Hedge fund managers in the UAE: "It's brutal here"
If you're a portfolio manager with a hedge fund, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have become the places to be. Funds have poured in and offices have opened. Dubai is opening a dedicated hedge fund building in April. Abu Dhabi has a whole hedge fund island.
But as time passes and the hot summer months burn into view, some portfolio managers and quants in the UAE are having second thoughts about their relocations.
"The lifestyle here can be amazing, but the sector is literally hire and fire," says one buy-side consultant in the Middle East. "There's very little job security. You're here one day. The next day you may be gone."
It's not unusual for hedge funds to churn through underperforming staff in any location, but in the UAE insiders say the situation is more extreme and that relative to London at least, employment protection is minimal. Employers in Dubai, for example, are legally free to terminate staff for undefined "legitimate reasons" as long as they offer compensation for notice periods. "It's a bit of a wild west," says one prime broking professional working in the region.
The wildness was highlighted in a recent social media post by headhunter Christie Doderer, who accused "a prominent hedge fund" of engaging in "questionable employment practices" in Dubai. Doderer declined to say which fund she was referring to, but her post stated that people were relocating to work there, "only to have the rug pulled from under them at the last moment without adequate explanation."
Various funds have let go of staff in the UAE. Brevan Howard, for example, hired Oualid Lahsini to run its Middle East office in 2023, but he left again last month. It's not clear what he's doing next. There are unconfirmed suggestions that Lahsini package to join Brevan was sufficient to sustain him for a while.
One portfolio manager who was recently let go in Dubai, told us he's been left "high and dry" by the fund that hired and fired him. His situation is complicated by the increased cost of living. "The lifestyle is nice here, but you need a lot of money," he says. "A lot of people are living in Dubai Hills, Arabian Ranches or Jumeirah Village and rents have risen." At the same time, he says, finding a new job in the region is hard because decision makers are often located overseas: "The senior portfolio managers are in New York, London or Singapore, and they are the ones who will hire you."
Matters are made worse by the fact that UAE jobseeker visas only last 120 days, after which it's necessary to leave the country. One portfolio manager cautions anyone thinking of moving to the UAE to demand a two-year contract. Failing that, he says to ask for a golden visa which is valid for five or 10 years.
"It's brutal here," he adds. Summers are particularly hard. One is coming soon.
Photo by Wael Hneini on Unsplash
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