REVIEW MY CV: Is the Gulf sophisticated enough to meet my ambitions?
I'm currently working in a boutique investment firm in a senior role and would like to make the transition to a bigger player in the Middle East.
However, I have a desire to move to a company which practises both value investing or runs concentrated portfolios and not many firms here do this. The roles I have been offered are secure, but they lack a challenge as they either seem to do senseless index tracking investment or offer exposure to clients, but simply seem a dead end.
Am I being overly ambitious in my job search, or have my previous roles left my likely to be pigeon holed into being offered positions of a similar nature? Or, is there something fundamentally wrong with my CV?
Below is this poster's CV with all personal and identifying details removed. Can you offer any tips to improve this? Please comment below. If you would like your CV reviewed by the eFinancialCareers community, please e-mail editor_gulf@efinancialcareers.com.
EXPERIENCE
Proprietary Investment Company
Middle East
Head - Investments Jan 2010 - Present
Sr. Investment Manager
Jul. 2006 - Dec 2009
· Invest money in the secondary equity markets (Listed companies)
· Evaluating businesses, for taking strategic stakes / direct equity investing, with a view to boost the performance of the investee company by providing strategic, operational, managerial and financial inputs
· Contributed to the Successful completion of two acquisitions
· Successfully influenced alteration in pricing strategy / client profitability evaluation at an investee company
· Implemented a performance based variable remuneration structure in an investee co. in lieu of hasty lay-offs
· Monitoring the investee company performance; Liaising with the Banks / lawyers / auditors
Family Investment Office
Middle East
Sr. investment Manager
May 2005 - Jun. 2006
· Analyzing and monitoring investment portfolios; Evaluating and developing new investments; Regular reporting on projects at hand; Successfully avoided the 2006 bear market in the Middle East
· Handling relationships with investment cos. and brokers; Successfully introduced new service providers.
Asset management cum brokerage Co.
Middle East
Sr. Investment Analyst
Oct. 2002 - May 2005
· Recommending investments, across all asset classes, for company's own funds;
· Established / Supervised equity research at the firm; Recruited Additional Team Members
· Influenced the investment philosophy of the maiden mutual fund; successfully raised USD 260K for this fund.
Family Investment Office
Middle East
Financial Analyst
Feb. 2001 - Oct. 2001
· Successfully managed investment portfolios in secondary US markets & evaluated alternative investments
· Independently managed a long-only portfolio Media Sector; Co-managed a long-short portfolio Media & Telco
100% Govt. of India owned Insurance Co.
India
AAO - investment Department
Apr. 1999 - Feb 2001
· Evaluating IPOs, private placements and private equity proposals; Analysing projections and financial models
· Successfully avoided potentially disastrous investments in suspect groups / dot com bust of 2000-2001
Asset Management Co.
India
Research Analyst
Jul. 1997 - Mar 1999
· Actively scanning the allotted sectors for recommending investments using bottoms-up approach
· As part of the internal equity research team, providing research to the fund managers; 80% success rate
· Was appreciated for an ability to stick my neck out and make a clear cut recommendation in a timely fashion
EDUCATION
An Autonomous Business School
India
Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management, Mid 1990s
Prestigious Engineering College
India
Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical). Early 1990s
OTHER SELECTED SKILLS AND ACTIVITIES
· Fluent in Hindi and English, Briefly studied French and Arabic, can understand Punjabi, Urdu
· CFA Charter, 2004; CAIA Charter, 2008;
· Other interests: Hindi Movies/Songs, History (Indian / Financial / General), Cuisine (Indian / Vegetarian), Reading, Tinkering, Cricket, Chess, Amateur Photography
