eFinancialCareers

While no one’s likely to escape the credit turmoil, Scotland’s burgeoning private banking sector looks to be about as safe a haven as there is.

Edinburgh-based private bank Adam & Company last week said it had seen annual pre-tax profits grow by nearly a quarter to £20.7m, despite the credit crunch.

Managing director David Crathie was reported as saying: “None of us are immune, but our clients appear well placed to ride out any of the choppy waters we are seeing.”

Scottish recruiters, by and large, agree with his prognosis.

“Private banking clients are likely to be more wealthy. Whether it is the case that they have large amounts on deposit or have large sums to invest, they certainly offer less risk,” says Joanna Black, partner at Scottish financial headhunters Black Appointments.

But that doesn’t mean private banks can afford to be complacent, she adds.

“The majority of them are taking a sharp intake of breath because most of them are not purely private bankers,” she points out.

The fact that Adam & Co. has the deep pockets of owner Royal Bank of Scotland to fall back on if need be also helps, suggests Richard Fletcher, managing director of headhunters Fletcher Jones.

“I would not use the word immune but, yes, they are less affected by the current situation,” he agrees.

“Perhaps some banks are struggling to access capital, but it is just not the same issue in the private client world,” says Fletcher. The market for wealth management specialists, not just in Scotland but elsewhere in the UK, remains competitive at the moment, he adds.

Adam & Co., which has some 9,000 wealthy clients, employs around 350 people, about half of them in Edinburgh, although it also has offices in Aberdeen, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Guernsey.

It has an estimated £1.5bn under management as well as £4.6bn in custody.