GF
Tag: Financial Services
GUEST COMMENT: The problem is, it’s too frightening to resign from a financial services job
If you still have a job in the City then you have something in common with the great novelist, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In 1849, the writer was about to be shot by a firing squad for dissent when, at the last moment, he was pardoned by the Czar. Living with the threat of layoffs is like [...]
GUEST COMMENT: What happens when your investment banking CV sends the wrong message
Mixed messages in CVs usually derive from the writer’s own mind set and that rule applies to investment bankers, fund managers, private bankers, traders of any age or nationality. From my City experience I find there are usually two mind sets which create mixed messages: Superhero and scarecrow. What are these and how can they be [...]
GUEST COMMENT: Investment banks switching to retail banking is an experiment doomed to failure
Much of the focus in Bahrain this year has been on the fall out from the ‘Arab Spring’ uprising and the subsequent damage to the kingdom’s financial services industry. However, I have noticed a disturbing (yet low key) trend; failed investment banks are transmogrifying into retail banks. This does not exactly bode well for the [...]
Alternative employment options for redundant brokers in the UAE
Financial services recruiters in the UAE are being flooded with CVs from brokers, following a rash of closures and copious redundancies this year. Unfortunately, there are few options within MENA-focused brokerages in the UAE, so what are the alternatives? Last month, HSBC revealed it was stopping its retail brokerage operations, Al Mal Capital announced it [...]
Why working in equity capital markets in the Gulf is currently career suicide
We’ve mentioned previously that working in an international investment banking role in the Gulf is a precarious position to be in currently, but if you’re an equity capital markets (ECM) professional, you’d be foolish to remain in the Middle East. At the senior end, ECM heads within international banks are being pulled back from Dubai [...]
Are these 60% salary increases for Qatari bankers really a good thing?
When it comes to achieving nationalisation targets, banks in both Qatar and Dubai have always struggled to prise local candidates away from relatively cushy and well-paying public sector jobs. Now, in response to spiralling salaries in government jobs, banks in Qatar have been handing 60% pay rises to local staff to ensure they’re able to [...]
It’s official: Qatar is the new place to be in the Gulf
One of the side-effects of the Arab Spring has been a gravitation of financial services professionals towards safe havens in the Gulf; notably, Dubai and Qatar. However, according to a new survey, Qatar is now the most reputable Gulf financial centre in the eyes of the international community. While banks are talking up expansion in [...]
Why holding a CFA will greatly enhance your chances of getting a job at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
Relatively speaking, with around 1,000 charter-holders, the CFA is not a particularly prevalent qualification within the Middle East. If you have aspirations to work for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund in world, however, you should consider undertaking it. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority employs 93 CFA charter-holders, which is the largest number of any [...]
Five things guaranteed to get your CV binned by recruiters
Times are tough, jobs are thin on the ground and competition is stiff. In this environment, it’s important that your CV is not only flawless, but guaranteed to grab the attention of any potential employer or recruitment consultant. While it’s important to know how to sell your CV, it’s equally as integral to ensure that [...]
GUEST COMMENT: I’ve served my time in the Middle East; take me back Asia
The financial world is ablaze again at the moment – market turmoil, downgrading, interest rates. Chaotic for all in working the industry. But haven’t there been enough market dips in the last three years? I was living and working in Asia in 2008 at the time of the most recent major crash. Life was good. [...]
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