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Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has become the first Scottish asset manager to set up an office in the Middle East.

SWIP has chosen Saudi Arabia as its Gulf area of choice, and is thought to be taking the joint venture route with local firm Fawaz Alkohair.

Other large asset managers, including BNP Paribas Asset Management, Prudential Asset Management, Schroders and Pictet Asset Management have also set up offices in the region.

SWIP declined to comment on whether this would present a raft of new opportunities for Edinburgh-based fund managers to move out to the Middle East. However, if it follows the format of its competitors, it will likely ship out an existing senior employee to head the office, before building a team comprising both local and international talent.

The influx of fund management firms to the region masks the fact that there aren’t actually that many jobs for money managers, says Elizabeth Hackford, vice president at recruiters Sheffield Haworth in the Middle East.

“Most multinational firms now offer MENA funds, but these tend to be manufactured outside the region; very few have portfolio managers on the ground. The vast majority of hires in the region for these firms are for sales roles,” she says.

Caledonian Investments has a small, and predominantly Scottish, team in the Dubai International Finance Centre, which targets property investments through a join venture with Kuwaiti company Al Mazaya Holdings.

But don’t expect other Scottish firms to look eastwards.

Standard Life Investments says it has no immediate intention to open a Middle Eastern office, but it “could be of interest” in the future.

Martin Currie, meanwhile, says it has no plans to enter the Middle Eastern market and has instead focused on Australia – where it has appointed a new divisional head.