Why NRI private bankers are the new hot property in the Gulf
Wealth management in the Middle East remains a relative hot bed of job opportunities, but within the sector competition for private bankers with the expertise to service the non-resident Indian (NRI) high net worth population is really heating up.
The Middle East is home to 750 ultra-high net worth NRIs, which is the fourth largest population globally, according to new research from Wealth-X. These individuals are worth around $465bn globally, it suggests.
Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, more international wealth managers are eying the Middle East's NRI population and firms are recruiting private bankers on the ground to tap into the market.
"There's a growing demand for senior relationship managers to tap into the lucrative NRI family office businesses in the Gulf," says Magdy El Zein, managing director of Boyden Middle East. "Generally, most people are from an Indian background as they have the contacts and understand the culture. However, because the investment needs of NRIs are sophisticated, most also have experience in European or US markets."
Last week, J.P. Morgan unveiled Kirit Chauhan as managing director of its India offshore division in Dubai, as well as Nisar Sindhi and Deepak Saluja as executive directors in the team.
Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management also hired Farooq Choudhury to develop its Middle East NRI team along with Shampi Chopra and Rajesh Mahadevan last month. This follows RBS Coutts' appointment of Santosh Keni as head of its NRI business in the Middle East earlier this year.
Most of these hires have been tasked with expanding the NRI business both in terms of attracting more clients and looking for potential new hires.
There's also the added motivation of being able cross-sell corporate banking products. Deutsche Bank has stated its intention to do this and J.P Morgan's recruitment of Deepak Saluja, who has had a long stint in a corporate banking role at Standard Chartered, suggests it's aiming to do the same.
Still, these roles are relatively lucrative. According to recruitment sources, a relationship manager serving NRIs can expect anywhere between $125-200k as a base.
