While growing numbers of millionaires are relocating to Singapore, the country’s financial sector is experiencing a talent shortfall, reports news site CNBC.com.

PricewaterhouseCoopers 2011 ‘Global Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey’ showed Singapore is poised to become the number one financial centre in the world by 2013, moving ahead of Switzerland and Hong Kong.

The survey also highlights that the biggest challenge facing the private banking industry in Singapore is hiring and retaining people.

A 38-year-old private banker, who has been working in Singapore for the past six years, told CNBC.com: “While we are worried about the falling value of our clients’ assets, there is no dearth of jobs for us. I still get calls from 2-3 headhunters every day.”

Sebastian Dovey, managing partner of global wealth management consultancy, Scorpio Partnership, told CNBC.com: “Singapore is now a proven magnet as the Asia Pacific operational hub for the wealth management businesses. Many European institutions are banking on Asia, via Singapore, being their engine of growth for the next decade.”

He adds that a lack of quality and depth in Singapore’s labor market is pushing up recruitment costs for private banks that have either expanded operations or entered the market in the last couple of years.

“The high cost of hiring relationship managers in Singapore is putting pressure on banks’ margins,” Roland Ruiz, Mercer’s Asean business leader, Human Capital Consulting, told the news site.