eFinancialCareers

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is set to embark on an international shopping spree and is doubling its headcount to prepare for this push.

The $10bn Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the kingdom’s main investment arm, has so far limited its investments to the GCC – with the exception of a 30% stake in Formula 1 racing team McLaren – but has ambitions for international acquisitions.

As a result it’s looking for 25 analysts and 10 investment managers, who have experience of at least three to four big international deals.

The new global outlook comes six months after the appointment of Talal Al-Zain as chief executive officer in January. He joined from Investcorp and has extensive experience in the Middle East and internationally. He says he expects foreign investments to make up around half of the firm’s investments going forward.

Rory Adamson, managing director at executive search firm Azrek in Bahrain, says the allure of working for a sovereign wealth fund is increasing among Western private equity professionals.

“It’s a slightly different game from direct private equity, because of the diverse nature of the investments and the long-term outlook of the positions. Mumtalakat doesn’t have a shareholder base looking for returns from day one. So instead you’ll be building an investment portfolio that is expected to perform in the long run.”

Mumtalakat is offering up to $151k for the investment managers and $100k for the analyst posts.

Nick Careless, managing director of recruiters AP Executive, says a lot of Middle East SWFs are currently looking to bolster their teams.

“We have seen increased demand and have placed professionals across the spectrum at all levels, from MD, director, principal right through to analyst level. Those with blue-chip international experience, emerging markets experience and language skills are at a premium. However, hardcore deal experience is without a doubt the most important factor for our clients.”

One thing’s for sure, it’ll have no shortage of bulge-bracket banks vying to win business from it. Merrill Lynch is the latest to appoint someone to focus on SWFs, with Fares D. Noujaim joining as president of MENA business.

Merrill follows Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank who have all recruited staff to develop relationships with SWFs.