Investment bankers in the Middle East need alternatives. Here are five options

The small investment banking teams within international firms’ Middle Eastern operations may have escaped the sort of swathing cuts seen elsewhere in the world, but redundancies are still happening.

Deutsche Bank has axed seven front office bankers (or 25% of its regional team), UBS has been trimming senior staff and we hear that Credit Suisse may be gearing up for some cuts after falling off the top of the investment banking league tables.

In short, investment bankers in the Middle East need to prepare themselves for the eventuality that they’ll soon be back on the job market. In the current climate, few banks – perhaps with the exception of J.P. Morgan and Barclays – are talking about expansion, so it’s best to consider what alternatives are available (assuming they have a desire to stay in the region).

Based on conversations with leading regional headhunters (talking on the condition of anonymity), these are the institutions and sectors willing to consider investment bankers currently.

1. Go the local route

Working for a regional bank is a different proposition from an international firm for an investment banker. Very often, a senior banker with a bulge bracket brand on their CV is hired in to originate deals and then feeds the financial modelling work down to a team of juniors – there’s nothing in between. Nonetheless, five or six local institutions are recruiting for senior M&A roles, suggest headhunters.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi are among those believed to be recruiting, suggest headhunters.

Making such a move doesn’t always work out. Ray Maurer, who joined First Gulf Bank as head of investment banking at the start of this year, left the firm in August, according to our sources. It is looking to replace him, though.

2. Become a hybrid

In the current climate, banks want cross-fertilisation. This means, either going back to basics and taking on the role of a corporate banking relationship manager and originating new business for (predominantly local) banks this way. Or, in a closer match to the traditional investment banking deal-making skills, taking on a hybrid role – heading up coverage for the bank and originating both corporate and investment banking business.

“Banks want people who can be a general manager, straddling the divide between corporate and investment banking,” says one headhunter. “This isn’t hugely appealing to many.”

3. Look to upwardly mobile upstarts

As we’ve mentioned numerous times, having a big brand on your CV – whether that’s a college or employer – will greatly enhance your chances of securing employment in the Middle East. There have been some expanding, but undoubtedly slightly obscure, organisations boasting about how they’ve managed to secure bulge bracket talent recently.

One is Al Masah Capital, who seems at pains to point out that it’s managed to attract senior bankers from RBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Macquarie this year. Another is ADS Securities, which has recruited from Barclays and claims to be attracting applications from investment bankers in Europe.

4.  Consider Islamic finance

Yes, there are some signs of life in Middle Eastern targeted M&A this year, but activity within the Islamic debt capital markets in the region is booming. So far this year, $18bn worth of Islamic bond deals have been announced, compared to just $3.4bn during the same period in 2011.

Banks with a grip on this market include HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, Citi, Dubai Islamic Bank, Barwa Bank, QInvest, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Emirates NBD and Credit Agricole.

While the international banks are not hiring, the local institutions are keen to hear from deal-makers, suggest headhunters, and specific Islamic finance experience is not a prerequisite.

5. Restructuring boutiques could be an option

Debt restructuring certainly hasn’t been the revenue bonanza that many firms were expecting when they set up shop in the UAE two years ago, but it’s still a comparatively active recruitment market. Headhunters suggest that a sideways switch into restructuring – either in a boutique investment bank, Big Four consulting firm or specialist restructuring consultancy – is a definite option.

A recent example of this is Yaser Moustafa, previously head of Saudi Arabia investment banking at Nomura, who moved to Alvarez & Marshall in June.