Dubai’s DIFC launches global hub for ultra-rich, family businesses
- The new centre in DIFC will provide private wealth support services, including advisory and concierge services, education and training, high-end networking, and dispute resolution assistance
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has launched a hub for family businesses and ultra-high net worth individuals to assist them in legacy and succession planning.
The new centre will provide private wealth support services, including advisory and concierge services, education and training, high-end networking, and dispute resolution assistance.
DIFC’s governor, Essa Kazim, said the next decade will see many family businesses in the UAE and the Middle transfer a vast amount of wealth – nearly $1 billion – to the next generation.
This, he said, “illustrates the urgent need to provide them with specialist, consolidated support to help them grow.”
The Dubai free zone hopes the new centre will help the sector grow by bringing lobal family owned businesses, private wealth offices and UHNWIs in one hub.
An earlier report by the Knight Frank showed the number of UNHWIs rising 9.3 percent in 2021, seeing the addition of 52,000 people with a net worth of $30 million or more.
In the UAE, about 41 percent of the country’s financial wealth came from UNHWIs in 2021, according to Boston Consulting Group, and is expected to grow to 43 percent by 2026.
This number provides context to what DIFC wants to achieve by launching the hub, which it claims as the first of its kind in the world.
Speaking to Arabian Business, investment expert Robert Ansari said: “Family offices have played a pivotal role in shaping economies across the region and will continue to do so through time. With a focus on succession planning and generational transfer of wealth at the forefront for many family offices, they require custom solutions that help them retain control over their investments, mitigate risks, and reduce costs.”
Ansari, who is the Middle East head of investments and retirement at the New York-based consulting and advisory Mercer, said the move could help attract investments from foreign family offices, especially in alternative asset classes that demand a more “rigorous approach in portfolio management.”
