Dubai hedge fund manager: "Everyone in the UAE has an exit"
As we noted earlier this week, bankers and hedge fund employees in the UAE are sanguine, so far, about the Iran-Israel conflict. But this doesn't mean they're entirely impervious to concern.
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President Trump said yesterday that he will consider whether to strike Iran in the next two weeks. If the US gets drawn into the war, there is some concern over the implications for gulf states like Qatar, which houses a huge US military base (although dozens of planes there have recently and mysteriously disappeared) and for Saudi Arabia, which houses a US base outside Riyadh.
Finance professionals in the region say the potential for disruption was highlighted this week when hundreds of flights were cancelled or rerouted because of the bombing. "They closed a lot of airspace, and it was messy for people who wanted to travel," says one investor in the region.
If the US becomes directly involved in the conflict, it could become an issue for the UAE says one hedge fund professional who left Dubai earlier this year. It's a topic of discussion among the region's peripatetic population. "Everyone in the UAE has an exit" he observes. Many can simply go back to their home countries.
Most finance professionals in the Middle East remain insistent that the war is not an issue, though. Gareth Clayton, senior director at search firm Charterhouse in the Middle East, says it's too early to tell whether it's having an impact on job applications in the region, but notes that the UAE has a reputation for "stability, security and being a safe haven."
Speaking off the record, an investor who's spent nearly two decades in the region says the UAE likes to be the middle man in any conflict. "They are neutral and friends with everyone. No one discusses politics here," he says. He acknowledges, though, that there may not be much hiring at banks and funds in the Middle East in the immediate future. "There's a lot of uncertainty. Recruitment will be at a standstill until that goes."
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