Saudi Arabia

I am in talks with an investment bank based in Saudi Arabia for equity research position. I had applied through their website. The bank is one of the best and is now getting global recognition as well. The reports published by them are also very good. I was just thinking if there are some AFrs from Saudi Arabia who can provide some insight about the living there. The interviewer has asked me to enquire about the licing and work life in Saudi and then respond if its suitable for me. Following are some of the questions I would like to have answeres to. 1. How are the financial markets there? I have done some research and on the basis of that I believe that its developing rapidly, also recently teh govt. has allowed for foreign investments in equity which will boost the financial market. 2. What is the living standard like? 3. What is the expected compensation for entry-middle level role? How much figure one should quote? 4. What are the costs of living? 5. What is the climate like? The I bank has offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Khubar. How are these cities? 6. What is the level of hospitality? I will be glad to hear comments about Saudi Arabia. Please respond asap as I have two days left. Thanks in advance.

If you want to go to the middle east you will have better options. Explore your options in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait (in that order) I am positive that you will be able to find something. In my opinion you should avoid Saudi Arabia.

There are more international workers in Saudi Arabia than all other Gulf countries combined (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, Doha, and Kuwait), so you won’t be alone! Saudi Arabia is less open than those countries, though, with respect to women driving, women dress in public, and availability of alcohol. Living standard is generally much better than Europe and the States, i,e, better homes, better streets, bigger malls and supermarket, etc.

Thanks a lot ram and June07_guy. I will be having further talks with the company official on Saturday. Lets see how it tunrs out to be.

If you are an independent minded person, being an hindu is being a fourth class resident in SA (royalty and fundamentalists, ordinary citizens, other muslims, infidels). And if you are in a relationship, make sure you know what your are getting her (or even him ;-)) into. Sometimes money is just not worth it. I second batterinram’s post.

dont touch their women unless you dont mind being hung upside down by your gonads and beaten

I agree with CFA atlanta that being a hindu might give u a disadvantage in Saudi arabia.in that case Dubai will be lot better since UAE have many hindi and indian nationals… regarding your other questions, costs of living are lower in Saudi arabia as compared to neighboring countries. If you would have indicated bank’s name and your exact job title, i would have given you a better idea of the salary range. but yes, saudi stock market is pretty irrational so i seriously wouldn’t consider equity research job in this country or even in other GCC countries…yes saudia’s financial market is the biggest in GCC and as far as my knowledge is the other countries’ stock exchanges are all co-related to saudia’s living standards are pretty good but life style is different - strict, discrimination persists, people are not that hospitable…work environment would be better in UAE or Bahrain among jeddah, khobar and riyadh, i’d say jeddah would be the best since it is the city in saudi arabia which is most open to foreigners…regarding climate, khoba and riyadh lean towards extreme hots and colds (not colder than western countries obviously but really hotter), jedah has a stable climate which gets just a little better (cooler) in nov-feb while hot in other months we can only give you information, the choice is yours

agree with the above, plenty of great opportunities in the UAE where life is much more fun

In my next life, I’ll be born a rich prince in Dubai…looks like life is one big party out there.

Thanks for your inputs. @sumz - the position is in Jeddah. Also, the guy who had called me had asked me to write a report on a dairy company based in Saudi Arabia. He had sent out the name of the company on Thursday afternoon and yesterday midnight was the deadline. I burned my A** off and prepared a decent report of around 20 pages, though I was not able to do the valuation part best as there were some problems with the forecasting of data. I have also prepared a pitch about my interests in the company and Saudi Arabia. In addition to that he had asked me to forward sample of my work done in my present organization, I have forwarded him some of the pitches, reports and models prepared by me with all the client information and other critical information removed (due to confidentiality agreement with my current organization). He will give me a call sometime today. Lets see what happens. Can you please let me know their compensation and all (the company is Falcom and the job title is not yet disclosed, but I believe it should be equity research analyst). Can you get back to me asap, so that I can have a fair idea during the call today? As far as living in SA is concerned, for me getting into a front office is more important as of now, India is all full of back office and the financial market in western county is not in a position to absorb new people who are non - native.

Falcom a saudi-owned company. It is good but not one of the biggest n best ones…if it is an entry-level it should be around 10,000 riyals per month as a package (excluding insurance and your annual ticket)…dont agree for anything less than that…depending on qualification, middle level should be at least 15-22k per month… try to get a clear idea whether it is a front office job…it might be middle or front…the qualified ones do end up interacting with and preseting infront of clients even in earlier stages of career, so the situation is definitely not that bad here… Good luck!

Thanks a lot for the information sumz. Will share my experience on the forum once I am done with this. By the way, does it not depend on qualification? Will it be the same for CFA, Level 3 (2009) candidate. Though I have 1.5 years of work exp (with an investment outsourcing firm) and I graduated with a bachelors’ degree in aerospace engineering in June 2007, I have worked hard towards CFA and at my workplace (I am now a senior business analyst, promoted to this position in a year).

Why don’t you try in Dubai. It is far better . …and what’s wrong with Mumbai. There are a lot of boutique and smaller firms that will surely pick you. Good place to start in an FO position

All future references to Mumbai and Dubai in the same post will please use rhyming verse.

gauravku Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > By the way, does it not depend on qualification? > Will it be the same for CFA, Level 3 (2009) > candidate. Though I have 1.5 years of work exp > (with an investment outsourcing firm) and I > graduated with a bachelors’ degree in aerospace > engineering in June 2007, I have worked hard > towards CFA and at my workplace (I am now a senior > business analyst, promoted to this position in a > year). Saw your edited message late. Yes it does depend on qualification, 10k figure is just for entry-level. CFA is highly valued here, even partly qualified. I dont know exactly how much CFA level 3 might be earning. Considering you are a senior business analyst, you fall in mid-career range of which i have given 15-22k. Falcom is not an MNC, so i wont be expecting more than 22k. MNC’s corporate fin managers (foreign qualified) earn around 30k. Better not to quote salary on your own first, let them give you a figure…it might be higher than what i am stating…i am just giving you a rough idea for mid-career Good Luck

Thanks sumz. The interview got postpone to next week, they need time to go through the documents and then move ahead. As you mentioned I am also planning not to quote any figure and once they come up with something then negotiate if at all necessary. @aks2010 - I have already tried at major BB banks in Mumbai, I received some calls from the captive centers of MS and BoA, however, the quality of work they were offering was not very good, the interview went well and he asked me about various valuation models and the approach, in the end he asked me whether I know how to read annual report as I will have to update models for the analyst sitting in EU, now this is a disgrace. Also, I have applied to two of the investment bank in India and also to some of the PE firms, but I have not yet heard back from them. The job scenario is really very grim throughout I believe. There are less options to choose from. I got the reference of Falcom from Global Finance website. The I bank was awarded the best new I bank award for 2008. I went to their website and checked for some of the reports which I found interesting and well written. This was the reason for my application there. I have also applied to some other banks (top 50 from wiki, and banks listed for awards) but haven’t got any positive replies yet from any of them.

if you are really interested to come to saudi and good work experience, try BMG, Jadwa investment, and morgan stanley (in riyadh)…they offer real quality work. However, BMG are ruthless employer (long hours, not adequate pay as compared to hours) Good Luck

sumz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > gauravku Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > Yes it does depend on qualification, 10k figure is > just for entry-level. CFA is highly valued here, > even partly qualified. I dont know exactly how > much CFA level 3 might be earning. Considering you > are a senior business analyst, you fall in > mid-career range of which i have given 15-22k. > Falcom is not an MNC, so i wont be expecting more > than 22k. MNC’s corporate fin managers (foreign > qualified) earn around 30k. > > Better not to quote salary on your own first, let > them give you a figure…it might be higher than > what i am stating…i am just giving you a rough > idea for mid-career > > Good Luck sumz i was considering moving to the middle east for a change. these figures appear remarkably low for a senior bus analyst? if im reading that right - 20k saudis is about 5.5k US per month. works out at about US66k per year. Is this right? i know its tax free but seems low. thanks

@djjk1 Costs of living are lower too as compared to US (don’t forget really cheap oil in saudi but yes inflation has really picked up this year)…if a married couple only lives on 20k works out pretty fine (assuming normal lifestyle with no biggg expenditures) with room for savings…and from what i know, saudi still have the most luxurious lifestyle in the GCC…Dubai might seem really fancy place to be in but it has higher costs of living also salary range in saudi arabia (or even whole GCC), besides company to company also depends on nationality and whether the qualification & experience is from the west counts too…(the figure i quoted were pretty based on gaurav’s credentials + company) how much would all these factors increase this range?..not sure about the figure

gauravku Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I got the reference of Falcom from Global Finance > website. The I bank was awarded the best new I > bank award for 2008. I went to their website and > checked for some of the reports which I found > interesting and well written. This was the reason > for my application there. I have also applied to > some other banks (top 50 from wiki, and banks > listed for awards) but haven’t got any positive > replies yet from any of them. may i have the link please and who exactly did u send your cv too? i applied to the same bank sometime back. havent heard at all…wondering whether the CV even landed in the right hands or no