Fishing For Talent

Financial-services firms are in fierce competition for good wealth managers, also sometimes known as client-relationship managers (CRMs). For the most part, retail brokerage firms have been simply cannibalizing one another, poaching the best advisors from rivals by offering outrageous sign-on bonuses and other perks. Indeed, a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers titled The 2007 Global Private Banking/Wealth Management Survey, found that the vast majority of executives are planning to continue in this vein: adding talent by poaching individuals from other banks. But that's not sustainable in the long run, say the authors of the report. Put simply, there are just not enough quality CRMs to meet wealth manager's growth plans. At left is a chart showing survey respondents answers to the question, “Where do you plan to recruit CRMs from?”