00:00Let's just start here because we were mentioning potentially there is that appeal there. But is the cost of living potentially overshadowing the appeal.
00:09Talk to us about what you're seeing based on your analysis and from where you sit. Yes. And thank you so much for having me Jennifer. Really appreciate the time.
00:18To your point the cost of living has definitely gone up over the last five years or so since Covid the influx of people has pushed up the cost of real estate the cost of schooling.
00:32There are more there's more and more schools being built big multinational brand names from from UK and Asia. So schooling has increased year on year for sure.
00:43Having said that I still think there is enough push factors from parts of Europe and Asia still galvanizing that move.
00:58And people are aware of these numbers and they're aware of the cost of living. However, the pros and cons definitely they toss it up versus London versus Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
01:11And the quality of life. The help at home. The way of safety and education for their children and their families. It's far greater here.
01:23And Oscar can you just speak to maybe some of those incentives that you are seeing from some of the hedge funds and asset managers that are working in the region.
01:32Bloomberg has reported on some of those incentives. But are they actually moving the needle.
01:35Are they moving the needle. I don't think I don't think someone will will take a vastly disproportionate paying job simply because of the education or the accommodation allowance.
01:50I think they're definitely a sweetener and they are definitely an incentive to move the family from day one as opposed to keep the family in another geography for the first six or nine months.
02:03Test the waters to see how we enjoy it. And then yes. Dive in. And then yes. Fully commit. I think that's that's a thing of the past.
02:11Having been working in the D. I think the government incentives and the government accommodation and schooling from 10 years ago that has shrunk noticeably to a small percentage.
02:27I would say possibly even 15 to 25 percent of what it used to be. However the to your point the total compensation packages the way of life the safety security the full picture definitely still
02:43attracting you know thousands and thousands over the course of 2025.
02:47Are we talking about a very specific type of of candidate of employee Oscar. Is it senior management or does it sort of span the whole entire sphere of workers.
03:01Could it be first time employees that are are going to be new to the system in in the region or is it people moving over with their families that are maybe making more of an
03:12impact as far as the expat community goes. Yes. Thank you. It's going to be the more senior echelons of that that organization chart.
03:23It's going to be the relocations of the M.D.'s the E.D.'s who are potentially setting up the office establishing a presence and going through the licensing and the
03:32onboarding and the in principle approval within the regulators. That can be a heavy lift of six to nine months before you've even got a license.
03:40So there are additional stipends or additional compensation widgets that companies are putting in play in order to relocate their own
03:50internal people to your point. And to so many so many points over the last 12 months. I think that the rise of of AI and the rise of other
03:58processes the junior layers operational layers of of employee are becoming less and less regardless whether that's relocation or hiring here in the
04:09region. I think even actually even mid level whether your revenue generator whether you're raising capital from the region or whether you're a
04:18portfolio manager who's had a phenomenal track record and to learn their stripes in Europe or Asia wherever it may be. There's always a
04:26conversation for a relocation total total package and that can break down from as I've as I mentioned earlier accommodation
04:35schooling different sorts of of other long term benefits. So memberships to make the the trailing spouse as we call them more comfortable and
04:46hopefully to replicate the environment that they've had in in in London or Hong Kong or wherever it may be.
04:51Wow. Trailing spouse Oscar Oscar. Oscar I just wanted to finish on really this idea of where this goes next. You mentioned AI
05:01potentially the impact that that will have. But also we're seeing Saudi trying to attract similar talent and financial institutions into the
05:10kingdom. Where do you think this goes next. Yes. It's a it's a really good point. I think you and I could sit here and talk for hours of the
05:19different projects across the across the border in in Riyadh and what they have done what they haven't done. I think it's only going to
05:25accelerate. It's only going to compound on what has been hired already. When I come back to the hiring numbers and the types of
05:32profiles. I think AI hiring is only going to be a more and more so an increased percentage of our portfolio called our partners and
05:42across across across the street for sure. And that's that's across all different sectors. Of course you know investment management asset
05:48management is our sweet spot. But but we see it in real estate. We see it in legal. We see it in in this new wave of of of
05:55fintechs. They're more than fintechs now. Right. They've sort of doubled down on that asset class and they're the AI centric
06:02and autonomous is only going to be a greater impact in our industry for sure.
Comments