Wealth management

Financial institutions working within the wealth management sector provide clients with access to a range of services that enable them to manage their finances as efficiently as possible. Typically, these services are provided to high net worth and corporate clients. In Jersey and Guernsey, banking activity is principally concentrated in the main centres of St Helier and St Peter Port. The Channel Islands have become an important financial centre in part because they are so close to London and share the same time zone as the City.

The finance sector in the Channel Islands is very different in many ways to that of the UK. One example of this is the importance of offshore banking, which is not available in the UK. The vast majority of work is completed for non-residents and a high proportion of these are individual rather than corporate clients. The main business areas in this sector include: corporate banking, private banking, trust, tax planning, advisory investment, discretionary investment, custody and credit. Work may also include other specialist areas that are specific to the offshore environment, such as certain types of trust.

Business developments

The greatest change over recent years has almost certainly been the increasing emphasis on compliance. In light of issues such as global terrorism, human trafficking and the growing international drug trade, there have been huge changes that affect everyone involved in the industry. Potential new developments could be changes in overseas markets, particularly emerging countries such as the old Soviet states.

Transferable skills

Finance is global and so the skills used in the industry on the Channel Islands are also transferable to any other jurisdiction. Many skills are required in this area of work including good interpersonal skills, numeracy and the ability to work well under pressure. Because you will be trained on the job, you don’t necessarily need a numerate background – as long as you are able to use a computer there could be a suitable job for you. Many financial institutions in the Channel Islands are well-known global names with offices in all the major financial centres across the world so there are opportunities for career development both on the Islands and internationally.

Graduate opportunities

A typical graduate role in wealth management might deal with all aspects of holding accounts for affluent clients, from discussing account fundamentals with clients to arranging payments and foreign exchange. In general, graduates start out on training schemes, like those in the UK, that give them experience of different areas of the company.

Once on the job, the training is also comparable to that in the UK. A recent graduate could expect to receive internal training, which could include anti-money laundering training and any other training specific to their role, as well as the opportunity to take part in external training for further qualifications that are related to their work.