In what now seems like an annual PR push, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has offered another insight into its recruitment practices and revealed that, when it comes to hiring local candidates, it targets them early.

ADIA identifies local candidates, what it terms “future leaders”, at high school and – after series of interviews and psychometric tests – monitors their progress and eventually sponsors them through university in either Europe or the US.

This revelation was part of a wide-ranging (and highly sanitized) interview with Saeed Al Hajeri, executive director of the sovereign wealth fund’s emerging markets department, with CFA Magazine this month.

This is another slightly obscure choice of publication for a rare glimpse into one of the world’s largest SWFs. Last January, its former managing director, the late HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nehayan, gave an 11-page interview to German newspaper Handelsblatt.

One of the more interesting aspects of the latest article was how early the SWF targets Emiratis:

Our scholarship program reaches back into United Arab Emirates schools to identify, develop, and track students at an early age who we believe have the potential to be leaders of the future. We actually interview them and conduct psychometric testing at the high school level.

From there, we monitor them. We get a quarterly report and have a dedicated department, following up on them and making sure they are doing their studies. Upon graduation, selected students are sponsored by ADIA to attend universities, usually in the United States or Europe, after which an assessment is made by both parties as to their interest and suitability for a career at ADIA.

More firms targeting school students

Securing local talent in the UAE and meeting localisation targets is a challenge, particularly as the public sector has traditionally proved a more alluring career path. But is ADIA unique in identifying future employees at such an early age?

Charles Wilson, a nationalisation expert and senior HR advisor to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, says this is an increasingly common tactic among large private sector employers in the GCC.

“Increasingly, firms in the region will earmark gifted students for their development programmes, monitoring them through school, college and university and offer intermittent internship programmes to allow them an insight into the organisation. It’s an opportunity to lure potential candidates away from the public sector,” he says.

Another selling point that ADIA specifically has is that it offers ongoing professional training to its local staff, he adds. Wilson says that his research suggests that local candidates value career development above earning potential.

Al Hajeri says that a leadership course at Harvard Business School is offered to staff, as well as different training courses in the UK and US. What’s more, the SWF has nearly 140 employees who have completed, or are undertaking, the CFA qualification.

Recruiting expats for senior roles

But local recruitment is only half the story. Around 30% of ADIA’s staff are UAE nationals, meaning that nearly 70% are expats. So, what does it look for when it’s recruiting?

“I would argue that ADIA is a top tier hirer, and looks for the same depth of experience and exemplary academics as the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley,” says one headhunter who has worked with the SWF. “It’s an incredibly vigorous recruitment process, consisting of numerous interviews and assessments. What’s more, they generally only recruit expats when they’ve been unable to hire a UAE national for the role.”

He adds that one black mark on a CV is a tendency to change jobs too often, with the SWF valuing signs of commitment.

A recent example of this is its recruitment of James Kester as CIO for private equity in November. ADIA took over two years to find a replacement for former incumbent Georges Sudarskis, and Kester’s 22-year career involved long stints at both Zurich Alternative Asset Management and Allianz Private Equity Partners.