Qatar Investment Authority

I've noticed there were some very bright people in this sub-forum so here is my question.I've been talking to the HR manager of QIA about their scholarship program. They want me to study Finance @ University. Not accounting and finance mind you a pure BSc Finance and to pick up modules such as Derivatives,Risk Management etc. Afterwards I'd join them up as a trainee for 2 years( they send you to places such as Barclays,Credit Suisse,G&S) and then you join the team.I haven't been told anything besides the fact that I will have a say in which division I want to work in(investments,assets management etc).
The pay is astronomical and the bonuses are comparable to JP,GS etc except it's all tax free.
For example the 2 years as a trainee I'll be pocketing 50k tax free.

Now the thing is even tho this is a great opportunity don't think this is my long term plan it's more of a 10year or so thing and then out.

How would working for a sovereign wealth fund go down with GS,JP and such?
I'll try to be on the investment team however some of my concerns:
- I'll probably get the MSc Financial Economics from Oxford or the MSc Finance from LSE however my Bachelor will be at either Cardiff,Lancaster,City,Essex or Strathclyde since they are the only ones which offer the modules they want me to study as part of their BSc Finance. How is that going to look on my CV long term?

- The work they do is 100% private, the full fledge of their investments aren't known and all deals are highly secret so I don't think I'll be able to kind of ''stand out'' on an international level.

-How does one go about joining an investment bank after years of work experience? You won't obviously start as an analyst.

-Do the top IBs headhunt from sovereign wealth funds?

Some things to consider:

They'll be paying my full tuition fees.
Their assets are estimated to be around 66 billion $. They own Harrods,Hyde Park,15% of the LSE,17% preference shares Volkswagen,Miramax Films,Qtel as well as gold,silver and foreign currencies and that is only what's known.
Their work ethic from what I've seen during my two visits are impeccable and these people mean business (they only recruit people with 3.8+ gpa/first)
The top players at the investment tables earn 3-4 million a year in bonuses alone and they are all under 30 years old.

With all the goods things said now comes the bad part:

They are relatively unknown as far as I know.
The work is very restrictive basically you do not have a lot of autonomy.
There is absolutely no client contact from the investment team.
All the money they have is granted to them from the State so if something happens, political unrest,economic downturn etc won't be glorious even tho Qatar was pretty good at sheltering itself from the 2008 crisis.

Thoughts?

Reply 1

crcr

basically, working for them is probablly going to be better than a lot else and there is reasonable security. In my opinion, you want to avoid working for a publicy owned company, like GS or BARC, at all costs. That obviously shows in the fact that QIA offer these programs. also, they are well know. running nearly $70bn means you are known, the deals really aren't very secret. two things, why wouldn't you want to stay with them? why wouldn't you have autonomy?

Reply 2

Theconomist

Original post by crcr

I got a lot of info from a trainee there currently and the HR manager. The first 5 years after your training your assigned to a team but can't seek your own clients/structure deals etc which is a bit of a turn off for me since that's where the main bonus cash comes from but the fact that the money is tax free is great. The main reason why I wouldn't want to stay with them really boils down to political unrest , but then again that could be said for pretty much the whole world and not just the middle east.

What do you think of a BSc in Finance? It doesn't seem to be a popular option around TSR.

Reply 3

JHR89

to the BSc in Finance, i would not say that it is a bad thing on ur CV, not just since i'm doing it :wink:

i'm currently in my 1st year at cass studiyng bankign and international finance, especially at the PG campus we have geart facilities (bloomberg, reuters etc) that even surprised the guys at JPM... and if ur good then u can make it to any bank straightaway...so if ur goind first to QIA, u should be able to get into an IB afterwards... all depending u!

Reply 4

crcr

so you have to make up your mind about political instability, the key question though is what is QIA's competitive position? is it doing something that only it can do and that its customers can't do without? as for the 5 years, as far as i am aware, in similiar situations, 5 years is close to or below the norm for being given money to manage. doing a finance course isn't going to make you Warren Buffett. i don't know about BSc but if you have to do one then there is no point worrying about it. the main advantages are private>public, SWF>basically any other AM/investment position. i seriously don't understand why you would want to work at an IB if you had this choice. IBs aren't that good, they are very good at selling the idea of IB to impressionable young people tho. going from SWF to an IB is trading down in a big way, although that depends on what your going into.

Reply 5

Panda Vinnie

Original post by Theconomist

That's a very sweet deal you have there, QIA is one of the world's leading sovereign wealth funds. I presume such an opportunity is only open to Qatar nationals? It seems like one of those schemes a lot of the Gulf companies are doing as part of a promotion of the local talent/skills.

Requiring finance degree at undergraduate level is unusual though, will you be working with them straight after your BSc? If not then you should aim to do a course that's more highly regarded at a better uni...then do your MSc Finance.

Also don't be so sure that you will get your masters from Oxford or LSE, it's way too early yet. It's possible, but not probable. Extremely competitive, and very few (if any) students get in with bachelors from the unis you've listed. Also you've got to consider just how quantitative your BSc Finance course is, because if it isn't then it's a greater struggle getting into the MSc finance courses which prefer a quantitative degree.

Personally I'm quite sceptical about the validity of your statements/scenario. Surely if they require such a specific academic foundation they'd have recommended a course/uni that they deem to fit their criteria.

If you want to think about a long term goal then I would go for the degree you want at better unis. If you're oxbridge/LSE/Imperial level then don't be wasting your time at somewhere like Cardiff just for the sake of doing the BSc Finance.

Oh and by the way, if you end up spending 10 years at that place...I highly doubt you will want to go into IB after. Presuming you reach a senior position at QIA, salary wise it'll be a step down to go to an IB unless you go straight in as a MD, and whilst it's not all about the money (hours, lifestyle etc. matters) not many will want to go backwards.

Reply 6

SalesTrader

Original post by JHR89

to the BSc in Finance, i would not say that it is a bad thing on ur CV, not just since i'm doing it :wink:

Haha If a Bsc allows this level of communication as acceptable I would run for the hills. Go to Econ at Ox/Cambridge/LSE. The arabs love those big names.

Reply 7

epc

I'm short Qatar. Whilst seemingly the most stable Arab country, the possiblities of a tail risk are way too high and this is your future we're talking about.

Reply 8

Theconomist

Original post by Panda Vinnie

Thing is that was my initial plan.I went there with my head held high about the fact that I was looking towards an economics degree.The first thing they said was no.Too much theory.She then gave me a list of universities which I could pick from with the different courses and modules each offer.
My next best option would be something like the Australian National Uni or Melbourne.

I was under the impression that as long as you get a first and good references the uni you're from does not matter.Am I wrong?I was mainly looking at it for the prestige.I could settle for the Msc @ City or Warwick.
It is my understanding that they do not place too much emphasis on the university you go to as long as you tick their boxes.They have some graduates from Carnegie Mellon,Qatar University and RHU.The one thing in common is all of those have very high grades.

They would actually prefer having my straight after the BSc infact my sponsorship with them will start after my 1st year of university.I'll be spending the summers with them etc.However I made sure the option to study for an MSc was available since I know how important that will be not now but a few years down the line.

Yes you were right it is a scheme for Qatari nationals altough they do have this one guy who's from South Africa and was born here but from what I've been told that guy is small-scale genius.