By Douwe Miedema
GENEVA (Reuters) - A lack of staff may dent the growth outlook for wealth managers and those banks which fail to satisfy increasingly demanding clients could feel the pinch the most, industry participants said.
A healthy global economy and the rise of wealthy middle classes in emerging economies still meant a rosy outlook for the industry servicing the world's richest customers -- but not every bank would benefit equally.
"We have stood on the crest of the wealth management growth wave and the issue preventing the market from expanding is how can you get enough sales people to tap the assets," Seb Dovey, at the Scorpio Partnership consultancy group said.
Dovey was speaking at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit taking place in Geneva, Boston and Asia.
Wealth management is one of the fastest growing financial sectors and has been largely immune to recent turmoil in financial markets that has shaken other banks, because private banks do not take risks for clients onto their books.
But the sector has struggled to keep pace with soaring global wealth, which is estimated to keep growing at a 6.8 percent annual rate to reach $51.6 trillion in 2011, according to the Cap Gemini world wealth report.
Those banks best able to attract staff would have an edge over their rivals, private bankers said, as wages in the sector soar and bankers are setting up training programs to tap new sources of professionals.
"It is a challenge, but it's a manageable challenge for us," said Samir Raslan, head of Citi Global Wealth Management's (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Continued...
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