Actually, Middle East wealth management isn't in the midst of a recruitment frenzy

On the face of it, wealth management has stood out as a sector offering healthy levels of recruitment in the Middle East throughout this year. But do the ongoing high-profile hires really point to a buoyant market?

Certainly there are numerous positive signs. For a start, there's the assertion from this year's Merrill Lynch-Capgemini World Wealth Report, which says the number of HNWIs in the Middle East has returned to 2007 levels, and their overall wealth has increased by 5.1%.

Then there's the sizable number of institutions hiring. In the last week alone, UBS has taken on Ali Janoudi to focus on the Saudi, Near East & North Africa market (with a mandate to hire more people) and Merrill Lynch Wealth has recruited Richard Anooshian, having appointed Tamer Rashad and Amir Sadr in August.

Citi Private Bank, Barclays Wealth, Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Canada Wealth and HSBC have all recruited in the region this year, and local banks like Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank have launched private banking functions to compete with international players.

The fact that banks are rushing to staff up in the region suggests there's significant new business to be had, but is this really the case?

"Private banks are chasing new assets, and the opinion remains that there are new assets in the Middle East region," says Sebastian Dovey, managing partner of wealth management consultancy Scorpio Partnership. "We are not convinced, though, as the past performance of hiring specialised relationship managers in the region has not to this point appeared to provide any major net new asset uplift across the industry. Therefore, we would remain relatively cautious of the recruitment projections for the region."

In fact, most of hiring has been less about expansion and more about the need to get private bankers on the ground in untapped cash rich markets, suggest Magdy El Zein, managing director of Boyden Middle East.

"The majority of wealth management recruitment is an attempt to make more ground in markets like Saudi and Abu Dhabi," he says. "For all the positive talk, it's still an incredibly tough market, with most banks seeking to ring-fence existing assets in places like Dubai. But getting people with a knowledge of, and contacts in, Saudi and Abu Dhabi is considered integral for most institutions."

This lack of universal demand for private bankers means there's little inflationary pressure on salaries. According to El Zein, a senior wealth manager can expect a maximum of $220-250k, with the possibility of a 150% bonus.