As hedge funds congregate in the desert, banking staff in the region are being lured by employers with higher pay and more robust risk appetites.
Mahdi Besri, who spent 12 years at HSBC in Dubai, latterly as head of MENA FX and rates trading, is among the defectors. Besri has joined BlueCrest, the ex-hedge fund turned family office of Mike Platt, the self-described richest man in finance. He is a portfolio manager.
BlueCrest has been expanding, with recent recruits in Singapore, London and elsewhere. It’s also been promoting from within, having recently elevated Marcus Platt, a former trading analyst to an equities portfolio manager. It’s not clear whether Marcus is Mike’s progeny, nephew, distant relative, or simply an employee who coincidentally shares the same surname.
BlueCrest’s Dubai office is run by Chris Wheeler, who was hired from Citadel in July last year.
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