Sector: Sales & Marketing

Five roles still defying the slowdown

It’s Ramadan, it’s summer, and capital markets are tanking across the globe – a toxic combination that means recruitment in the Middle East financial sector has, by and large, ground to a halt. However, amidst the new-found gloom and traditional seasonal lull, there are some roles that financial services firms continue to hire for. Based [...]

By Paul Clarke, 16 August 2011 • 4 comments

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 [...]

By Paul Clarke, 22 May 2008 • 3 comments

Talent drought in war for Islamic banking dominance

Islamic finance is already hot, and it looks set to reach boiling point, with the Middle East emerging as one of the major players. But a lack of talent could threaten future growth. In its report ‘Oiling a virtuous banking cycle’, Goldman Sachs predicts that total Islamic banking assets in the UAE will reach $87bn [...]

By Paul Clarke, 25 April 2008 • 0 comments

Are Arabs from Venus and Westerners from Mars?

There’s no shortage of Western bankers in Dubai. But culturally, are Arabs and Westerners planets apart? Maybe – Kwintessential, a consultancy which specializes in such things, says Arabs tend to be more tactile than Western businessmen: “Be prepared to be held, touched, kissed and felt. Recoiling from such behavior would seem cold.” On the other [...]

By Paul Clarke, 11 April 2008 • 8 comments

Is it still a man’s world?

Are more women in the Gulf breaking into top-level positions in financial services, or is it still a male-dominated industry? Figures from the US Equal Opportunity Commission paint a cosmopolitan picture of the industry state-side. In the banking/credit arena, women make up 48.6% of the workforce, whereas in the securities market – the sector with [...]

By Paul Clarke, 19 March 2008 • 5 comments

Guest comment: M&A careers are passé

Working in M&A is sooo yesterday, says William D. Cohan, author and former MD at JPMorgan and VP at Lazard. With US$5 trillion worth of transactions likely this year, the global M&A market is booming and on track to have its best year ever by a wide margin. But does that news bode well for [...]

By Bill Cohan, 12 July 2007 • 11 comments