Want to be a private banker? Here's how to get there

The world of private banking often seems mysterious and exotic to those of us not in that high strata of the ultra-wealthy. To go behind closed doors and find out what private bankers actually do, TODAY spoke with Mr Cem Azak, senior managing director at Switzerland-headquartered EFG Bank, and Ms Stacy Swee, senior vice-president at Singapore-headquartered DBS Private Bank. Last week, we looked at what they do on a daily basis. This week, we’ll look at how they got to where they are and any unusual requests they’ve received.

BECOMING A PRIVATE BANKER

It takes time to become a senior private banker like Mr Azak or Ms Swee, and private bankers pursue a variety of paths on their way to their role.

Mr Azak started his career in investment banking, working in Frankfurt and London. After a number of years, he thought he wanted to leave the banking industry. When he told his company, though, his mentor suggested he moved to private banking instead as he had the right technical skills. While it meant that he would have to start over and develop a new set of clients, he made the switch and became a private banker, first in London and then in Zurich.

Although he started without any clients, some of his former investment banking clients helped out and became his private banking clients. Mr Azak said one of the hardest lessons he learned is that “they’re different with private money than with corporate money.” Moreover, “If you have wealth for several generations, family members become detached from their money and see themselves as guardians for the next generation.”

After working in private banking in Europe for several years, he was recruited into a private bank in Singapore and found once again that clients are quite different, as Asian private banking clients are more often first generation wealthy who made their money recently and are more open to taking risks. After several years at the other bank, Mr Azak joined EFG Bank in 2015

For young private bankers, Mr Azak said, it looks lucrative to invest in instruments where fees are high. The challenge is that that approach won’t help build a sustainable client portfolio, since bankers need to look out for their clients’ interests first. “You have to work hard to gain their trust.” While it is easy to lose that trust, clients who are served well become quite loyal clients. The biggest challenge, he said, is that while it may look easy and glamorous from the outside, it’s actually very hard work.

Ms Swee started her career as a personal banker at a branch, where she gained her knowledge of basic products, and worked her way up through to private banking. She went through on-the-job training, leveraging her economics degree, so she could understand the markets and also learn how to sell. Every year, she goes through a variety of training and selects courses relevant to her job.

UNUSUAL REQUESTS AND MIDNIGHT CALLS

Mr Azak said he has received very few unusual requests, primarily because his clients see the bank as adding value to their income and protecting their wealth rather than as a concierge service. The most unusual request he received, he said was when one of his clients had two Lear jets and wanted financing to buy a third one. Mr Azak couldn’t understand why a person would need another jet, until he found that the client had talked to a friend who had a newer jet that went 75mph faster and wanted a faster jet too.

His clients are quite considerate and he rarely receives a call in the middle of the night. A key reason, he noted, is that the bank works hard to make sure it has portfolios where clients can sleep well. Mr Azak also said he has learned not to work with prospective clients who seem likely to abuse the relationship.

Ms Swee also doesn’t usually receive calls at odd hours. “I have really nice clients,” she said, so “I don’t get too much of calls at midnight.” If clients want to trade on exchanges in other regions or need other assistance in the middle of the night, they can call the bank’s night desk, though she will take calls if needed.

Ms Swee also hasn’t had any really unusual requests from clients, though she does provide a variety of extra services. She’ll help clients apply for schools for their children or learn about neighbourhoods where they may want to live, for example, especially for clients who are new permanent residents settling down in Singapore.

“They trust us for advice,” she said.

THE FINAL WORD

What differentiates private banking from the service ordinary consumers receive, then, is the personal attention from an expert who works long hours to deliver exactly the services they need and looks ahead to the next generation.

Each client has a different portfolio, Ms Swee said, and their investments are very customised. She sees it as a team effort, where she as well as investment counsellors support clients.

Mr Azak said that everything EFG provides for its clients is tailor-made to achieve the client’s objectives. “We’re trying to be experts, fine practitioners of the craft of private banking.” While the bank is large and global, he said, “on a day-to-day basis the client only sees and interacts with you. It’s like a marriage. Choose your bank and your banker well.”