The hedge funds still piling up portfolio managers in Dubai
Hedge funds in Dubai are continuing to add staff. In recent weeks, Verition, Schonfeld, and BlueCrest have all hired new portfolio managers (PMs).
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Jenagan Ragunathan has joined Verition as an emerging markets equities PM in Dubai after a two-year stretch at Segantii Capital Management in Hong Kong. The move probably wasn’t difficult to organize – Segantii announced that it was closing earlier this year, with inside trading allegations causing a spike in redemption requests from the fund’s clients.
Schonfeld has added Boyan Petrov from ExodusPoint. Petrov was a consumer equities PM in London for 5 years.
BlueCrest has added Cem Gülez from Crédit Agricole in the city. Gülez was a fixed income trader earlier in his career, and joined BlueCrest as a sub-PM.
And Walleyeye relocated Rupert Graham, a PM it hired back in June, to the city from Switzerland to run its systematic options operation from Dubai, Financial News reported.
The moves come as Financial News reported that Dubai had been undergoing an influx of wealth and asset management firms. As of September, 60 hedge funds were operating in the city, including 44 with at least $1bn in assets under management. Funds that have opened in the emirate recently include TCI Fund Management and Walleye Capital.
Portfolio managers' incentive for moving to Dubai is clear. Hedge funds are some of the highest-paying employers you can find. Combine that little fact with a libertine city that’s free even of income tax, and you have a pretty strong way to convince portfolio managers (PMs) to work for you in Dubai. As we reported last year, Singaporean hedge fund managers were at the forefront of the shift to the Emirates – with the cost of living in the city state a main driver. Formerly London-based financiers have said the same.
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