Dubai Draws 50 Hedge Funds to Mideast Finance Hub

After luring industry heavyweights like Millennium Management and ExodusPoint Capital Management, Dubai’s financial center is in negotiations with more than 50 hedge funds about establishing in the Middle East business hub.

Hedge funds, according to Essa Kazim, governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, are “one space that has been growing very fast.” This was his statement at a press conference on Monday. One of the main drivers of our expansion is the size and rate of increase of the backlog in that sector of the economy.

According to Salmaan Jaffery, the chief business development officer of the hub, over a trillion dollars in assets are managed by the roughly fifty hedge funds seeking a DIFC license. Business hub DIFC “to not only authorize them, but we continue to engage them internationally,” he said, declining to name the funds or reveal how many are currently operating out of the center.

Hedge fund traders are increasingly flocking to Dubai due to the city’s low tax rate, convenient location, and attractiveness as a tourist destination. The time zone is especially convenient for portfolio managers whose holdings span the globe from North America to Asia.

Since obtaining a license in 2020, Izzy Englander’s Millennium has increased its city workforce to around 30 people. In June, ExodusPoint Capital, one of the largest multi-strategy hedge funds in the world, became a member of the DIFC.

Source:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-20/dubai-in-talks-to-attract-50-hedge-funds-to-mideast-finance-hub?leadSource=uverify%20wall