Demand Pushes Salaries Of Wealth Advisors

By Emma Johnson
Careers in Finance & Accounting, May 3, 2006

Wealth advisers are in increasingly high demand - a trend reflected in the increasingly sexy compensation packages they're being offered.

Over the last few years, salaries for advisers have increased from the $150,000 - $175,000 range to between $200,000 and $250,000, says Anthony Riotto, founding partner of New York-based Riotto-Jones & Co., a search firm focusing on wealth management. For those with an MBA and considered a master craftsman, packages rise to $275,000, with those at the top of their game earning from $600,000 to $1.8 million and beyond.

"No one owns this market," says Riotto. Today's private bankers are no longer seen as "only in banking," as they once were, and are being sought by firms such as UBS and Morgan Stanley. "There are many more positions," Riotto observes.

Indeed, the number of financial institutions moving into the sector is rising as they gear up for a baby-boomer generation that's slated to inherit a lot of green. "There's a shift in the population demographic, and institutions are making sure they have the right people in place to handle that," says Jeff Holloway, vice president of the financial services group at recruitment firm Robert Half International. "There is just a lot of money out there."

According to a June World Wealth Report released by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, global assets of high-net-worth individuals - or those with at least $1 million in assets excluding their primary home - grew 8.2 percent to $30.8 trillion in 2004. In North America, the group grew by 10 percent, to 2.7 million individuals.

Since many institutions offer such similar products, a strong front man can often make or break a deal, making institutions all the more eager to retain their client advisers, Holloway says. "It's less and less important whose products and vehicles you are using, and more about the individual who is providing those services and giving you the advice."

Looking ahead, the World Wealth Report projects the growth in global high-net-worth wealth to slow to about 6.5 percent over the next five years, reaching $42.2 trillion by 2009.