Middle East Opportunities

Hi all, I'm currently an associate at a family office in the US; we look at pretty cool stuff but have a focus in sports, media, entertainment, etc. Recently, I've gotten interested in exploring PE/GE/VC opportunities in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar). I grew up in South Asia and am familiar with the region and know the pros and cons of living there to a certain extent (would like to learn more from people who've actually experienced living there for some time).

Anyone have an idea of what lies there in terms of opps? Which are the top groups to work for in the region? Where should I look and network top get infront of groups? How's the comp for lets say a 2nd year+ associate? I'm aware there's no tax there but I think I still have to pay US tax unless I give up my citizenship which I'm not planning on doing as I'd like to come back after a few years (4-6).

My main reason for looking at other opps is I feel my current comp is way below market and I don't have many opportunities to expand my network in the city I'm in. I also just want to experience ME for a bit and hop on a good opportunity if there is one.

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Hey – the top banks in the ME are currently Rothschild, Moelis, BofA, GS and HSBC.A lot of the work is obviously Oil & Gas given the region but most banks (if not all) don't segregate bankers by industry, so you'd probably be a generalist. Teams are relatively small and the best way to go around this is to reach out to people via Linkedin. Comp is equivalent to New York salaries (more or less) and obviously you don’t pay tax in the ME.

 
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