MENA+ outbid Asian hubs for capital markets talent in 2025 — will it hold after the war?

Middle East private-capital firms outbid Asia on compensation in 2025, with senior professionals pulling in up to USD 750k a year as firms leaned on pay to secure scarce talent, according to Heidrick & Struggles’ Asia Pacific & Middle East Private Capital Investment Professional Compensation Survey (pdf).

Firms were competing for a narrow pool of dealmakers with execution and fundraising track records, particularly as Abu Dhabi and Riyadh scale as talent hubs and absorb new funds and strategies.

The open question: What the market for talent looks like as the war in the Gulf saps market energy.

Abu Dhabi and Riyadh were the top talent hubs last year: The top regional financial capitals of the region are increasingly pulling professionals from established hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong, the report said. As the region continued to grow its appeal as a private capital growth market, the UAE and Saudi saw an influx of international talent and sustained their dominance over regional senior talent.

REMEMBER- This pair has already been in fierce competition for talent — and this competition is now maturing. The 25% compensation premium that once defined Saudi’s talent push has recently narrowed to 5-10%, UAE-based recruitment agency Cooper Fitch’s CEO Trefor Murphy previously told EnterpriseAM.

Zooming out: Base salaries and bonuses have risen for two consecutive years, with around two-thirds of surveyed firms reporting increases across both, the report said. That signals a sustained reset in pay levels rather than a one-off bidding war. Managing partners are averaging around USD 750k in total direct compensation, with partners and managing directors close behind at USD 719k, and principals at roughly USD 503k. Bonuses are also doing much of the work and, at the very top, can swing outcomes enough that some partners out-earn managing partners.

What about the day after?

It’s less clear what will be in the bag for our region’s dominance in the talent market once the war is over. While the report penciled in a positive outlook for managing partners for the next 18 months, with nearly 78% of surveyed firms (before the war) expecting base salaries to rise further over this period, it notes it was written before the war hit the region, and that today “market conditions have become markedly more uncertain.”

And there’s good reason to believe that overall positive sentiment might hold: GCC governments will spend big as they work to burnish their positioning as safe destinations for both capital and people.

Those with thick skin will be especially rewarded: After the war, it’s about who stayed in town and who managed to navigate the conflict. Those who can stay “clear-headed” and “curious” despite the tensions around them will be the most sought-after talent, Shadi El Farr, regional managing partner at Heidrick & Struggles, told Arabian Business.

Big-picture thinking will also be rewarded and priced in, specifically operators who can read “geopolitical shifts, capital flows, and market dynamics as a single picture,” El Farr said.