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With the bloodbath in western markets, many bankers are being redeployed to the Gulf. Should they be holding their heads or grasping the nettle?
As all about them lose their head(counts) in the West, the Middle East seems a relative oasis of calm, bolstering its capital markets capabilities, rolling in wealth and bullishly expanding M&A activity.
And international banks seem to be scrambling to expand, particularly as they look eastwards to cushion the blows of the credit crisis. According to Financial News, investment banks are looking to ship bankers from Wall Street to the Dubai International Financial Centre.
As one banker joked: “It’s Mumbai, Dubai, Shanghai or goodbye.”
But whereas the prospect of going to the Gulf might have been the global equivalent of being sent to Coventry a few years ago, some might argue it’s now a real opportunity.
Banks and headhunters tell us of the relative ease of ascending the greasy career pole in the region, and there’s a lot of action to be had – with an estimated $2bn in debt and equity capital markets and advisory fees available to be captured this year.
But is the region really as buoyant as it seems? Does the exciting prospect of rolling out new projects merely mask the relative immaturity of the market? If you were a banker working in the US or the UK would you rather be out on you ear or begrudgingly take a Middle Eastern posting?
Your thoughts please….
I think it’s a bit of a mixed bowl. No one can deny there is an economic boom in the Gulf, a phenomenal amount of liquidity to be invested, and Dubai clearly stands as a favourite to capture this opportunity.
However this doesn’t mean that everything is as rosy as PR would like to depict it. Dubai pays well, but then inflation is at extremely high levels. Housing, in particular, is increasingly becoming an issue, even for mid and high income professionals. Quality of life: trafic, pollution, endless construction work, road safety, poor quality of service in general, etc., need to be adressed because they simply make Dubai a less attractive place to make business and live in.
There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of opportunities in the Gulf region, and my advice would be to get in now before it becomes as competitive as western markets.
Obviously, there are lifestyle and cultural issues about living here, but I’d rather be here with its 365 days a year sunshine, easy beach access and good property potential, than in grey London with its over-priced property
Well, make that 350 days a year minus 3 months in the summer, and for the easy beach access, speaking of it, it’s not all that easy to access it now…and rents, albeit to a lesser extent than in London, are very expensive.
But still a good place to live in and to make business in.
I agree with most of the three posts above. Dubai is a great place (relatively, given its infancy compared to NYC, or London). I do not what is the obsession of people to compare sucha a young place with such old and long-stablished places such as NYC and London, which I am sure were had way worst problems than Dubai does now, when they were in their beginnings.
Yet Dubai is a complete unique experience. It is expensive, no doubt, but the nice weather most of the year and relatively shorter working hours (investment banking) are a great thing for those working in the field, just like it is the tax-free regime and the unique opportunity to be based in one of most booming and vibrant business regions in the world.
Dubai’s and UAE’s in general, need to work much harder in regulating salaries, annual leave, working hours and other details for unskill workers. Honestly, it is a great shame the way this people are treated, and it is all the fault of UAE’s Goverment for not putting into place clear and fair labor laws. I cannot believe they write in the official labor law websites and other communications that keeping an employee’s passport is ilegal, yet they do not inforced it!
inflation, racism, lack of legal transparency. Are we talking about Zimbabwe?
No, just life in dubai
well
all one can say is be care ful when u r moving to uae without any job offers or 1st times.
my bro just went there had gud job for visit visa duration 2months and suddenly bang return tickets as the employer got cheap one instead of him .
it can be k if u go there invest in property nd do whatever u like .
thx
Well paying jobs though a high cost of living more than compensates. Abundant racism and little clarity on the law means that expats are restricted in what they do. And yes, its not really ‘bleeding’ edge in finance. So if you want a decent life with little or no challenge at work, this is the place to be.
that’s typical of the middle eastern way of doing the buziness. cheap, no legal recourse, contracts are not worth the paper they are written on.
Did I mention they want to become a global financial centre?
Middle East definately heaven for next for yearsm specially to get out of credit crunch problem for time being. I moved to GCC couple of months back, it is really a fine place. But, I agree there is no comparision with level expertise and experience, you can developed while working in NYC or London.
yeah
how can one move to uae easily then .?
n e tips at least i am not moving lol
Dubai is the place to be despite of anything people can say, it’s the world in motion, it’s where everything is happening, it’s where fortunes are being created overnight. Don’t think too much and jump on it!!
whats it like for a single woman in investment banking, working and living there? better to go shanghai?
As a woman, I was in Dubai looking for jobs in financial services several weeks ago. First of all, there are less women in the industry than in New York or London. Unless you are of Arab descent, have strong connections in the region with deep pockets, you are probably better off in Shanghai. Isms…can anyone say sexism????? Their financial markets are not as mature and less structured than the West, therefore you will probably be more experienced than the MD or CEO. If you think women receive 75/80% of what a man earns in the west, expect less.
Although there are lots of women entreprenuers in business, they are backed by family and friend connections. Employment laws are not as robust so expect to deal with a lot more cr&p than you would in the West. What would you do…cry discrimination and face your visa being rejected. At the end of the day a significant portion of the capital comes from KSA, which most clients aren’t ready to see a woman banker. If you enjoy being respected in public and chilvary, then Dubai is the place you want to live. If you want to be a rainmaker, go somewhere else.
Dubai is far more exciting from the personal perspective than the professional for sure. But the improvement in the personal quality of life is so huge compared to the miserable lives of London or NYC bankers that is worthy the change. Dubai is about lifestyle, huge houses, fancy cars, housemaids, drivers, beach clubs, nightlife, beautiful women and shopping. Work doesn’t offer you 10% of this excitment be assured but if you are one of the luck ones in Ldondon or NYC getting an annual paycheck of USD 1mm before taxes, most probably you are living squeezed in a 2 beds flat, commuting 1hr at least in a horrendous tube and spending your holidays in a ridiculous place like Hamptons, Cornwall or Vermont. While in Dubai with a quarter of that salary you will have a quasi-oligarch lifestyle, summer in the Maldives and winter in Verbier/ Courchevel. It’s not much of a choice unless you are an idealist in your 20′s dreaming to become the next Soros/ Buffet, otherwise, prepare your luggage and Dubai for you.
BION I’m impsersed! Cool post!