René Marty stuck it out for just one year at Lugano Financial Advisors, or LFA, before leaving in June. The heavyweight has now surfaced as CEO of Reyl Overseas Ltd, which is a wealth manager subsidiary licensed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, to cater to U.S. clients.

His hire is emblematic of the fight for talent to offer offshore accounts to U.S. clients – something which got Swiss banks into heaps of trouble more than ten years ago. Since then, roughly 30 have returned to the U.S. market via SEC-registered units in often remote places like South Dakota and Alaska, as finews.com reported. The market is dominated by UBS, Vontobel and Geneva's Pictet.

Marty spent the bulk of his career at UBS, where he ran the Swiss bank's Swiss Financial Advisers arm for eight years. Before UBS, he was in a senior role for Credit Suisse's Private Advisors unit, also an SEC-listed unit.

Fast-Moving Carousel

Vontobel' business was roiled earlier this year by the exit of Deepak Soni, who is now competing with his former employer at Union Bancaire Privée, or UBP, where he leads a U.S.-focused unit. Vontobel lost more private bankers who moved to  boutique Bellecapital. The Vontobel vacancies were in turn filled with UBS bankers. 

A dearth of talent with experience with clients who declare their assets is to blame for the merry-go-round of private bankers from firm to firm. Reyl got in seven years ago with the acquisition of Solitaire Wealth Management, which it later renamed into Reyl Overseas.

No Consolidation

Despite the fierce competition for private bankers, the sector hasn't yet consolidated. UBS banker Juergen Wegner delivered a possible explanation in a finews.com interview two months ago: Americans are increasingly interested in investing outside their home bias, he said.

Banks are reaping organic growth because Americans are looking outside of the U.S. to invest due to the global political situation, Wegner said. This makes the business more attractive for even small boutiques. The UBS unit Wegner oversees manages roughly $5 billion.