Turkey emerges as hiring hot spot

Alongside the more flagrantly expansionary Dubai, Istanbul is quietly emerging as another centre of financial services recruitment activity in the Middle East.

"We see a lot of banks which are interested in expanding their presence in Istanbul," says John Jessen, managing director of international financial services search firm Smith & Jessen, which is preparing to open an office in the city.

He adds: "SocGen, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered, ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, HSBC and Fortis Bank are already there, and Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch are both bullish on Turkey."

Another London-based headhunter confirms the trend. "Turkey has been one of the bigger areas for recruitment in the past 18 months. I know of at least one European bank currently in the process of recruiting a Turkish analyst."

Shaun Springer, chief executive of search firm Napier Scott, told eFinancialCareers that he had just placed a head of investment banking for Turkey with a top-tier bank, though he would not be drawn out on naming names.

Banks' interest in Turkey coincides with the decision to open European Union membership negotiations with Turkey last October, and with soaring investment across the board in emerging markets as investors seek high returns. One of the best performing emerging market funds last year, for example, was State Street's $294m Global Advantage Emerging Markets Fund, which achieved a 63.6% return in 2005, and had 13.5% of its holdings in Turkey at the end of the year.

"Turkey is a large economy that is growing fast," says Jessen. "There is also the EU story and the inevitable convergence of Turkish interest rates with rates across the EU, which will of course be good for the fixed income business."