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Are UAE nationals paid too much?
As banks scrabble to meet their Emiratisation targets, wages for UAE nationals are going through the roof. Is this really fair? Inside the cosy freezone of the Dubai International Financial Centre, financial institutions can take on who they like, even though they’ll tell you they encourage localisation initiatives. Outside, however, it’s a whole different story. [...]
Dubai keen to court commodities traders
As volumes on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) reach unprecedented levels, banks in the region are desperate to take on commodities experts. Jakob Bloch, managing director, Commodity Appointments, reckons the glut of opportunities is in the gold, metals, oil and freight sectors. “All the major banks have an arm in the Middle East [...]
More sales staff than money managers for Middle Eastern fund rush
Reason dictates there should be a rush of asset management hiring in the GCC – local fund managers have posted stellar revenues, and international firms are setting up in the region. But while sales and marketing roles are in demand, firms are holding off taking on portfolio managers. Global investors’ ample appetite for GCC assets [...]
Big hitters making the Middle East move
In the past, the Middle East has struggled to attract top bankers, but now international investment banks are moving them there in numbers. Citigroup The struggling US bank announced the appointment of Alberto Verme to head up its investment banking division in Dubai. Verme is one of Citigroup’s most senior bankers, currently global co-head of [...]
Hedge funds prepare for talent and cash influx
Hedge fund inflows have been tipped to increase fivefold in the Middle East, and firms are scrabbling to ship Western expertise out to the region as well as find talent on the ground. Gilles Rollet, chief executive officer of fund manager Mirabaud (Middle East), thinks the hot air surrounding hedge funds in the region will [...]
Credit Suisse, Calyon and Nomura join race for Saudi business
More international banks have flocked to Saudi Arabia and are looking to beef up their teams to gain a chunk of the local market. Nomura became the first Asian bank to be granted a licence to operate in the region this week, hot on the heels of Credit Suisse and French investment bank, Calyon. BNP [...]
Is the Gulf massively over-priced?
Salaries might be on an upward trajectory, but a flailing dollar and spiralling cost of living means life is expensive for many bankers, particularly at a junior level. Job-hopping and a scarcity of talent in the GCC has lead to salaries going through the roof. However, the cost of living has accelerated at an even [...]
Pay pain for banks in the GCC
Pay in the Middle East is spiralling. It now makes up almost 60% of banks’ operating costs. A survey by consultancy Hewitt Associates suggests salaries in Oman and Qatar lead the way when it comes to eating into banks’ profits. But pay across the Middle East banking sector is becoming a problem – particularly when [...]
Seven months and I’m off…
Jobs are plentiful, talent is scarce, competition is fierce and fickle financial services professionals in the Middle East are now changing jobs every seven months. The skills shortage in financial services in the Middle East is well known and it seems bankers are using this to their advantage – bolting after bonuses and shifting jobs [...]
Is Dubai the worst place in the world to get fired?
Losing your job is never nice, but in Dubai it’s a particularly horrible experience – especially if you’re an expat. The root of the horror is that both residency and the right to work for expats working in Dubai’s finance industry are dependent on sponsorship by the employer. If you’re laid off, this goes up [...]
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