eFinancialCareers

Flush with cash they may be, but it’s not the size of your sovereign wealth fund that matters, it’s what you do with it that counts. Keen to diversify away from the oil that has filled their pockets, Middle Eastern SWF funds have made some high-profile international investments of late, but they’re not exactly posting stellar returns. Paul Kedrosky, of the website Infectious Greed, has compiled a spreadsheet of nine notable... Read more

Middle East virgin and fretting about a move to the region? Relocation expert Shirley Morrison offers some handy hints on what to expect. What’s the first step when someone approaches you with a view to a move? Find out what their budget is. Once we establish that I can give them some idea of what they can expect when they move here. Where do most of your clients come from? Mainly from the... Read more

David Bledin, ex-banker, now author and MBA student, on why he wouldn’t go back into banking if you paid him. I’ve just started an MBA programme and it’s amazing the number of people coming from non-banking industries who have somehow managed to maintain a startling innocence regarding the Street – despite the bleak stories they must have soaked up from their acquaintances. They seem to focus on that starting salary and... Read more

Were you promoted from analyst to associate this year? What does it take to get ahead in your new position? Hugh Karseras, our resident banking insider, offers some pointers. I'm in the fortunate (or not) position of having two director-level friends who manage the analyst and associate pools at different investment banks. I asked them what it takes to progress as a newly appointed associate – and guess what? They came... Read more

Brad Hintz, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, says junior bankers need not fear redundancy – top staff will be first to go. Wall Street isn't a kind place – we shoot our wounded and we eat our young. And if today's difficult credit conditions continue, there will likely be cuts in 2007. But this year doesn't look like the 2002 downturn; right now it looks like any cuts will be done with... Read more

Once upon a time, the people at the top of the banking hierarchy were nice, says ex-banker and author David Charters. Not any more. What kind of people make it to the top in investment banking? As an industry it certainly produces great egos. Everyone who makes it to managing director is either a star or a super-star; if in doubt, just ask them. But are they good leaders? The rewards in... Read more

Want to ensure you move on from analyst to associate? Hugh Karseras, our banker on the inside, advises how it's done. Being a great analyst is not complicated. You need to get your 'stuff' done and you need to get your 'stuff' done well from day one – no matter what. Even after the months of the training programme, you are, let's face it, pretty clueless and the first several months... Read more

Complaining when work's dumped on you isn't a good idea, says Hugh Karseras, author and banker. That doesn't mean you can't get away with it. A few months ago there was an email exchange posted on eFinancialCareers between an analyst and an associate that stimulated substantial debate. The nub of the issue was that an analyst, tired of having work dumped on him, complained to an associate who responded aggressively and... Read more

Not exactly - but they're a lot less lavish than they used to be, says Emma Charnock, regional director of Hays Banking in Asia. Expats traditionally brought to a company a wealth of experience and an excellent education from abroad; they were valued for their insights and were remunerated accordingly. However, today's local employers view expat candidates on an equal footing with local candidates since both possess excellent overseas education and... Read more

Banking's not for wimps, but neither should you tolerate being bullied, says Hugh Karseras, author and senior banker. Does bullying go on in the City? In my experience, yes, but don't expect to see trading floor managers hurling chairs at hapless underlings. Bullying in the City is often a lot more subtle, a lot harder to evidence and a lot more insidious. It's important to differentiate between someone who is normally... Read more

Working in M&A is sooo yesterday, says William D. Cohan, author and former MD at JPMorgan and VP at Lazard. With US$5 trillion worth of transactions likely this year, the global M&A market is booming and on track to have its best year ever by a wide margin. But does that news bode well for those aspiring to a career as a Wall Street M&A advisor? The answer, alas, is "not... Read more

Want to know why packing your bags and cashing in on the boom in the Middle East might not be such a good idea after all? 1. It won't last At a conference last week in the City, Gerard Lyons, chief economist and global head of research at Standard Chartered Bank, said there have been plenty of booms in the Middle East before – and they've all turned to busts. The... Read more

Commodities combined with Mandarin is the best recipe for a successful long-term career in financial services, says legendary investor Jim Rogers. If you're at an early stage in your financial services career, I have one piece of advice: go into commodities. There's a gigantic need for commodities people and there's a very limited supply of them. You can go into any business school in the world and they have plenty of... Read more

Locating senior women in private equity funds, hedge funds or investment banks is as rare as finding zebras in Antarctica, says William D. Cohan. Despite their bright smiles and elegant demeanours, the sorry state of professional women in the highbrow world of private equity was on full display in a two-page photographic spread tucked into the middle of the May 2007 issue of Portfolio, Condé Nast's new business monthly. The magazine... Read more

William D. Cohan, a former managing director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and former VP at Lazard Frères, explains why M&A bankers don’t merit mega-bucks. The end of the first quarter of 2007 brought the news that global announced M&A deal volume for the three-month period topped US$1.1trillion – making this first quarter the busiest first quarter on record. Not surprisingly, the investment bankers shepherding all these deals are positively giddy,... Read more

Mike Brennan, chief executive of Akamai Financial Markets, offers guidance on when to make the move overseas – and when not to. If you intend to build a career in financial services, it’s not 100% necessary to have experience of working overseas. A lot of people enjoy very successful financial careers in one centre; they become established at what they do, and make a name for themselves in that particular market.... Read more

Our (anonymous) woman in Dubai says the temperature of hiring in the desert city is going from hot to boiling. Dubai’s frenetic growth is shown in all sorts of statistics – GDP, trade, etc. But anecdotal evidence can be more revealing. No less than three Dubai tycoons are in the top six of a new list of ‘The world’s most influential Arabs’ in Arabian Business magazine. Not bad for a city... Read more