Dubai, a major financial hub in the Gulf region, has attracted wealth from all across the globe for a few decades. It has emerged as a preferred choice for wealthy individuals, institutions and rich families from Asia
China and the Middle East have been strengthening diplomatic ties for quite a few years, and businesses seem to capitalise on these warm relationships. An increasing number of wealth managers from Asia are establishing offices in Dubai on the grounds of client demands, mainly for geographical diversification.
Dubai, a major financial hub in the Gulf region, has attracted wealth from all across the globe for a few decades. It has emerged as a preferred choice for wealthy individuals, institutions and rich families from Asia, mainly China and Hong Kong. They are looking to exploit opportunities presented by favourable policies and expand their footprints in different overseas locations.
Noah Holdings, one of China’s top wealth managers, controls over $23 billion in client assets and is expecting to receive its business license in Dubai by December this year, said its chief financial officer, Qing Pan. Their Dubai office will cater to Chinese entrepreneurs who are willing to set up a base in the Middle East market.
Pan added that Noah’s strategy aligns with its clients’ wealth growth. This is the reason they are opening up an office over there to take care of the wealth generated in that region. There are a lot of Chinese entrepreneurs who are seeking new markets to diversify their supply chains and are happy to receive opportunities from the Middle East.
Noah plans to send some of its Chinese staff first, recruit locally later on, and set up an office.
The Middle East truly is a wonderland for wealth; a strong post-pandemic economic rebound, a neutral political stance, ease of doing business, and convenient time zones have made it super attractive. Above all of this is the tax-free status that has lured wealthy individuals the most in the past couple of years.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently introduced a ‘golden visa’ system offering several benefits for travelling, property ownership, long-term residency, and many more. Last year, Dubai launched an initiative called ‘Family Wealth Center’ to help business institutions and wealthy individuals solve issues related to cultural and governance understanding.
This has resulted in Western wealth managers, like Lombard Odier, a Swiss private bank, expanding their business in the region to serve the new inflow of wealthy ex-pats as well as the growing population of rich individuals domestically.
Hong Kong and Singapore used to be the preferred option for parking in offshore wealth hubs in Asia for rich individuals as well as institutions. Recently, some clients have started seeking entry into other markets for enhanced exposure to new and better networking and investment opportunities.
As per the 2023 wealth report published by Capgemini, the global number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) reduced to 21.7 million, a fall of 3.3% in 2022, however, the Capgemini 2023 wealth report showed that the HNWI population surged by 2.8% in the Middle East in the same year.
Henley & Partners, a Dubai-based wealth and immigration adviser, published data showing that the UAE witnessed the highest number of millionaires inflow across the world in 2022. In the previous year, it is estimated to have received a net inflow of another 4,500 rich individuals.
Hoping on the bandwagon, Singapore-based multi-family office Farro Capital opened up an office in Dubai in December last year.
Hong Kong-based Landmark Family Office plans to set up an office in Dubai soon. Cameron Harvey, Landmark’s founder, and CEO, said that their Dubai office will be used to find and provide investment opportunities in the Middle East to their clients based in China, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
Manish Tibrewal, co-founder of Singapore’s Farro Capital, said that these are interesting times when geopolitics have become more important to families than ever before. He mentioned that Dubai’s initiative to regulate virtual assets and the recently launched golden visa system has sharply driven more attention toward the region.