Regional talent for global asset managers
International asset managers are beginning to set up investment teams on the ground in Dubai and are tapping local talent for them. But this doesn't necessarily mean that regional experience automatically makes you a potential target.
ING Investment Management established itself in the Dubai International Finance Centre this month and hired Farah Fousak as chief investment offer from the National Bank of Dubai along with three colleagues for the investment team.
Meanwhile, Schroders has rolled out a Middle Eastern fund, which has so far raised $600m, and appointed Rami Sidani from local firm Shuua Capital as head of Middle East & North Africa portfolio management. Sidani has since lured Maha Soueissy as equity analyst from the same company.
Franklin Templeton took an alternative tack by investing in local firm Algebra Capital. All the signs point to the fact that regional experience and contacts are key to cracking the GCC market, and that any new international firms entering the market will tap regional talent. But it might not be so simple.
Elizabeth Hackford, vice president at recruiters Sheffield Haworth, says: "Global firms will need to be absolutely convinced that any individual has the appropriate technical capability to excel within a global operation. Often local hires will be individuals who have returned to the region after several years in the US or Europe and since spent some time with a leading local firm."
Patrick Field, MD of Hanover Search, says asset managers in the GCC lack sophisticated staff with exposure to exotic and alternative asset classes. As a result, he says global players setting up in the region will be forced to look further afield for talent.
He adds: "Most head of asset management roles in local firms in the Middle East go to people with experience in Western organisations. But part of their remit is to use their expertise to develop and train the indigenous population."
And if you do want to work for a global firm, you might have to hold your breath anyway, says Hackford: "Initially, teams are likely to be small, and we must not forget that we still have the shadow of the credit crunch hanging over us - global firms are reluctant to build too quickly in this climate."
