Head Investment Advisory Middle East

About The Job

The Head of Investment Advisory is almost a dual mandate role: a seasoned practitioner who leads, develops, and inspires a team of Investment Advisors, while simultaneously serving as a credible, visible face of the Banks investment proposition to high-net-worth and affluent clients, and industry forums.

Working in close partnership with the Banks CIO, the postholder will translate macro and house views into actionable client propositions, champion a culture of insight-driven advisory, and ensure that investment risk is managed prudently across the portfolio book. This is as much a thought leadership role as it is a people leadership role.

Our Strategy

• Define and drive the investment advisory strategy across the UAE and Bahrain franchise, aligned with the Banks WRB Wealth ambitions.
• Serve as the senior investment voice for the region co-presenting alongside the EMEA CIO at client events, webinars, roadshows, and media engagements
• Responsible for translating the outlook and views published by the CIO team to the frontline and customers of the bank; sharing relevant and timely information on global Capital Markets, Asset Classes and route to market ideas
• Champion a robust advisory model that delivers personalised investment recommendations across asset classes including equities, fixed income, alternatives, and structured products.
• Oversee the quality and consistency of investment advice delivered to clients, ensuring suitability frameworks are embedded in day-to-day advisory practice.
• Assisting Affluent Segment - Relationship Managers in UAE & Bahrain directly & through the Investment Advisors to meet client’s desired investment objectives and assist in achievement of AUM growth and revenues from Investment products
• Ensure proper client coverage is provided to complete Portfolio Reviews of target clients as defined from time to time in addition to planning for New to Wealth client.
• Contribute to the WRB Wealth strategy as a key member of the senior leadership team, shaping the investment advisory agenda for the region.
  
  

Key Responsibilities

Business

• Partner with Product, CIO, and WRB leadership on new proposition development — including managed portfolios, structured solutions, and alternatives access.
• Ensure portfolio reviews are conducted regularly by providing independent opinion on quality of client’s existing portfolios directly and through Investment Advisors
• Ensure that all the wealth management sales teams (Frontline RMs & Specialists) receive adequate sales support, and route to market ideas basis current & relevant views
• Keep abreast of latest trends on Investment products, financial markets, consumer behaviours and use of technology in providing investment solutions
• Ensuring robust understanding of the risk framework in which we operate including wealth lending risks and cross currency lending risks embedded in portfolios
• Provide reports / analysis where required within the management framework.
• Provide cross asset ideas to frontline teams and advisory teams
• Collaborate closely with Relationship Manager teams, ensuring seamless integration of investment advice into the client coverage model.
• Provide market intelligence and competitor insight to inform the Banks product and pricing strategy in the UAE and Bahrain wealth markets.
  
  

Processes

• Engage with risk control owners and / or group policy owners for the implementation of policies and control standards set by them
• Understanding processes followed by frontline to ensure overall structure and pain points of frontline while going through treansactions
• Ensure delivery of views and route to market ideas at highest standards to deliver excellent customer experience and minimize number of complaints
• Work with various stakeholders to focus on quality in delivery and turnaround time for end-to-end BAU to achieve efficiency and customer experience objectives.
  
  

People & Talent

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Investment Advisors across UAE and Bahrain, fostering a high-performance, client-first culture.
• Build individual and team capability through structured mentoring, technical training, and exposure to global investment thinking.
• Set clear performance standards, conduct regular reviews, and take ownership of talent development and succession planning within the advisory function.
• Develop a people culture which encourages, and champions change among colleagues in the daily workplace. This will facilitate ideation, product innovation and process improvement with the objective of delivering superior Customer & Frontline experience
• Attract and retain top-tier advisory talent; act as a compelling ambassador for the Banks investment brand in the talent market
  
  

Our ideal Candidate

• Understanding of Financial Markets
• Approach to Advisory & Financial Planning
• Understanding of Asset Allocation & Portfolio Construction
• Product Knowledge – Mutual Funds, Bonds, FX, Alternatives, Insurance, Leverage & Overdraft, Equities, Alternatives, Commodities, Derivatives, Structured Notes and Cross Currency Lending
• Communication Skills
• Analytical and Computing Skills
• Minimum Undergraduate
• Certifications; CFA, CFP, PFP, CAIA, FRM OR CMT is preferred but not mandatory
• English is mandatory and Arabic will be an added advantage
  
  

About Standard Chartered

Were an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, weve worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If youre looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we cant wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, youll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together We

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term
  
  

What We Offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.

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