"The tax-free sovereign wealth fund jobs might involve more than you bargained for"
The expat finance bargain in certain states that shall not be mentioned has long been one of the cleanest trades in global banking for the better part of two decades. Tax-free pay. Sun. A British school for the children. A flat with a balcony you actually eat dinner on for six whole months of the year. People in London talk about it the way they used to talk about Hong Kong, before Hong Kong became complicated.
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Some London bankers took the trade. Gavin, not his real name, for reasons that will become clear, was one of them. He left a perfectly fine job in the City of London and moved his wife and two children to the Gulf last year. His base salary runs to US$25k a month. Tax free. There is a brand new Range Rover. Maldives for Christmas. The children’s school has a uniform, a crest and British teachers.
By every metric that Gavin's London friends use to track these things, be it Instagram, schools, cars or compensation, Gavin has won.
Gavin is also strongly considering leaving.
The job, it turns out, is not the job he was hired for. Gavin works for a sovereign wealth fund. The work, in theory, is deal origination, portfolio monitoring, fund commitments. The work, in practice, is waiting. Decisions are made in a room he is not in. His role is to be available, to nod, to produce a memo when asked, and to accept, gracefully, that the memo will sit unread until either God, or someone two levels above his boss, decides it should be read. Neither tends to be in a hurry. His boss sometimes says he is demotivated.
Gavin is in a position of indignity. Given his tax free status, Gavin's indignity is comfortable if not tolerable. He has not produced a single meaningful piece of work since joining.
Gavin's daughter is about to turn 12. She asked her father recently why some of her friends wear black dresses outside the house.
Gavin and his wife live, the local media says, in one of the safest cities in the world. This is correct. Occasionally, there are minor infractions but they feel manageable.
Then, the war started. Gavin told his son it was just fireworks. The dog was scared. On the way to the office the following morning, Gavin saw a piece of metal on the side of a roundabout. He took a picture. In the office, colleagues strongly suggested that he deleted it. One spoke about jail. Gavin was not entirely sure his friend was joking.
The fund’s strategy shifted. More local. Deal origination became deal participation in a small set of badly run national champions, on terms no London committee would clear. Gavin's expertise became surplus to requirement.
Meanwhile, Gavin's boss, who did not move from London, has mentioned in a one to one that the talent pipeline from Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and India has never been deeper. He has also hinted that Gavin should not complain and is free to leave.
Should Gavin leave? London is not what it used to be. Singapore is crowded. New York is far away and his wife is not keen.
Either way, the school year ends in June. His daughter will certainly have to make new friends when the next academic year begins.
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