Asset management roles coming to Dubai?
Dubai is making a fresh push to attract more asset management firms to the region and is preparing to shake up its regulatory regime in an attempt to ensure new international entrants choose it as a base.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has created a panel of asset management experts to review its rules in a bid to encourage more firms to the region and boost the sophistication of the sector in the Middle East.
Paul Koster, chief executive of the DFSA, says the panel will shape the funds regime in a way that "best serves the needs of the industry and investors".
Towards the middle of last year, the feeling was that the asset management industry in Dubai was set to expand. ING Investment Management established itself in the DIFC, Schroders recruited a local team and Franklin Templeton took a stake in local firm Algebra Capital. BNP Paribas Asset Management also set up shop in Bahrain, and Pictet Asset Management and Pioneer Investments both made moves to the GCC.
However, the tide of international players appears to have stalled this year, and recruitment has been thin on the ground. DFSA's move is an attempt to stimulate the asset management industry - estimated to be worth between $90-100bn in the region - and ensure Dubai is the financial centre of choice for new players.
Elizabeth Hackford, vice president at executive search firm Sheffield Haworth, believes that (initially at least) new international asset management firms will not offer a lot of job opportunities.
"I think the best formula for international firms opening an office in the UAE is to put two people on the ground: one internal hire, and one local hire," she says. "Ideally, the internal hire would be the relocation of a veteran from within the firm, and the local hire should be someone working in a similar business development role locally at a competitor and therefore with existing connections."
Nick Careless, managing director of headhunters AP Executive, says he's still seeing a steady flow of asset management roles, with many firms hiring when top talent becomes available. If international players are looking to hire locally, he says there's still "a reasonable talent pool" to choose from.
