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Tag: Private Equity
Middle East sovereign wealth funds continue to grow
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the Middle East have been building their asset management and private equity divisions this year, and it’s easy to see why – their assets continue to grow. However, their slice of the global pie has diminished over the past two years. The SWF Institute has just produced its latest rankings, [...]
Gulf sovereign wealth funds’ push for private equity professionals
If you’re a private equity professional looking for work in the Middle East, you’d be wise to apply to one of the large regional sovereign wealth funds. We’ve mentioned previously that SWFs were looking to hire investment bankers and private equity professionals as they look to structure their own investments, rather than buy into external [...]
Candidate blog: Friends and colleagues fled from Dubai after the financial crisis, but I decided to stick around. I have no regrets
If you’re an expat financial professional working in Dubai, you’re no doubt accustomed to having to justify your choice of career location to colleagues and friends lured to the opportunities in London, New York or Asia. But I truly believe the Middle East is the best place to be. In 2008, people were flocking to [...]
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 [...]
GUEST COMMENT: How, and why, I decided to switch from investment banking to private equity
Investment banking in the Middle East, much like in other areas of the world, is going through a tough time. Many international institutions have been scaling back in the region, while large local organisations have been making redundancies and re-evaluating their capital markets and investment banking operations. The state of investment banking in the Middle [...]
There are still opportunities at SWFs, but they want Western experience
Gulf sovereign wealth funds have always been able to provide a steady stream of recruitment regardless of the presiding economic conditions. Hiring sprees are rare, but then so are hiring freezes. Recently, however, there are some reasons for concern about their exposure to the eurozone crisis. Writing in the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and [...]
Investment bankers are moving to wealth management, private bankers are moving to private equity
Investment bankers in the Middle East are facing job cuts and, with a lack of new roles in the sector, they should be considering their options. One of these options is a switch across to wealth management – something people are doing with increasing frequency. Meanwhile, top private bankers – who have no shortage of [...]
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 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 [...]
Just 3% of employees in the DIFC are Emiratis, and over 65% are male
With all the talk of expats being marginalised within the UAE, it’s perhaps reassuring to see that in the freezone of the DIFC (home to most international financial services firms) the workforce is still predominantly made up of foreigners. Outside of the freezones, UAE companies are required to take on a quota of Emirati workers [...]
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