The State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) is the sovereign wealth fund of the state that undertakes the investment of financial surplus forwarded to it. It is as well the main investment arm of the country which acts on behalf of the government of Oman in managing and investing the surplus achieved by the state from Oil and Gas revenues. SGRF aims to achieve the best possible returns in the long-term to support the government efforts in diversifying income resources and securing returns for future generations, and to achieve the balance of the supreme financial policies of the state.

 

The fund was established in 1980 pursuant to Royal Decree the fund has a separate juristic entity which has complete independence in managing its administrative and financial affairs. It is supervised by the Ministry of Finance in accordance with the decisions issued by the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council (FAERC) in determining the policies and rules to be followed when investing fund's money.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE SEARCH:  

 

In a major initiative to develop the Sultanate’s mining sector, four state-owned investment arms of Oman came together to promote a OMR100-million mining development company called Mining Development Oman (MDO). The state-owned agencies — the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the Oman Investment Fund (OIF), the Oman Oil Company and Oman National Investments Development Company (Tanmia) — will equally own promoters’ capital of OMR60 million. The remaining OMR40 million will be raised from the investing public through an initial public offering in the second quarter of the year. The four partners signed a memorandum of association for establishing the new firm which will carry out both downstream (such as mining) and upstream activities, which include exploration and extraction processes. The company also plans to collaborate with Oman’s private sector, whether as a partner, contractor, supplier or promoter of projects. The identification and appointment of a CEO to establish and lead the new company was the first step to developing the new entity.

 

THE SOLUTION: 

 

Our recommendations were based on information and key requirements shared by the Board of Directors. In this case we recommended a methodology to complete a Global Targeted Search and a local Advertised Search in both Arabic and English Newspapers (observing Government Recruitment Process). Given the Board of Directors was keen to consider both local candidates as well as International expat candidates who were prepared to relocate to Muscat. Nexus Point International strategy was to complete the advertising campaign, draw up a list of target companies, identifying relevant candidates and network with those individuals working in a similar role in the Industry internationally. This headhunting process was carried out with utmost discretion and candidates were not advised that the campaign was being carried out on behalf of the client until a clear outline commitment was established. Every care was taken NOT to contact any company that SGRF identifies as carrying a potential conflict of interest. Because SGRF has very specific requirements for their desired candidate, much emphasis was placed on the behavioral assessments, so as to find individuals who, in addition to having the relevant Industry experience and expertise, possessed behavioral traits that would ensure as close a fit as possible, both for the role and for the corporate culture of the company. 

 

 

THE PROCESS: 

 

A Target list of Companies was completed by Nexus Point and agreed with the client. Nexus Point also completed the Advert for publication in both Arabic and English, negotiated Costs, Placement and targeted Dates for both adverts with the local Press and established a response process for all applicants, regardless of eligibility. With multiple stakeholders in the decision making process (9 in total) we elected to make all results and conclusions available securely online via a bespoke website established for the search. This allowed the four major stakeholders to access, discuss and share findings at their discretion. 

 

We removed any risk from the process by offering a 100% Money-Back guarantee if a candidate left within one month, and a free replacement service if a candidates leaves within 12 Months. We spent considerable time on our pre-screening process and make full use of cutting-edge tools such as McQuaig® psychometric testing, and our own creation, DEEP DIVE to streamline the recruitment process, saving the client hours of work and ensuring they had all the information needed to select the right candidate. Our DEEP DIVE system, the core factor behind our outstanding and guaranteed results, delivering candidate details online, in a format that can be easily shared with all stakeholders. As a result of our global reach, 20 years of experience and our ability to approach those already in employment, 80% of our candidates are not registered with any other recruitment agency, the people we located and submitted for consideration were hand-picked and exclusive to the client. 

 

Once the target list had been completed (over 60 organisations) and the Ad Response of over 200 respondents filtered and contacted a long list of suitable and relevant candidates were approached and interviewed. A further interview to access relevant Industry experience and expertise as well as behavioral traits that would ensure as close a fit as possible, both for the role and for the corporate culture of the company. 

 

A Shortlist of 5 candidates for presentation to the client with a comprehensive profile for each candidate which included: 

• Executive Summary 

• Candidate Video Introduction 

• Key Competency Questionnaire Results 

• McQuaig® Behavioural Assessment 

• Competency Benchmark Graph 

• Candidate References 

• Original Candidate CV