: "The key attribute among all the countries that rank highly is agility.

“Malaysia has clearly lost some of that agility, and its fall has actually been quite sudden and significant. Needless to say, this is a trend it would do well to reverse," he said. Malaysia enjoyed steady improvement until 2014, rising from 20th to fifth, before experiencing a fall in "almost all talent indicators" during the last year of the study period.

Meanwhile, Singapore climbed as high as second overall in 2008, slipped back, finished in the mid-teens in 2013 and 2014 and then recovered to claim 10th spot.

Other Southeast Asian economies enjoyed mixed fortunes, with China Hong Kong rising from 21st last year to 12th this year and Indonesia plunging from 25th to 41st.

Several major economies also fared disappointingly, with the US languishing in 14th place, the UK 21st, France 27th and mainland China way down in 40th spot. Switzerland topped the rankings - as it did last year – followed by Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Canada and Belgium, the report said.

Although the report does not look at specific sectors, such as banking and wealth management, it ranks various qualities such as “finance skills” and ranks Switzerland as number one in this regard, followed by Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, China/Hong Kong, Finland, Luxembourg, and Israel. The UK ranks 14th, and Singapore is 18th. The US is at 11.

The rankings are based on 20 years' worth of competitiveness-related data including a survey of over 4,000 executives in the 61 countries covered by the study.

The research focuses on three main categories - investment/development, appeal and readiness - which in turn are derived from a much broader range of factors including education, apprenticeships, employee training, brain-drain, cost of living, worker motivation, quality of life, language skills, remuneration and tax rates.

To view a roundup of information on the post-graduate and MBA courses aimed at wealth management around the world, as part of this publication's coverage of talent management issues, click here.

To see a related interview with the head of the CFA Institute, click here.