Importance for native-to-fluent level Mandarin language skills is ever growing, especially for client interface jobs within private banking.

This
year Mandarin overtook English as the second most-spoken language in Hong Kong,
after the native dialect Cantonese, according to census figures. Headhunters
say the national language will only grow in importance as the region’s private
banks increasingly turn their eye to the wealth of China.

According
to government figures, Cantonese remains the island’s dialect of choice, spoken
by 96 per cent of inhabitants. Forty six per cent speak English, while 48 per
cent speak Mandarin. Ten years ago, only a third of the population could speak China's national tongue. Hong Kong’s government has been encouraging its proliferation by integrating it
into the national curriculum.

The
increase in Mandarin-speakers is also partly down to the surge in Mainland
tourists and companies, but also it could be down to more companies advertising
for Mandarin speakers on their jobs boards.

This appears to be the case when it comes to the job-spec for private bankers. A
relationship-based role that relies heavily on ‘guanxi’, (the Chinese word for
trust and connections) Hong Kong’s private bankers are increasingly required to
have fluency in Chinese on their CVs.

Swapna Reddy, division manager of
banking & financial services, accounting & finance division at Hong Kong-headquartered Links
Recruitment, reckons that now, as many as one in two relationship manager roles state fluency in Chinese as mandatory.

“Hong Kong offices are mostly covering
North Asia markets which means at least 50 per cent of the private bankers
based in Hong Kong have Mandarin or Cantonese as obligatory,” she told WealthBriefingAsia.

She added that although there are other
factors, like a natural sales flair, experience and a solid book
of clients, the ability to communicate with wealthy individuals in the vernacular is rapidly becoming a top priority.

“Importance for native to fluent level
Mandarin language skills is ever growing especially for client interface jobs
within private banking. Banks are constantly looking to expand their China and
Taiwan desks with good quality candidates,” she said.

Aside from the lingo,
good local knowledge is also considered increasingly important to a private
banker role. A social faux pas with a Chinese high net worth could cost a
multi-million account, not to mention reputational damage when they tell their friends, and friends of friends.

Experience
and “grey hair” once touted as the key to a good relationship manager, is slipping in importance, as
banks, faced with the shortage of talent, increasingly hire laterally from
their own ranks.

“Banks
are more open to look outside private banking to bring in strong candidates
with a natural sales flair. Retail, corporate and capital markets bankers make
an easy transition into private banking, particularly those with investment and
structuring expertise to meet high net worth clients investment requirements,”
she said.

Reddy
added that although hiring in private banking is not back to the levels of 2007 or 2008, there is
considerable recruitment activity happening in both regional and global banks
within Hong Kong and Singapore. Moreover, annual pay rises are averaging around
10-15 per cent, streets ahead of the investment banking industry in the
city-state.

Another Hong Kong-based recruiter who wanted to remain anonymous, agreed that Mandarin or Cantonese are crucial differentiators, but increasingly Mandarin is taking the edge. "Hong Kong is becoming an ever smaller market so bankers want to go further into China for their own benefit," she said, adding that bankers are now taking Chinese lessons to be better qualified.

"From what we have seen, bankers are brushing up on their Mandarin so that they can widen their client scope, and exploit the opportunities available in China. This is not just in Beijing and Shanghai, but the second and third cities, meaning Mandarin is even more important."