Talent management is being taken up another level by the Singaporean university in conjunction with the WMI.

Nanyang Technological University has flagged its desire to ramp up the volume and quality of wealth management training in Singapore, working alongside the jurisdiction’s Wealth Management Institute to enhance skills int he sector.

The WMI has been appointed as the lead training provider for private banking by the Institute of Banking and Finance and supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the regulator and central bank.

Rapid expansion in wealth and more complex demands from clients, such as for private asset classes and impact investing, mean the sector needs to raise its skills, Heng Swee Keat, minister for finance, told the opening of WMI at the university late last week. 

Talent management is an important challenge in Asia, where firms continue to compete for talent and keep pace with the rise of an affluent middle class. Singapore’s own asset management sector holds a total of S$2.74 trillion assets, as of 2016. Recent data from Credit Suisse, for example, shows that Asia remains a hot-spot for UHNW expansion. Comments such as from Morgan Stanley also chime with observations from other parts of the wealth industry to the effect that Asia faces a continued shortage of highly-skilled wealth managers in certain roles.

As the lead provider, the Wealth Management Institute will serve as a centralised training utility to raise standards and develop future-ready talent across the private banking industry, the minister said. WMI will enhance the IBF Competency Standards and training curriculum for relationship managers at private banks. 

The new curriculum will include new competencies such as digital skills, cross-banking and specialised market knowledge, and a new management track focusing on leadership and managerial skills for senior RMs. WMI will also benchmark the enhanced curriculum internationally to ensure that Singapore’s managers can compete with their global peers.

Singapore’s main Asia rival hub for wealth management, Hong Kong, has also developed initiatives around talent management. As recently reported here, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Private Wealth Management Association are widening an apprenticeship programme to develop talent in Asia, responding to “overwhelming” demand.

There continues to be discussion about the need for more qualified financial advisors and private bankers in Asia to serve expanding wealth in the region. Earlier this year, figures showed that China overtook the US in the number of people taking CFA Institute exams. Asia-Pacific is now the region with the most candidates entering these exams, highlighting how the global centre of gravity for financial services is shifting eastward. Some 43 per cent of the 59,627 candidates who took the Chartered Financial Analyst Level 1 exam in December last year emerged with a pass, the CFA Institute said in a statement. The number of candidates entering the exams rose by 14 per cent compared with the level in 2015. 

Credit Suisse, for example, said in 2015 that there are an estimated 7 million millionaires in the Asia region. On the assumption that a banker can on average handle 35 clients, that would translate into a need to have 200,000 private bankers. But at the moment there are only around 10,000 such people.