A raft of big international names, plus some long-time local players, continues to invest in the potential of the Indian market, as a number of local moves attest.

More recently, the poaching war has not been between they usual foreign suspects, but between home-grown players who are luring talent from international rivals.

Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Morgan Stanley are just three well known names who have lost senior executives to Indian providers.

In global terms, Avendus Capital, Ambit Capital and Edelweiss might not be instantly recognizable but in India they are shaping as aggressive boutique players who are attractive to employees who like the idea of building a business from scratch, and sharing in the benefits if they succeed. Edelweiss, for one, plans to hire hundreds of private bankers and open new offices across India.

The stakes are high, the figures are often quoted. Bain, the consultants, estimates that India has around 115,000 high net worth individuals, less than 20 per cent of who have financial advisors. Most of that wealth is yet to be monetized, sitting in first or second generation family businesses.

Last year’s Merrill Lynch-Capgemini report forecast that the combined wealth of the Asia-Pacific’s HNWIs – those with investible assets of $1 million or more – will growth by an annual rate of 8.8 per cent until 2018. India, along with China, will lead the charge.

In this context, the charge into India is understandable, and competitors are hardly standing still. UK boutique Duncan Lawrie has moved out of its Channel Islands-South of England comfort zone to establish a representative office in Calcutta.

A much larger player, Credit Suisse, has received in-principle approval to establish a bank branch in Mumbai as it expands its range of services in India. The bank currently employs 170 people in its wealth management, investment banking and asset management businesses in India.

“Credit Suisse views India as a key strategic growth market for the bank globally,” said the banks’ Asia-Pacific CEO, Lai Nargolwala. “We believe that having a local banking presence will enable us to build stronger relationships with our clients and meet more of their needs.”

Australia’s ANZ has also received the same in-principle approval, while Goldman Sachs has applied for a commercial banking licence. Standard Chartered, which bought the old Grindlays franchise from ANZ a decade ago, plans to expand rapidly.

Citi is also on the move. The bank’s global head of private banking, Jane Fraser, said in a recent interview that Citi planned to almost double its headcount in India from 29 to 45 by the end of this year.

The way the market is going, they will have some competition for talent.